This morning started off quite slow. Tavis may have had a bit too much to drink lastnight and was quite sluggish in the morning. I went up to the buffet to get breakfast and tried to find something for Tavis, but he was not into eating. I am really going to miss my morning fruit, pastries, and bacon when we get off the ship.
A noon, we all met up at the buffet. Everyone seemed to eat on a different schedule so some of us snacked while others had a full lunch. By 13:15, we met in our stateroom and we all made our way off the ship to the meeting point for our “Sail & Snorkel” adventure. We had instructions to meet our driver at the gate at 13:45.
We arrived at 13:30 and sat in the hot sun, but there was a nice breeze so it wasn’t unbearable. Just before 14:00, the van finally arrived and we piled into the large grey van (not at all what I pictured when we were told a mini van would pick us up). We took off right away, and didn’t even leave the port before our driver stopped and ran out of the vehicle. We were quite confused as we sat there in the van with 7 other people and no driver for almost 10 minutes! Finally, he came back and we were on our way,
We pulled up to the marina about 15 minutes south of the Port. He dropped us off in front of a line of sail boats and directed us toward the 45ft sailboat at the end. We all climbed onboard and within minutes, Captain Nick was navigating us away from the slip. The skies were cloudy and a perfect temperature.
During the 1 hour cruise out to our first stop, Ari asked if he could sit on the bow of the yacht. Captain Nick gave him a thumbs up. While the rest of us were crammed in the back , Ari had the entire front, under the sails, to himself. Part way out, Tavis joined him, then a bit later, I ventured out as well. It was actually a thrill being out under the huge sail.
As we got to our first stop, Captain Nick maneuvered us into place and let down the anchor. Within minutes of stopping, the rain began to dance on the sea. It was the first rainfall we’ve seen all summer and it was spectacular. Ari asked if he could still swim and Captain Nick put the platform down and gave him a thumbs up. Ari was half in the water in no time while the rest of us had no intentions of venturing into the sea with such a storm among us. He didn’t want to go in alone though. I figured, we couldn’t come this far and not swim in the Greek islands so I peeled off my wet bathing suit cover and slowly climbed into the sea.
The temperature of the water was warmer than most pools. It was especially warm compared to the cold rain falling in large splatters all around us. One of our Dutch friends offered us the use of their snorkels and before long, Ari and I were mesmerized by the hundreds of fish swimming among us. After 30 minutes, Tavis and Ayva joined us. Shortly after, we had all 12 passengers swimming in the water. By this time, the lightening was striking all around us and the thunder was quite loud. Most of the fish had moved on, but there were still quite a bit to admire. After swimming for almost 45 minutes in a thunder and lightening storm, I decided to get out. When everyone else came out, we all went down underneath and enjoyed a nice lunch that Captain Nick had prepared while we were in the water.
After eating, we pulled up the anchor, and Ari asked Captain Nick if he could please take us to the caves. He navigated us to another spot where he set the anchor. We thought we could see the caves from the boat, but he informed us they were best viewed by swimming through. No one was eager to get back in the water, but Ari wanted to go in. I dove in first and he quickly followed. As we swam toward the caves, everyone else seemed to slowly follow. When we got to the cliffs, I was amazed at how smooth the rocks were. There were live coral around as well. The captain of the other yacht was in the water with us. He took us through the cave 7 at a time. We were able to walk in, but then we had to dive under the back to get out. It was a crazy experience.
After swimming through the cave, I made my way back to our boat. Just as I was getting onboard, a group was heading toward the cliffs. I didn’t want to miss out on an adventure so I dove back in and followed the captain and a few others up a cliff. We were jumping at 4 and 6 ft heights. I did 1 jump and realized I was not int he proper attire to be cliff jumping. A bikini and no shoes is not a good idea. I did manage to jump, with all eyes on me, and luckily my bathing suit was still in tact when I came up. It wasn’t worth the risk to do a second attempt. Addison jumped twice, and Ari jumped once. Another kids was doing flips off the higher ledge. It was a great show.
Before we knew it, it was 18:00 and time to start making our way back to the marina. Captain Nick discovered that Ari had a boat license so he let Ari take the wheel as we pulled away. We raced the other yacht back and we were neck and neck. The clouds were parting and the sun was peaking through. On the way back, Ayva and I say up front with a couple other girls, while the boys stayed in the back. They learned that Captain Nick was actually an athlete. He qualified for the summer Olympics in pole vault, but got into a motorbike accident and broke his back so he never got to compete.
An hour later, Ari was still at the helm as we were coming up on the large yachts quick. Luckily, Captain Nick took over just as we were entering the marina. He navigated the marina like an expert and backed us into our slip with ease. By now, the clouds had dispersed and the sun was beating down strong. Just like that, our adventure was over, along with the storm.
A shuttle took us back to the ship, and we eagerly showered the ocean off. It felt good to be clean again. We had dinner at the buffet, caught another show, then went bowling before bed. Tonight we turn our clocks back an hour as we make our way to Bari, our last port of call on this cruise.