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Guadeloupe |
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March 26, 2008 Seeing The Reefs By Glass-Bottom Boat & Snorkeling |
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It seems to have become a bit of a morning ritual. After breakfast, the girls head into the swimming pool and were promptly joined by Marie-Laure and Mélanie for some mid-morning goofiness! |
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Pigeon Island - the island we’d be exploring around |
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Chloe, Estelle, and Victoria heading out to sea |
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Guadeloupe is one of the best-known islands in the Caribbean for scuba diving. On the west coast of the island is La Réserve Cousteau, a French national park that was described by legendary oceanography Jacques Cousteau as “one of the world’s 10 best diving spots.” It’s also a great place for some snorkeling, especially around Pigeon Island. We decided that to head down late Wednesday morning to go on a glass-bottom boat that would take us around Pigeon Island and then give us some time to do some snorkeling. |
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We had been on one of these boats in St. Maarten three years ago, but the boat, Le Nautilus, seemed to be a bit larger (and in much better condition). We headed out to sea with about twenty other tourists on relatively calm seas to the islands. The islands were a result of some volcanic eruption centuries ago and have created a perfect environment for aquatic life to grow, almost like a coral reef. For us, it created a REALLY neat experience as we sat in the hull of the boat, surrounded by the vast depths of the Caribbean. |
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After cruising around the island for about thirty minutes, we got the signal to come up on deck so we could all go in the water to swim with all the fishies! Many of the fish swarmed us as soon as we got into the water—I guess they were used to being fed by the men on the boat. For the next thirty to forty-five minutes, we had a great opportunity to swim across the volcanic “reefs” to see all the sea life, swimming and otherwise. |
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Victoria came in as well, doing her version of “goggling” instead of snorkeling. |
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The Great American Buttfish… |
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...and its French counter-part! |
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We were really excited to see this sea turtle! |
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Heading back to shore after snorkeling |
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Aren’t they cute!?!?! |
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Heading back in to shore |
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After we got back in to the dock, we did a bit of shopping before heading back to the villa. We decided to try to get back to the beach at Grand Anse to watch the sunset. The good news was that we made it in time. The downside was that there were a lot of clouds, but it was still quite beautiful. |
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We headed up to the villa to change for dinner and headed in to town to the hotel’s restaurant, Restaurant Les Canons De La Baie, overlooking the bay. In addition to some good food, we were looking forward to hearing Laurent (see below left), the owner of the hotel, playing with the musicians. It wasn’t exactly a blues bar or jazz hall, but it was fun and definitely help make the evening memorable. |
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Tomorrow: Going Different Ways |
