Cruise 2012 | Day 5 {Tortola, BVI}

Before we left for the cruise, we had only booked one excursion, which was our kayaking and snorkeling adventure in Antigua. Excursions generally are so expensive and depending on what's going may determine whether or not you want to get off the boat. We decided that we wanted to see what excursions were available for our next port which was Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Tortola was not very far from St. Thomas but the itinerary was Tortola on the way back. Jimmy and Chell found a sailboat/snorkeling excursion that they thought sounded like fun so we went down to guest services and booked it. We had a $200 on board credit, so we used that to pay for the excursion. The lady at guest services told me that it was a good thing we booked when we did because there was only 1 ticket left, after we booked ours! We got on a large catamaran and set out across the bay on an hour boat ride. We sat in the front and got soaked. I felt bad because Chell asked if we'd get wet and I said, "oh no, I don't think so". Well, evidently last time I went on a catamaran ride, I must have ridden in the back because I didn't get wet at all. Oops! On the ride over, we saw a huge sea turtle swimming along right under the surface of the water. It came up for air and then dove back down, disappearing beneath the waves. It was really neat.

Nathan, Jimmy & Chell

Turns out that the island we were going to was the island that Robert Lewis Stevenson based the book Treasure Island on. Also, Necker Island (where Sir Richard Branson lives) was right "around the corner" so to speak, from where we were docked in port. One of the islands that we passed was called "Virgin Gorda" or the Fat Virgin. Legend goes that Christopher Columbus named it Virgin Gorda because it looked like a fat  virgin laying on her side. Well, the story also goes that Mr. Columbus must have been standing on one leg drinking a big bottle of rum when he named the island. No one can figure out how he saw what he did. Haha! Only an imagination and a lot of rum could have congured up the fat virgin.

Let me tell you that the snorkeling in Tortola was some of the best ever. Not that I'm a very seasoned snorkeler, however it was amazing. This experience was completely different than that on Antigua. While Antigua was very shallow and the reef right under the water, Tortola was very different. The water was very deep but so clear  you could see the sunlight penetrate right to the bottom. The reefs were very large and there were many, many types of fish. We saw another sea turtle swimming very close to us and then he dove to the bottom. We watched him for a while until we couldn't see him anymore. There were caves that you could snorkel in. I opted not to do this after hearing another swimmer say that they were very dark and you couldn't really see anything. The current was pretty strong but the boats had us blocked in such a way that I wasn't as worried about it as in Antigua. The only thing about Tortola was that the "snorkeling" vests we had on were pretty much only good for spotting people in the water, not for keeping you afloat. Also, you had to clip them through your legs which did not make for an attractive view from the back end. If the air started to go out, you'd blow on a tube to re-inflate yourself. We were able to get some really good video of the fish and reef. After about 30 minutes of snorkeling, we went off to another island where we were able to either bask in the sun, swim, or keep snorkeling. Nathan went off to snorkel while I was content to walk in the shallow water and look for shells. Jimmy and Chell hung out with me for a while and then Chell got out of the water to go take pictures around the island.

A good portion of the island is owned by Amway

An old nail

Almost reminded me of the rocky beach in Maine...Almost

Earlier that morning, Jimmy came to our room and got the ring from us. Earlier in the week, I inadvertently deactivated the safe by using the wrong card! We had to call for someone to come open it. I was really glad that Jimmy didn't decide that he wanted to propose that day (as if my opinion mattered- lol) because I would have felt really bad, if we'd had to tell him-- um, yeah, bozo over here locked your ring in the safe and we can't get it open.

You can barely see Chell in this picture but she walked down a path to take some pictures and Jimmy got ready to go pop the question. :)

I couldn't help but spy just a little bit. I was so happy and excited for them and Nathan kept telling me to quit spying like a nosy neighbor. hehe! Obviously by the pictures below, SHE SAID YES!!! :) They walked back over to get ready to head back to the ship and I have never seen that guy smile so much in his life. :)
 

Ring from her grandmother. Beautiful!! :)

They couldn't resist texting family and friends in a rare moment of  phone service

Congratulations!

Look at that water! 

We sailed for another hour back across the bay to our waiting ship. Once again, we ate a late lunch and took a nap. Can you see a reoccurring theme here??  Tortola was beautiful. We would definitely go back!