Vacation in the caribbean

[jfolley67]

Just thought I would share that my hubby and I just got back from cozumel and the island of CALICA. Dumb me did not remember to bring the water camera on our snorkel excursion, but I wanted to share that if any of you are going to be going on vacation....CALICA was amazing for the snorkel. This was my first real snorkel encounter on a reef....OMG....it was amazing but almost overwhelming. Timing was great I guess because we saw tons of beautiful fish...my most memorable was a big blue fish with glowing white dots all over it....have no idea what it was, but we swam in schools of beautiful fish. Saw lots of tangs and angel fish. They were checking us out many times coming up to our faces, was a big scary. One of our crew saw a baraccuda....so we slowly moved to another spot....ewwwwww.
Just thought I would share, you gotta go there......amazing spot for reef snorkeling.

 

[ocd_mariner]

My wife and I went to St. Maarten in august (north east carribean). Wasn't my first time snorkeling on a reef, but it was my first time snorkeling on a reef that was quickly (visibly) being destroyed by human contact. Broken coral shelves, white skeletons, it was very disheartening. We took a small waverunner tour out to a reef to snorkle on it, which also happened to be the destination of a 50 person tour. I remember (after being pushed out of the way several times, seriously, it was bad) watching some guy stand on a freakin table coral so he could get the water out of his mask.

Sorry to disrupt the thread

Snorkeling is a blast, and I could stay down there forever if my back didn't get scorched. I remember the first time i snorkled, in the keys at pennecamp marine park, and wow. Every place you look is something interesting to take your attention.

As far as the baraccuda, I could be wrong, but I don't think they are aggressive. At least, when you are spear fishing them, they aren't so tough

 

[jfolley67]

according to our tour guide, the baraccudas can be worse than sharks with a disposition that is aggressive....ewwwww. However, I did not experience my area to be very destroyed. Calica is one of the newest areas that the ships dock and this could be why. We were all very careful and were in a small group. I did not notice alot of life dead, but saw gorgeous corals.....and alot of the non reef safe fishies picking on them though....was a beautiful site to see. Your tour was huge, there were only about 15 of us....we did an all terrain vehicle ride through the jungle and then it takes you to a cavern tour, a sink hole which was so cool and we all jumped in, and then the beach for a snorkel....it was amazing...the atv thing was totally neat!

 

[crumbletop]

Sounds like a great time! I love snorkeling. I used to dive as well, but snorkelling is so easy. It is definately fun to see all these animals in their natural environment. That big blue fish you saw sounds like some kind of grouper.

 

[gflat65]

Baracuda are big sissies. They get a bad rep. Just wait until you get dive certified. Imagine being able to stare at the little tiny gobies sticking their heads out of rocks, or the armies of lobster hanging out under an overhang. Or the spotted eagle ray gliding by at dusk. I'd recommend open water certification to anyone. It is an awesome experience.

We snorkeled for about 5 hours the first day of our honeymoon because our resort wouldn't take Jenn out for classes... We had a blast. The squid were the coolest part. We'd read about them when we got in the night before so were excited to see them. You notice one, then relax your field of vision and realize they are all around you. The reefs off Bon Aire are pretty nice.

 

[ct_vol]

Gary~ Were did you guys go on your honeymoon??? Ashley and I are still trying to decide... Looks like Calica might be a consideration... My failsafe is Hawaii, but I have too many relatives there and don't want our honeymoon to be spent visiting...

 

[gflat65]

Randy,

We went to Bon Aire (part of the ABC's-near Aruba and Curacao. It was great, It is a diving island. As you drive around the island, you see yellow rocks with red writing. That's a dive site. The best stuff we got to see was off Klein Bon Aire (about a 10 minute boat ride from the main island). It is nature reserve and has to stay that way. There is no building on Klein, so the reefs are pristine, even for just snorkeling. We stayed a the Divi Flamingo Resort. The food was arguable the best on the island (Rick's, a 5 minute walk from the room, was another great place to eat). Downtown was about a six minute walk. Loved it and can;t wait to go back.

Another great place was Dream's Cancun. It is right on the point, all inclusive, and th efood was very good. The breakfast buffet was the best of the buffets, but they were all at least good. There were several on premesis restaurants of varing cultures and tastes and all were good. A room in the flats next to the tower facing the Bahai is the one to have. Ours looked right onto the beach. The attached dive shop was pretty cool, too. We did our first night dives and I loved it (Jenn was a little nervous, but she enjoyed it). We also stayed at the Mayan Palace south of Cancun, near Playa del Carmen. That was a really nice place with a huge pool. They were putting in concrete bells to create a reef when we were there (no sand on the beaches). I'm sure it is a nice little mini reef now. HTH.

 

[jfolley67]

Calica is gorgeous. It is right next to cozumel, I can tell you that we got on the carnival cruise ship in Mobile for a 5 day cruise which stopped at both of these ports. This ship is not as grande as some of the larger ones, but it is gorgeous and in excellent condition. I recommend getting an outside stateroom with a window, they are much larger than the inside state rooms. However, they are only about 50 bucks more money. This was a great value for us. We were gone a total of 8 days, and did the ship for the 5. It cost my hubby and I a total of 630.00 for BOTH of us to do this ship...this included all the tax and insurance.....was one amazing price. You can't stay in a hotel and eat for 5 days for this price.....AND trust me...you will eat and eat and eat and eat......back to taekwondo and exercise for me this week!

 

[jfolley67]

Here are a quick couple of pictures...I wish I had brought the underwater camera, but here is the beach where we entered the water, it was so clear and beautiful and the fish were plentiful and colorful to see. The reef appeared to be pretty healthy in this area. We saw huge brains. I was able to get out 3 awesome conch(sp?) shells.....the tour guide checked them for critters.....whew, none so I brought them home!

 

[ct_vol]

Thanks for the replies... I have to get my passport... Ashley has hers from when she went to Europe, but this will be my first time leaving the US... I was told that come the 1st of next year you'll need a passport to cross any border... Don't know how true that is, but I reckon I should get one anyhow... I'm not sure I'd be a big fan of a cruise, but for that price, I'd definately learn to be... Perhaps for our next vacation...

 

[jfolley67]

oh you will never want to do anything else once on a ship,,,,,,they are fantastic. Yes, you definitely need your passport by Jan 1......
Hope you think about this cruise, totally worth it!

 

[KAiNE]

Here's a pic i took with a crappy disposable underwater camera. In about 15' of water and about 75' from shore!
I'll try to dig up some others, there were triggers everywhere. The reef itself was in pretty bad shape.
This was in July 2001, in the Yasawa island group.