disclaimer: I do not sing this song nearly as good as Jessie from Full House.
A guide to the Caribbean: Bermuda, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Tortolla, St. Thomas, and the Turks and Caicos
The Caribbean Islands are extremely accessible & inexpensive to cruise to for a quick getaway from the States. If sailing to Bermuda, I recommend leaving from Baltimore or New York, Florida for the rest. I absolutely loved all of the beautiful islands. A combination of relaxation, adventure, and a little bit of partying into our trips. Below is an outline of what we did and some suggestions.
Bahamas
Where to: Half Moon Cay, Coco Cay, and Nassau.
The Bahamas are relatively close to the coast of Florida and the water is impeccably blue at each and every island. For a quick getaway, The Bahamas is a perfect escape to paradise. Nassau is the capital and most people go there for the resort, Atlantis. You can slide down a waterslide enclosed in a tank of sharks! Or you can visit the huge aquarium that often has mermaids swimming in it. The resort is definitely whimsical. But the city- well its a bit crowded so I wouldn’t suggest the public beaches when there are private islands a few miles away.
Coco Cay is known for the Coco Loco that are rum, banana, and coconut filled drinks seen in every swimmer’s hand. If you would like additional rum, the waiters come right into the bay with a bottle of rum to top you off. The bay was ultra calm and felt like a huge swimming pool so many people bring flotation devices. For me, I prefer flippers and a snorkel. My pops and I swam outside of the bay area to find the best snorkeling spot. We are notorious for losing track of time and place while snorkeling until we are over a mile off shore. This specific time, we snorkeled for over two hours. The water was about 30 feet deep where we were swimming and at one point, we were surrounded by stingrays and a school of fish.
Half Moon Cay: At Half Moon Cay, Mijo and I rode horses on the beach and went swimming with them in the ocean. After this we had some rum shakers, played a game of volleyball, ate at a Bahamian buffet, and *tried* to snorkel. The water was absolutely gorgeous but there was not one piece of coral or fish so it felt like I was snorkeling in a pool and got boring quickly.
Bermuda
For our cruise to Bermuda, we stayed 3 days and two nights. I definitely prefer this rather than the 8 am- 5pm docking that most cruises do. We had an absolute blast and for three days we cliff dived, snorkeled, and jet skied in the day and went dancing in the night. Mijo and I absolutely love to jet ski and do it as much as possible when we go on vacations. This was definitely our favorite because the water was so blue and we had the jet skies for over two hours. We jet skied around Micheal Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ water bungalow and fed huge fish at the shipwreck located about a mile off shore. We raced the other couples (and obviously had to win because we are competitive like that). Our favorite bar is Bonefish which is literally a few meters from where our cruise ship docked. The bartenders are great and there is salsa and cha cha night every night we were there. The drinks are very expensive though. Mijo and I bought two beers and two shots and it was almost $50. You have been warned. The best beach on the island is Horseshoe Beach. It has the iconic pink sand and hundreds of limestone rocks and caves to go exploring or cliff diving. The beach is easily accessible via bus which is about $7 for a round trip and takes about 20 minutes each way.
Puerto Rico
Where to: San Juan & El Yunque Rainforest
Our cruise ship docked at San Juan. There are plenty of day trips you can do or you can just explore the old town. We did a bit of both- we went to the El Yunque rainforest, also known as the Mount Olympus of Central America and the old town of San Juan at night. The ancient gods are said to live at the top of the rainforest’s mountain. The forest is filled with coqui frogs, waterfalls, and bioluminescent mushrooms. Fun fact: there are still shamanic spiritual rituals performed here. At night, we sampled some Puerto Rican coffee and explored the fortified city of San Juan.
St. Thomas:
We did not have nearly enough time on this beautiful island. We did not get to explore the towns but I can suggest the two best beaches (we always make time for beaches)- Emerald Bay and Megan’s Bay. They are a must while in St. Thomas.
Tortolla
Just a short boat trip away from St. Thomas is the British Virgin Island of Tortolla. On the way, you pass by Blackbeard’s cave, which comes with the famous lore that the pirate’s crew left him to die here. You also pass my St. John’s. There are boats going out from the main harbor every hour so its extremely easy to do some island hopping. The island was absolutely gorgeous. The sea turns from deep cobalt blue to a turquoise as you draw nearer to the huge rocks that surround the island. There is a lagoon of the most magnificent color water. The lagoon has two dolphins in it that we got to swim with! My dolphins name was Bolivar and he was a perfect gentleman. It was pricey (as is all dolphin encounters) at around $200 and if you want pictures- that’ll cost you too. I think it’s one of those things that you do once and your satisfied. There’s also ziplining on the island if dolphins are not your thing.
Turks and Caicos
margaritaville, turkshead beer, rum runners (see a pattern? The Caribbean has an abundance of rum) and a little bit of ocean trampolining and snorkelling in the mix.
