We wanted to explore a reef more on the ocean side of the island. We had seen a trail to the nearby beach but we had not hiked it and were not sure if you could swim from the beach to the reef. Also, it is kind of comforting to have the dinghy nearby unless it is really close.
Alice had been at O’Brien’s but moved over here, anxious to explore. She offered to take us in her dinghy. We could not plane but we were steady and moved along quickly. We stayed close to shore and went out toward Conch Cut. Then we pulled in the first cove. The reef was on the edge of this cove. We had some swells as we went around but Alice handled them well. We could see the beach for Rachel’s bubble bath on Compass Cay in the distance. We could also see the Rocky Dundas caves. Both were across the cut and far and none of us wanted to attempt that crossing with the wind and waves.
We got out and snorkeled along. It was close to slack tide so there was not much current and we could swim easily. We were hoping for a healthier reef as had been described, but it was about the same as other reefs we have seen. It was still beautiful with some very large fish. We were all able to climb back in Alice’s dinghy.
We headed back around, much easier going down wind with the swells. We determined that the beach was close enough for a swim snorkel on a calm day.
On the way back, we stopped and snorkeled the small islets with Alice. An eagle ray swam through again as we were returning to the boat. Alice spotted it, beautiful!
After lunch, David and I decided to try a paddle board, rowing adventure to Blue Hole Beach. It was easier to row and paddle in the lee of the shore and we saw turtles and stingrays cruising along. When we got to shore at Blue Hole Beach, we parked our boats and after a short rest that I requested, we walked the trail over to the ocean beach where we had snorkeled earlier.
The trail was sandy with adorable small palms. The beach on the other side was flour sand and you can cross some rocks in the middle to walk the whole beach. We swam in the ocean waves, then walked back, swam in the blue pool, then headed back to the boat, spotting turtles on the way. As I was approaching the boat, A huge ray breached again behind us. I got to see the whole thing this time from my paddle board. Huge splash!
We were good and tired. but we tried to get a little ready for a big adventure tomorrow. We plan to go over to O’Brien’s cay in the morning and snorkel a place called The Aquarium. We will come back here in the afternoon.
