Oh, was I in store for a treat! This past Sunday, a friend told me she wanted to do the West End Snorkel Tour.  Sure, I said, but we have to do it this week, as I am STILL 9 months pregnant!

Jenny, a STX Newbie, set the whole thing up with St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA).  Their boat leaves at 10am in from the beach atSandCastle on The Beach Resort. 

The day was clear and sunny, about as perfect a day as you can get around here.  How bad could it be???  We did a quick HELLO on the GoToStCroix.com Beach Cam, then waded out in waist-deep water to the boat. 

We brought our own gear, but they of course can provide you with mask/fins/snorkel if you need them. Our snorkel guide, Erica and captain Jeff, gave us the run down on how un-complicated things were going to be and a routine safety briefing. 

And we were on our way. No Pier snorkeling today, as a Disney Cruise Ship was docked, and Homeland Security doesn’t really like that type of activity. Hmm, why weren’t there any guests from the ship on this tour?  They totally missed out.

A BEAULTIFL 7  minute boat ride later on the flattest, bluest water you have ever seen, Captain Jeff, put us in about 20 feet of water with a grassy, sandy bottom.  Um, hello: “No structure, No fish” was my first know-it-all thought.  But, what else am I going to do?  The laundry?  Go to the grocery store?  This was far much more exciting than any mundane chore I could of done today.

Our group of four (fabulous girls, I might add) donned our gear and splashed in.  Mine was sort of a roll with the belly, and all.  And guess what I saw?  A grassy, sandy bottom.  Erica led us on a hunt that turned out very successful.  Lots of beautiful conch shells, urchins, a turtle and a sting ray.  That is what you see on a grassy, sandy bottom.  Did you say you were shoveling snow? 

Erica kept a watchful eye on us and pointed out other interesting little fish.  Jenny & I had a tag along.  Our own “little Nemo” that tried to stay protected in shelter of our bodies.  I could not stop laughing because it just hovered in front of my mask, as to say “Follow me, I know where all the good stuff is!”

About this time…my underwater camera battery went dead.  Please accept my apologies for lack of cool photos.

We boarded the boat after about 35 minutes in the water.  A member of the group asked Captain Jeff if he ever saw dolphins out here.  I kept my mouth shut; not my tour; but ya, we see dolphins out there quite frequently, but the chance of seeing them today was..unlikely.  Or was it?  Captain Jeff barely had time to answer the question when two dolphin jumped out of the water about 15 yards from the boat.  Really? 

REALLY!

We were squealing like school-girls! It was the coolest thing!  Jeff watched them to see where they were headed and slapped the side of the boat to call them up and keep their attention.  He quickly got the boat in gear to move us closer to them; we quickly got our gear back on and were ready to jump in!

And there we were.  The five of us, in the water with two wild dolphins swimming around, between, upside-down, above and below us.  The only word I can use to describe it is exhilarating.  It was a rush.  I would look down at my fins and there was a dolphin on his back, looking BACK up at me! Twisting and turning.  Were THEY getting a kick out of this just as much as we were?  I can imagine the silly story they got to tell their dolphin buddies later that day: Did you see the one with the BIG BELLY?  What was up with that one?

Photos?  Well, thankfully there was a rental-camera on the boat that I was allowed to use and snap as much as my racing heart would allow.  How can these photos NOT make you smile?  How can you NOT transport yourself into these pictures while you are sitting at your desk, supposed to be working?

We got to spend a good 10 minutes with these incredible creatures.  It was thrilling.  I could not wipe the smile off my face the rest of the day!  How could you top that?

With some time remaining, the crew took us to a second locale just a bit north of the resort and in shallow water.  It didn’t matter what we were going to see or not see, we just swam with dolphins!  BUT, we got in the water and was surprised to see large heads of brain coral, elk-horn coral, both big and small, TONS of sea fans, all surrounded by colorful reef fish darting in and out of the bottom structure.  What a terrific trip!

We loaded back onto the boat and was back to the resort in less than 5 minutes.  We could not stop talking about the trip, about what we got to see, how lucky we were to swim with the dolphins, how happy we were to see coral heads and fish on this side of the island, and what a great job Jeff & Erica did to ensure we had a memorable trip!

Jenny also pointed out that there was NO RUSH.  Erica was very accommodating to everyone’s needs.  Jenny & I were having fun playing with our tag-a-long Nemo, while the others were headed towards the boat.  Their goal was to make sure we had a good time.  And we did.

Was our day unique?  Could you have this same experience?  I don’t see why not.  And I suggest you make it happen.  It was truly one of the coolest things I have been able to do as a “tourist” on St. Croix!  THANKS JENNY and thanks SCUBA!

***Snorkeling tours are not unique to the west end, and SCUBA is not the only one who does them. Dive Experience offers a tour to Green Cay which I hear is pretty fabulous as well.***

NOTE TO CRUISE SHIP GUESTS:  Find out more about this short snorkeling excurion available just minutes from the boat.

And are they aware they are at the beach way too overdressed?  Is this a small wedding ceremony on the beach at Sandcastle?  I was reminiscing about the fabulous snorkel tour I had yesterday out west and wanted to see if my dolphin friends were waving to me from the Beach Cam.  They weren’t, but I caught these interesting characters.  Maybe they were having a “business lunch”.

They are going to get no-kind-a tan with all those clothes on!