Travel to Buck Island...

Today, we took a short hop over to Buck Island to do some snorkeling, and to hang out on the white sandy beach that appears over there. Also, the guys who took us over there said that on the far end of the beach, there were or are some lemon sharks that will come in, and grab food from the shore. Having just finished reading Devil's Teeth, a book about white sharks that inhabit just outside San Francisco for a good part of the fall, I was wanting to see some sharks up close, but not too close if you know what I mean.

The trip to Buck Island took about 40 minutes or so in a powerboat. Apparently, there aren't that many groups, or companies that are allowed to take people out there, and since it is a national monument, or national park sort of like Joshua Tree, and also since it is an island, you can't just take your own boat there. You have to be permitted to do so. We found a company called Caribbean Sea Adventures who takes people out there. We signed up, and rolled on out. This was the first time that I have actually snorkeled unless you count paddling around in my Aunt and Uncle's pool with a leaky snorkel, and a leaking swim mask, so this was a little adventure for me. 

I've got to say, and for people who really know me and know about my "fear" of all things in the ocean, this was a great time. Tons of coral, and coral formations, tons of brightly colored fish, the surf moving around, and seeing things on a living reef was pretty sweet. During the course of the snorkeling trip, I actually saw a barracuda. And while the guidebooks, and the guides themselves tell us that they won't really do anything to you, unless you provoke the barracuda, I gave this guy a wide berth anyway, just in case. You could see the sharp little point teeth coming out of his mouth, so I would not like to get chomped down on with those little daggers. We got to swim around the reef for about an hour or so, and then they loaded us up, and took us over to the beach. The best part about the reef, and everything there, there was a little path mapped out on the floor of the ocean with large blocks of stone, that had plaques on them indicating the direction, and different things that you might see while snorkeling around down there. If you ever come down this way, to St. Croix, I recommend taking a half day trip out there to see this. It is pretty damn amazing what you can see underneath the water over at Buck Island.