Sail Away to the Great Skipper Cay

Cruising's like luxuriating in a pretty darn high-end resort that magically transports you to a new destination every day or two. Our stops were Great Skipper Cay (Bahamas), St. Thomas (USVI), Torolla (BVI), and Dominican Republic. The first is an island apparently owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the only stuff on the small island seems to be geared toward handling a few thousand people for excursions and beach time. Rali and I took the first tender (cruise jargon for the smaller boat that takes people from a ship anchored offshore to a destination - a ferry) at around 7:30am and were in the first group of zip-liners on our first full day of the cruise. It was FUN! I wish the course was much longer, but the zip lines and elements in between them were fun. It was especially cool to sail over the crystal clear water seeing the our ship just off-shore, noticing the differences in depth and terrain, and trying but failing to name the color - colors - of the water. Turquoise, cerulean, clear, blue, green... Since we were on the island so early, we were able to grab two lounge chairs on the beach before the crowds came in, one tender at a time. At first we saved three additional seats thinking that Mom, Early, and Marilyn might join us at some point, but we made some others on the beach very happy when we gave up on that.
In the main swimming cove, there was a statue garden for snorkelers - what a whimsical, fun idea! In addition to colorful fish, white sands in ridges created by the movement of the water, and interesting sea grass and rocks, I came up pieces of shipwrecks and statues of mermaids, fish, a skeleton king, a treasure box, and more. Rali had tried snorkeling for the very first time a few days before off a beach in Marathon, FL. There was very little visibility in the water that day, and she found the experience to be, understandably, anxiety producing. In contrast, Rali not only was able to snorel quite well at Grand Skipper Key but also she really enjoyed it!

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