Woodruffs Of the Caribbean: Catching Up Part 2- Snorkling

In November I was also able to go on one of the greatest snorkeling trips ever-I went with a group from the school. We went to Champagne and Scotts head. I had the most amazing time on this trip. I must have, I have repeated it 3 more times since then! I will give a good explanation of each location here, and after that it’s your job to just remember what each place is when I write my future blog posts about them.

First: Champagne Reef- Any of you faithful blog readers should know that I stopped at Champagne reef on my very first Island tour a week after getting here, but back in those days when I was young and foolish I didn’t know where to go to find the good snorkeling....actually, that trip I didn’t even bring my snorkel gear. What a fool I was. This time I was with a big group and many people had been there before and were able to show me the amazing sights there. Champagne has a wonderfully diverse reef that is stunning to behold. It’s signature trait are the streams of water bubbles that are pouring up from the ocean floor, making it seem as though you are swimming through a Champagne bottle, hence the name. These streams start almost immediately after you get in the water, when you swim out further it’s just beautiful Blue Ocean and exciting reef.

Also, the beach here is all rock, which I love! I love not getting sand everywhere, when I lay down on it, it feels like I am getting a hot stone massage, and the noise the rocks make when the ocean pulls them too and fro with the waves is superlative. First the waves hit the wall of rocks and the result is a thunder like crash that will awake your every fiber. As the wave recedes it pulls all the smaller rocks back into the ocean with it. Remember those rain sticks we use to play with in music class in Elementary school? All you had to do was flip it over and it would sound just like rain lightly falling. Maybe you don’t remember. I sure do, because of my inability to keep any measurable rhythm or beat; it was the only instrument I could play. All the other kids would be sitting in a circle hitting there 2 little sticks together chanting “Ta-Ta-Tee-Tee-Ta” and there I was just sitting in the corner with the rain stick. I also struggle with keeping Tune- Something my father constantly teased me about as a child. Anyways, I am getting really off track. The point is, when the rocks role out with the waves that's exactly what it sounds like. The combination of the 2 noises is absolutely therapeutic for the soul. The perfect blend of excitement and relaxation, something that is also found at the next location we visited.

(The Bubbles!!)

My Bubbles!

I would really love to say these are bubbles from the ocean, but really it was a group of scuba divers.

Props to Shannon on the under water photo bomb, also, I am laughing really hard, Jen must have told a funny joke...

Do you see what I see??

It was a Puffer Fish!! Its hard to tell, but he is huge! The little fish around him are about the size of my hand.

Group Shot! Lots of the best pictures I stole from Stephanie, our beautiful and talented photographer, thanks Steph!!

Second: Scotts Head- This is located at the very southern tip of the Island. (I live very close to the North end tip of the island. The drive is about 1.5hr from my house. This is where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea meet. There is a great hill you can climb (Short 7min hike) that gives you the most spectacular view of the ocean and Island. There is a little strip of land that has Caribbean to one side and Atlantic to the other. The difference in them is Amazing! The Caribbean ocean is so calm and chill....while the Atlantic roars, crashes and is always exciting. Again, the perfect blend of excitement and relaxation, this time more for your eyes to be able to see both in 2 different bodies of water at once. There is a beautiful little beach here on the Caribbean side. The sand is white (most places on the island the sand is black) so the water is crystal clear here. There is a slow sandy decline into the water. The unique thing about Scotts head is the reef is not under you-its beside you. Eventually the sand hits the drop off, and it’s pure ocean after that. Just a deep, dark, endless abyss. For the good snorkeling you hug around the island for as far as you can. You can tell when you start swimming closer to the Atlantic side because the ocean gets much rougher. The little piece of the island you swim around is a high hill above you, and below you it goes down farther then you could ever possibly see with natural eyes. Growing alongside it is a great reef.

To be honest my favorite thing about Scotts Head is not the Reef. I absolutely can’t help myself from swimming out into open water every time I get out there. I will float out a distance (a SAFE distance mom!) and just stare. The ocean is a pretty blue color and when I am looking straight down into it, I can’t see anything but this blue. My face is down in the water, my ears are covered in the water so I can’t hear anything. Its salt water so I float without trying, all I can really feel is my heart beating, and my lungs breathing. No real smells...no real taste. Just blue. You know when your TV is waiting for input and it’s just that blank blue screen, it’s like that...but on my life, just waiting for input. Pure, unspoiled me. Just my thoughts, my memories, my dreams, my fears, my loves. It’s one of the best things I have ever experienced and that’s what I spend a majority of my time doing when I am out there. But from what I have seen of the reef it’s great.

THE DROP OFF?! WHY DON'T WE JUST FRY THEM UP NOW AND SERVE THEM WITH CHIPS?!

Above is Liz playing with some Fishies, and bellow is Steph who is normally taking the pictures. See how Steph is out in that blue I was talking about? Love it out there!

This is the Atlantic Side, We stepped in it just to say we had been in 2 oceans in one day.

On the trip with the school we also stopped to eat at a place called Zam Zams. It was Mexican food that was decent but I probably won’t go back there. But I did have a great time with some great people.