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Published: June 27th 2015
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Andrew in the Cockpit
Our pilot on the right (no it's not Lauren) was Barbara. The helicopters only seat four (including the pilot) so John and Lauren were in a second helicopter. We awoke to beautiful blue skies and headed over (at a leisurely pace) to the extensive breakfast buffet. When the hostess seated us, a curlew (about the size of a duck, but with very long legs) that had been hiding out beneath our table scurried out to forage for dropped pastries. It was a startling sight at first but after several meals we’ve concluded that the open air restaurants make it impossible to keep these birds out. After breakfast we still had some time before the day’s big event so we headed over to the marina to see the daily feeding of Jacko, a 500 pound grouper. The event is mostly an attraction for the under-eight set, but we quite enjoyed watching the giant fish jump out of the water to grab food from the brave employee who dangled it. Our big excursion was an afternoon helicopter tour. Because the copters only seat three in addition to the pilot, we needed two for the four of us. After lift-off from the resort marina, we were off to Whitehaven Beach, a magnificent strip of pristine white sand on an uninhabited island. This is one of those places that makes lists of the
Tidepools at Whitehaven
The swirling green of the tidepools was like abstract art against the pristine white sand. “ten most beautiful beaches in the world.” We didn’t have the place entirely to ourselves (several small groups had come by boat) but it was close. After giving us some stunning aerial views of the islands, we set down right on the beach and had about an hour to explore and enjoy some refreshments before taking off again. In addition to the gorgeous crystal clear blue water, we discovered that the dry sand, (95% silica we are told) squeaks loudly if you drag your feet over it. Next, we flew out over deep water to reach the outer reef, again getting some great views from the air. The copters took extra time to give us a great tour of the reef from the air, including circling twice over “heart reef”. We eventually set down on a platform adjacent to “Reef World” and made the short trip over to the pontoon by boat. This anchored platform, with on-board snorkeling and diving gear, changing rooms, and even an underwater viewing platform, is a resource to enable groups of snorkelers and divers to explore the outer reef. One of the great perks of the helicopter tour is that it is timed to arrive
Whitehaven Beach
The pilot called this the "postcard shot". Even though it looks completely empty, we did have to share the beach with a few boaters. just as the large daily tour boat departs, allowing a small group of us (this day it was our family of four plus two others) to enjoy the platform and the reef free of crowds. The snorkeling was at least as spectacular as what we saw earlier in our trip, and it was great to have the freedom to move about and enjoy the reef on our own. John was excited to see Christmas Tree Worms, which we had learned about at “Reef Teach” (and would otherwise have missed) and enjoyed diving down to startle them into quickly retracting into their holes. After getting our fill of snorkeling, we took a quick peak at the underwater viewing chamber – also great to look at without the crowds. There we saw a grouper even larger than Jacko that hangs around below the pontoon, as well as a large school of smaller fish. In addition, we saw several fish, called “trevally” through the glass that we had also seen snorkeling. They were quite large and their rapid movements seen while snorkeling had been startling. We had some refreshments before boarding the copters and heading back to the resort, mostly over deep water,
as the sun was starting to go down. Having skipped lunch, we headed back to the poolside restaurant for some cocktails and pre-dinner snacks and Andrew persuaded Sonia to go for a swim in the warmer freshwater pool before our late dinner reservation. Sonia and Andrew explored the pool end-to-end (as has become their tradition) and then found the one very deep area to practice touching the bottom. They ended their swim by working their way back to their towels with an agreement to roll their bodies across any of the several non-swimmable barriers they encountered on their journey. We were all tired for our dinner at Amici, and quickly to bed after dinner.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Perfection
Wow, what a photo!