St. Barths: So Much Fun, So Little Time!

Barracuda at Shell Beach



Trunkfish at Shell Beach



Sunset: Gustavia, St. Barths



Divemaster John


Today, Friday is our last full day on St. Barths. I’ve had so much fun that it will be difficult to leave tomorrow, but it will be time to return to home and get on with things as usual. We’ve been so busy that it has been tough to find time to write about all the fun things we’ve done, all the beautiful places we’ve seen, and the wonderful French cuisine here. Wednesday we visited one of the many beautiful “anse,” or coves that St. Barths is famous for. Each of these coves has a sand beach and crystal clear turquoise water. “Grand Cul De Sac” is on the North (Atlantic) shore and is sheltered by a coral reef. We had lunch at a beach front restaurant. I spent a couple of hours snorkeling over the reef while Dan and Richard went on to explore the East end of the island. Yesterday Dan and Richard went by fast ferry to the island of St. Martin. There they visited both the Dutch and French sides before returning to St. Barths at 6:15 PM. I spent the day scuba diving. I did two private escorted dives, just me and my handsome Corsican divemaster John. It was the first time I had dived in many years but it was a little like riding a bicycle – it comes back to you. I saw several sea turtles, a shark, and a great variety of colorful fish and aquatic life. It was such a great pleasure to dive once again. I had forgotten how beautiful it is down on the reef and how much fun it is to scuba dive. I’m glad I can still do it. I may not be able to do it much longer due to medical issues. Today we’ll have lunch at perhaps the most famous St. Barths gourmet restaurant: “Le Gaiac.” This afternoon Richard and Jim plan to try out a brand new underwater experience: we’ll don a diving helmet and walk underwater!