Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Sea & Sky, Beach & Bay

This is one of my favorite beach pictures from the trip. This was taken on Sprat Hall Beach right in front of Sunset Grill where we had our lovely sunset dinner one evening.

This shot down into Cane Bay was taken from high up on Scenic Drive. Cane Bay is one of the great dive spots on the island. Just to the left of the shot the bottom drops out into the Cane Bay Wall, one of the most famous of Crucian dives. I wasn't able to dive the wall because the weather and sea conditions weren't very good. We chose to go to the western end of the island instead. This area is covered with sea urchins so you need to be very careful where you go. Those guys are nasty.

Just to the left of the last building you can see the opening of Salt River Bay. This is the only place in the United States (and its Territories) where Columbus' ships landed. There is also an ancient ball court near the landing site. This ball court is related to the ones found in Central America. The far left building (near the center) is Villa Margarita where we stayed. To the right is the Gentle Winds condos/resort. This was a great place to stay. We just loved driving home each night. We would drive past the Salt River Marina with the low lights shining through the trees. The air was thick with humidity and the frogs were croaking/chirping in the forest. It felt like we were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.

This is Sandy Point. A beach on the extreme Southwest point of the island. This beach is only open on the weekends and only during certain hours becuase it is a popular place for sea turtles to nest. It is a beautiful spot. The sea may look calm but right at the verge is a rocky ledge so the waves crash in pretty hard at the last second. As you can see all the beaches were really crowded while we were there. :-) Posted by Picasa

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