Snorkeling, Diving for Conch, and Hanging with Iguanas

Yesterday Mike and I were handed a brochure for various excursions you can take from our resort.  While we lounged on the beach, we flipped through it and saw one for snorkeling.  We had heard good things about it from multiple people, so we decided to sign up.  This morning at 9 AM, the boat came and got us for our adventure.

To quote Andy Samberg, "I'm on a boat!"

Mike and I, along with three other couples, set off on the incredibly choppy waters of the Atlantic to the reef that lies just beyond the island.  There were a couple moments when the current was getting so rough that I was getting nervous, but arriving at the reef made it all worth it.

Each person was given a pair of flippers and snorkeling goggles and was told to head out.  We set off from the side of the boat and began to explore.  The fish were all sorts of magnificent colors, ranging from white to purple to black and yellow.  I even saw one that was yellow and purple and thought it would be the perfect mascot for the Minnesota Vikings because its colors were exactly the same.  Since the water was so choppy, it pushed the fish in all sorts of directions that they didn't want to head into.  They were trying so hard to eat off of the coral but kept getting swept away.  Even I was getting swept away.  But it was a great time, especially since the last time I went snorkeling I kept getting water in my goggles, making it very hard to see anything.

After our group was done taking a peek at the ocean life, we left the Atlantic and headed towards the Caribbean Sea to go dive for conch.  While the water was much less choppy, the current was very strong.  I managed to find a conch within five minutes, but me being me, I went to pick it up and the seaweed freaked me out so I dropped it like a spaz.  A few minutes later, I found another one that was face up and got really excited, but manged to drop that one too.  After another fifteen minutes of searching, I found one, picked it up, and started to head back to our boat.  I was so proud of myself for finally finding one that I willed my tired legs to get me to the boat.  I arrived, beaming with pride, only to be told that the conch I found was too small and that I had to throw it back.  Needless to say, I was bummed.  And then to add insult to injury, Mike one- (or should I say three-) upped me by coming back to the boat with three conch.  Only one of them was big enough to keep, so we had to throw the rest back.  He was the only person that managed to find one big enough to hold on to, so that was pretty cool.

This is what the conch looked like in the water.

Our next stop was the uninhabited Iguana Island.  The first thing we did at Iguana Island was watch one of the crew members get the conch ready to eat.  First they hammered the shell, and then pulled the conch out of the shell and cut it up so that the meat could be prepared.  Fun fact: the conch spine is an aphrodisiac.  I tried it and I have to say that a.) it tasted like a salty spaghetti noodle and b.) it didn't really work.  Keep that in mind in case anyone ever tries to offer it to you.

A female iguana.

The iguanas on the island were only about a foot long.  One of our tour guides had a bag full of chopped up veggies that he would throw out so that the iguanas would come out.  They weren't really scared of us and they were really fun to watch scurry around.

On the other side of the island, there was a beautiful beach with amazing water where we went for a quick swim.  When we got back to the boat, conch salad was waiting for us.  It was a lot like ceviche, meaning it was absolutely delicious.  Now, the last time I went on a maritime excursion in the Caribbean, it did not end well for me.  So I really had to work on not eating a whole lot to prevent reliving the St. Martin's Boat Trip of '06 nightmare.  It was not easy, but I made it back to the resort without my lunch making a reappearance.  Overall, it was a success.

Conch salad.  Super yummy.

I'm really glad that we decided to go on this trip.  Usually I have reservations about excursions like this, but the guides were a lot of fun, as were the other couples, and I didn't feel like it was super kitschy.  It made for a great day.  Plus, we got to keep the conch shell that Mike found.  In my opinion, it is one of the coolest souvenirs that we have ever gotten.