kill devil hills

the hawaiian honeymoon: maui beaches

the hawaiian honeymoon: o'ahu arrival

            

salt air, roll 3

salt air, roll 2

salt air, roll 1

rehoboth

jockey's ridge

st. thomas: day 6 (secret harbor)

The last full day of our trip we set out to find some really great snorkeling.  The Frommer's guide my mom brought along indicated that a place called Secret Harbor was worth checking out so we headed that way.  The beach is actually at a resort, but it's open to the public.  Parking was confusing and we were all nervous about getting the car towed by parking it in a resort parking spot but an employee gave us the OK and we walked to the sand.  The beach was quiet, small, and absolutely beautiful.  What we found under the water was even more incredible.  I saw sea turtles in their natural habitat for the first time (something I'd wanted to see the whole trip) as well as so many other fish and amazing coral.  I took a risk and put my D80 in my questionable underwater housing because the underwater scenery was too much to miss (although the Pentax does a pretty good job).  Some condensation did find its way in but my camera is okay.  Glad we waited to visit this beach til the last day--if we'd gone before that, we would have gotten spoiled!

st. thomas: day 5 (magen's bay)

It's Sunday and I'm not getting much else done anyway so I figured I'd make another post to hurry along the process of sharing these vacation photos.  So, on Thursday, we headed to Magen's Bay which is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  When we arrived, though, it was overcast and not so picturesque as I was expecting.  It rained a couple of times but we were in the water so it didn't make much of a difference and after awhile it cleared up and sure enough the beach was gorgeous!  The snorkeling wasn't good but there were birds diving for fish all over the place and eventually we found huge schools of little fish swarming around and avoiding being eaten.  Afterwards, we headed to the St. Thomas Dairy to get some delicious milkshakes (psst: they had alcohol in them) and then I went back to Zora's shop to get my sandals fitted.

st. thomas: day 3 (part 2: st. john's beaches)

After lunch and shopping in Cruz Bay, we got some pamphlets on where we could find the best snorkeling and set out in the Jeep.  We meant to go to Trunk Bay, a pretty famous one with an underwater trail, but it cost $4/person to get on the beach and parking was a nightmare, so we passed it up.  The first beach we did stop at was really beautiful but there wasn't much to see underwater, so after swimming around awhile we got back in the car and headed to a beach where we were sure to find something.  After a .8 mile hike along a rocky trail we ended up on a secluded beach and it was totally worth the walk.  So many great reefs and fish to be seen (got really worn out from swimming though!)

st. thomas: day 2 (part 2: coki point beach)

After donning our swimsuits and lathering up with plenty of sunscreen, we piled in the Jeep and headed across the island to our first beach destination: Coki Point Beach.  First, though, we had to make a stop at the Kmart to pick up some snorkel gear.  We finally arrived at our destination, were directed to park by some locals standing in the parking lot, and escorted to the shore past a graveyard and between some beach bars.  We were welcomed to Coki Point and told that it boasted the best snorkeling on the island...or was it in the whole Caribbean?  The locals asked if we wanted to rent any chairs ($5 each) and we settled in a partly shaded spot among some rocks.  After some fuss with getting all the snorkeling stuff out of the plastic packaging, we flopped into the water (so clear and blue--it was my first time being in tropical water like that).  I was armed with my Pentax Optio W90 (waterproof point and shoot) as well as a questionable waterproof housing for my DSLR that had a history of letting water in (but my brother took some silicone to the leaky spot and I hoped for the best).  Swimming with a DSLR in a puffed up plastic bag is a lot of work!