June 18 – 21 2010 Grand Bahamas trip

The trip began at 6pm Thursday June 17th. Picking up Jason and Tara, owners of Scubaextreme dive shop in Middleburg, Florida, we start the trip down to Ft. Lauderdale. We stop about 30 miles North of Ft. Lauderdale to spend the night at a friends home. Up and out the door by 6am Friday morning to continue our route to Port Everglades to catch our boat to the Bahamas. Grand Bahamas is the destination this day.

We hopped, skipped and jumped to our boat. OK, some walked. Discovery Cruise Lines was our carrier. A pretty cool boat.
The passage ways wind and do not follow the same path on either side. You will have to walk outside and take ladders up as you find them.
I lost more than 1/2 our guest the first day. I found them like 3 hours into the 4 hour trip. Some on the far upper deck sunning. Some in the movie theater, some I found we in cabins rented for the one way trip. The casino, which is where I spend some time.

If a table is not open, ask. They will open it.

Now, if you are a day tripper, someone who is visiting the island and returning the same day you cannot check luggage. We were spending 4 days in the Bahamas. One free checkon, around $15 for each additional and one carryon for both day and longer staying guests. Now, I found out later in the trip that there are lockers available to rent. If you are carrying a luggage aboard or a number of you are, like backpacks or roller cases, then a locker may be the way to go. Immediately after boarding the vessel, head forward, up the port hallway. You will see a sign for lockers. Around $11 for they trip. Now you are FREE to roam without lugging and carrying excess and are free to enjoy the entertainment.

The trip over was great. Sea conditions were perfect. Blue skys, blue seas.

We arrived Grand Bahamas early afternoon and head to our hotel Our Lucaya Beach Resort to check in.
A very nice hotel. Great room with ocean and pool views.

After everyone settled into their rooms, we met up to walk the square which is filled with shops and restaurants. We stop to eat at Pisces and order their specialty pizza, which had lobster, crab shrimp and other ingredients. I didn’t care fo rit too much. Too fishy for a pizza for me. Most went back to the hotel after dinner, some mozied around the square.

Saturday morning those who were diving met outside the hotel lobby. 13 of us were diving this morning. The dive shop picked us up and brought us to their shop. We signed those wavers and headed down to the boat to pick a spot on the boat and get our gear set up. I setup quickly so I may be available to film the guests.

We head out to our two dive spots, the first is called SS Minnow and the second Fish Farm. Sea conditions were about 2 foot swells and I got sick! Yea, I got sick, but I went diving. Should have taken that Triptone!

The SS Minnow is a small vessle turned up side down laying in about 65 feet of water. Three lionfish were spotted, two in the wreck and one around the wreck. Various other sea life was seen, yellow tail, seagent majors, wrasse, squirrels, eel, tunicates galore. The color was not as vibrant as I was hoping for but the life was nice. The second dive of the day had us in a shallow location, about 30 feet deep. We stayed shallow primarily to allow the newer divers or those who have not dove in awhile an opportunity to get their feet wet. For tomorrows dive, Sunday is expected to be deeper and more exciting.

After the Saturday morning dive, we headed back to our hotel, cleaned up and scoped out a place to eat. Hanging around the square, looking at the scenery and doing some shopping. Saturday night was restful for me. Long over due.

Sunday morning had us being picked up at around 11am to dive the Pigmy Caves followed by Shark Junction. Filming both dives, both site were very nice. The Pigmy Caves has a lot of nice corel heads to swim between and under. Trails of sand lead you towards shore or deeper water. A sort of playground if you will. Three spotted Eagle Ray was filmed by me. The first was close, the other two were a bit of a distance but I was able to capture one of our other divers who was lucky enough to be close by when they came through as he was taking pictures of the two rays. Very nice to see them.

The second dive of the day placed us on Shark Junction. Now this is what I’ve been waiting for. I was the first in, with video camera in hand. I look down and Bong! Sharks galore, and large grouper too. I wait on the surface to film some of the divers entering the water then I head down before they group gets to the bottom. I find a spot in the sand and position myself for taking video of the reef sharks that are all around me. Three or four large grouper were in the area and about 12 sharks. As the other divers began to decend the shark population began to dwindle. Perhaps because we did not have any food for them. This is a site where sharks are fed. That’s one of the reasons they hang around the area.

It was almost 7pm when were were ready to go out to get something to eat. We find a nice spot at Zorbas and order grouper, conch and octopus. Mmmm

Now, some decided to partey all night long. In fact, some did not return to their room until 6:30AM Monday morning. Check out is at 11AM, so 3 hours sleep was all they could get. At around 12, we head out to get a bite for lunch at The Corner Bistro offering 1/2 lb burgers for 6 bucks. Most ordered 1/2 lb burgers. We walk the plaza a bit and decide were going to the national forest. There you can walk to one of if not the most beautiful beach on Grand Bahamas. Some went swimming, some walked and took pictures. We then walked towards the cenotes and went down into them wehre we found bats. Just hanging on the ceiling and flying around. It was hot for sure. I think a lot of us were close to having a heat stroke. So wear a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. Carry plenty of water as well. Temperatures were close to 100 and the humidity was up there too. Not too bad, but you could feel the heaviness.
We make it back to the hotel just before 4pm to get our luggage, grab a cab and head to the port to catch our boat leaving back to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The ride back was uneventful. I almost won all my money back at the craps table that I lost on the way out, BUT instead of stopping, I played on and lost 1/2 of that, so I ended up down only $61. Not bad.
That will be the first time I ever walked away from the craps table in the negative. Fun though!
Dinner was served and salad and roasted pork and dressing was to die for. Drinking copious amounts of Perier, I ended up bloated with gas, lol. Should have detoured to water 🙂 .

Some of us watched movies, like Alice in Wonderland which I’m not sure one should watch that movie straight or on some kind of cough syrup. I watched it twice. Once on the way out, once of the return.

We returned at around 11pm Monday evening, and pulled out of the parking lot around 12:30am Tuesday. North bound we go, back to Jacksonville, Florida. With Jason behind the wheel, I’m riding shotgun and Tara in the back seat, getting all cozy under a blanket, head on the pillow, she slept most of they way home. While I was seeing triple vision at times, Jason did an excellent job of getting all of us home, including those following behind us.

I arrive home at 07:01AM Tuesday and in bed at 08:30am.

I downloaded all the video and I will be working on producing a small clip of the trip. Check back to see the video.

Larry

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