St. Maarten: Turtles and Lobster

If Thursday was one of my least favorite…Friday was an exact opposite. The bad news…Matt wasn’t able to go diving because our snorkeling trip was cancelled on Thursday but the good news, we went snorkeling and it was amazing. We started the morning off on the French side, getting geared up. We headed out to Tintamarre Island to snorkel with the turtles. This was something that I had heard about last year and had wanted to do. This year I had my heart set on it.
The captain was this feisty chic who let us know that we may have trouble seeing them but we did not! I don’t think I was in the water for 5 minutes before seeing my first one. You get dumped into the water over their feeding fields. They sit below and snack and then will float to the top for air. It was amazing. I lost track of exactly how many we saw. At one point, I was watching one and he floated up and kept dancing in front of me. And they were different sizes and some in groups of 2 or 3. So glad we had went. (pictures coming) 

From there, we went on the north side of Tintamarre and snorkeled over the Natural Reserve. We saw some beautiful things including a Queen Conch, that our boat captain brought up for Matt and I to touch and look at, a octopus that Matt peeked in on and Caribbean lobsters hanging out. 

After this, we went to Pinel Island, which has a beautiful beach and had a little lunch. Ham and cheese sandwiches with apple slices and beverages. Was the perfect lunch, not too heavy yet still satisfying. I decided to stay in the water or on the boat while those three headed to the island to take in the iguanas, blyuck. Michele feed them bread that she’d gotten from a lady on the tour. 

After some rough water heading back, we headed back out to the beach. Matt and I tried to SUP board. This was much harder than we were expecting. You first kneel until you feel confident (or brave) and then you stand up and in our case you fall down and eat salt water. Matt and I both gave it a go. I got up a few times but after biffing it a few times and crawling back on the board, I was glad we only rented for an hour. I still think it would be a blast at our lake. 

While we tried that, Michele and Randy snorkeled a bit more and swam with the fishes. I had to laugh when I looked out at the water and watched the cruise ship float by larger than life and those two didn’t catch it because of the happenings in the water. Matt also snorkeled for sand dollars, which was something that we'd done the previous year. He didn't have to bad of luck, especially considering the hurricane the week before.

It was sad to watch the sun drip down to the horizon, signaling the end to the wonderful beaches and food that we’d enjoyed. I wasn’t ready to return to life in reality and the cold.

We dressed up the last night and headed to Skipjack’s, which was a great spot for us the year before. For apps we had tuna Carpaccio and peel shrimp. Michele had what I had previously had and loved…crab filled tilapia, Matt had the seared tuna steak, and Randy and I enjoyed the Caribbean grilled lobster. Matt and him picked it out of the corral. What an experience for the guys. You pick them out based on size, weigh them, decide if they are the ones and then they grab them by the tentacles and haul them off to be grilled and cracked in half. They are a completely different look from Maine "red" lobster and they don't have pinchers.

After dinner, Matt enjoyed a Cuban cigar on the patio and I started debating how we were going to pack up our room, while I watched the sunburn that I’d gotten from the day start to develop.

Michele: Are we the 4 hour tour or the six hour?
ALR: 4
Michele: Damn! Next time, we are doing the 6 hour! 
ALR: Next time?
Michele: Oh believe me, there’ll be a next time! And next time I’m going to swim with the dolphins too!

Day 8