Bahamas 2011

Chad and I returned from a week long trip to the Bahamas. We stayed on the island of Grand Bahama where we snorkled, kayaked, shopped and played for 7 blissful days!

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The snorkling was amazing at Paradise Cove's Deadman's Reef. We swam with giant Parrotfish, Barracuda, and Sea Turtles. There were also Stingray's but I only saw one close to the shore as I was putting my snorkling gear on. Last summer I was finally able to pop my ears underwater, so now I can dive under the water and stir up the fish at about 15-20 feet below. If the reef was deeper I would've been able to go deeper :).

Chad and I are posing here on one of our first shopping trips to Port Lacaya. You can tell because we are so white!

Here I am sunning myself after snorkling Deadman's Reef. The water was about 80 degrees and made for a couple chilly spots. We snorkled for a couple hours the first time we went out and after regrouping went out for another hour until time to get a ride back to the resort.

Group shot, resting after snorkling.

Eating....always eating on vacation. The main staple on Grand Bahama is Conch. It is served raw, fried, in soup, in salads, in burger form, almost anyway you can think of. It's a molusk type creature that lives inside conch shells. On the island you can buy a huge, polished conch shell for $8. But as Chad and I walked the beaches and streets of the neighborhoods around us we found piles and piles of conch shells disgarded like garbage along the roads. All of a sudden these giant, beautiful shells seemed worthless ;).

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One of the excursions Chad wanted to do was sea kayaking to the Mangrove's of the islands. This is where the island and plants naturally create more land and expand the island's size. It was a fascinating walk to Gold's Beach, Ben's Caves and the national forest on the island.

Cave diving is a big draw to this part of the Bahamas and after being down in Ben's caves we can see why. Chad is scuba certified but didn't think to bring his card with him and go diving. After seeing what amazing diving opportunities we missed I'm getting certified this year, so I can join Chad on our next tropical get-away.

Here we are posing on Gold Beach near the national forest on the island. The beaches were gorgeous everywhere we went. The sand was powdery soft and fine.

Relaxing in a hammock on the beach! Our trip was all about enjoying each other and our precious time. We planned a couple fun excursions to take advantage of the tropical paradise but we also made sure to plan days of relaxation, laughter and maximum couple-time. We felt truly rejuvinated and ready for the trip back to reality and the demands of life.