Puerto Rico Trip - Day 5: Miscommunication (5/4/11)

Took the 1pm ferry to vieques instead of the 930am like originally planned as I thought they would be on the later one as well. I woke up and had tons of voicemails and texts from the group I was to go with wondering where I was; clearly I should have just stuck with the plan. I hung out a bit with R and then got my ferry and got over to the Tradewinds hostel via a taxi where Shantanu was waiting for me. The others had rented scooters and snorkeling equipment and were exploring different shores of the island. S puts his equipment on and swims to a distant island while I chill on the beach waiting for everyone to meet back up. 

We used this rickety old pier to get as close to that island as we could before Shantanu jumps in and starts his marathon swim. 

Lots of boats in the water on a beautiful day. 

Part of the pier we were walking along. Before this cement block, there were wood beams  we had to tightrope over to get out to this point. 

Shantanu is prepped and ready to start his long ass swim.

He made it over safely. He proceeded to walk around the island and explore it in his spare time (he almost missed the BioBay experience cause it took him a while to get back to the hostel). 

Boat on the water. It was nice walking along the beach on this tiny island enjoying the weather and pretty views.

We meet up (S was almost late as the swim seemed to take longer than he expected – it was a far swim) and the company picks us up and pairs us up before taking some crappy roads into this reserve to get to the bay. After a short lesson, we are told to jump in. Which is awesome as now we get to swim with the plankton and get to have them respond to us instead of just oars. We paddled to the boundary and can see fish swimming in the water because of the plankton lighting up. Really cool. We get back and shower and then try and find food, which is a tough ordeal as all the places are closing up (its 930pm – clearly this island is not known for its nightlife). Eventually find Lazy Jacks and have some delicious pizza and drinks before going to Duffys to get some drinks to go where Paul and I stay up to drink the beers and relax before turning in for the night.

The gang grabbing some food at the only place open at 930pm. Celebrating the great day and the amazing experience of swimming in the BioBay.