We woke up at 7:00 am, got our suits on and waited for room service to arrive with breakfast. Our excursion left promptly at 8:05 and we were soon in our mini van being whisked thru town by Eustice our driver.
The island of Antigua is mostly flat so it was quite different than the other islands, we have visited.
We aren't sure why, but Sammy was off today. She was already reciting Dr Seuss. But she was the first to see the rainbow on the ride out... Tyler spotted the second!
We arrived at Sting Ray Bay and were quickly sent out on our boat to the reef. It was appx 20 min by boat... A beautiful ride!
We spent quite a bit of time by the reef. We were in 3.5-4 ft of crystal clear water. As the boats pulled up, the sting ray began to crowd the reef for feeding. The larger rays, the females, were up to 5ft long!!! I'll be honest, it was pretty intimidating!
Tyler was still pretty nervous but we had a very friendly guide come over and share all sorts of facts with us. Tyler shared what he already knew and the man was impressed. (His son watches similar tv shows so they chatted about characters etc for a bit). It was just what Tyler needed to feel safe. The guide even went on to help Tyler feed a sting ray!!! He was so proud of himself!
After we got out we took another boat ride appx 10 minutes to a dock hidden in the mangroves where we boarded our kayaks.
We navigated through the mangroves, learned about the ecosystem and held star fish, jelly fish and sea cucumbers. It was very educational!
Another shower was blowing in as we finished up so we got quite a work out making the last long dash across the water as the winds picked up.
Everyone was tired for the boat ride home and with the rain coming down, it was a perfect excuse to cuddle up under the towels.
Back at the main grounds, we checked out the iguanas and maccaws. I stubbed my toe really good and had to visit the first aid station.
Eustice drove us back to the boat and we walked the final leg in a very soaking rain. We returned to our stateroom around 12:30, ready for a warm shower and very hungry!
After we were cleaned up, we visited Sammy's "favorite restaurant" again and got to visit with Savio, our server for supper each night. We headed back to our room for the afternoon.
Scott took a nap. The kids took turns with iPads and movies. I listened to my book on the patio.
We had off and on showers most of the afternoon. This was a good thing as the island was short of surface water and is experiencing somewhat of a drought.
As the afternoon wore on, I took the kids for a walk, Scott and Sammy went to play foos ball, and Tyler and I played Uno.
We asked that our dinner to delivered to our room again. It really is lovely and just perfect for our family... still the great food but without the noise and crowd.
We sampled four desserts that were simply heavenly... Banana crime brûlée, bananas foster sundae, Apple pie ala mode, and (the kids favorite) chocolate lava cake. Mmm.
We decided to skip tonight's show and instead, went up on deck to watch a movie on the big screen under the stars... Ratatouille.
After getting into the movie a while, we realized they had opened the pool and hot tub so we quick ran back for our suits and finished the remainder of the movie from the water. It was so relaxing!
Then we made a quick trip to the gift store and back to our stateroom for bed!
The seas are very calm tonight with low winds... It's a very comfortable night to be on deck!
