St. Thomas ... home of the best cruise excursion EVER!!!

Our ship docked at St. Thomas, the capital of the Virgin Islands, early Feb. 29.  The Virgin Islands were named by Christopher Columbus after the tragic legend of St. Ursula, a Christian saint, and the 11,000 martyred virgins.  It was once Danish, but purchased by the United States for $25 million in gold.  Was that a good deal as it’s only 13 miles long and four miles wide?  Maybe, as it once had 25 active working sugar-cane producing factories. 

A windmill, an item of interest.

While many consider it to be a world-class shopping locale, others, like us, choose to take advantage of its beautiful beaches (Magen’s Bay Beach is rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic) and amazingly clear water for the opportunity to snorkel … or, do something totally unheard of. 

Jaz and I had happened across an excursion using something called a BOSS.  BOSS is a “breathing, observation submersible scooter.”  For our motorcycle-riding friends, a scooter sounds like something that might be of interest.  Believe me, it is.

This was on a fence in the security area.  Awwww, a Beagle.  Looks like my Tuffy-boy.

We got off the Royal Princess and headed just across the dock to a location where a boat would come pick us up for the excursion.  While there, of course, there were giant lizards just waiting and posing for a photograph.

I think the big lizards are cool. 

I might not like them if one charged at me.

The boat came along and we boarded, standing next to some funny-looking yellow apparatus with an air tank, a black plastic seat and a funny bubble head that looked like an old diving helmet from the movie, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

The air tank is at the front, and the seat is at the lower right.  The bubble on top is where your head goes.

As we motored out to Buck Island, one of the crew members explained what the 270-pound scooter could do, how we would get on them and how we would steer them.  It sounded a bit odd … the scooters would have a float attached to them, we would swim out to a numbered float and, when advised by and helped by a crew member, would tip the top up and go under the water, coming up with our butts on the seats and our heads inside the bubble.  I was beginning to get a bit nervous, even a bit afraid.  Now I didn’t know if I could do this.  Water would come up to about our necks, but our heads would remain in a cushion of air, and we’d breathe normal … sure!!!  We were told it would seem weird … I bet. 

The explanation answered all of the questions, but being nervous in the water (although I was way better than a few days ago even if it’s still difficult to put my head under), I told a crew member about it and that I didn’t want to get water up my nose as I’m not comfortable with that.  (I’m afraid I’ll breathe it in.)  He told me not to worry, that I could just pinch my nose with my fingers if I liked.  Okay.  That made me feel way better.

Jaz and I were in the third group so we got to snorkel while the others were riding their scooters.  I was eager to get into the water today, and wasn’t even the last one in.  I was quite comfortable as the water was very calm.  Jaz was surprised when she got out in anticipation of our turns on the scooters, and she saw that I was still out in the water wandering around looking at coral and fish.

It was awesome to see a fish so close.

And even better to see hundreds at a time.

Then it was our turn.  I swam out to my float, pinched my nose, shut my eyes, and with the help of the crew member put my hand on the scooter bubble, tipped it up, and popped in and up just like I’d been told to do.  It was quite natural, and I opened my eyes, breathed deeply, and knew it was going to be a great excursion.  It didn’t seem at all weird to me.  I was fascinated by the fish floating by and the crew divers who would lead and accompany us on our journey.

I always felt safe as divers were all around us

 

There goes Jaz in her bubble machine.  From the back the top looks like a face.

An underwater scooter allows someone like me who doesn’t know how to dive to experience some of the same things divers do.  We floated about 8-10 feet below the surface, and going down my ears popped just like they said they would, much like when flying.  I could see the float up above me.  We had a leader that we followed and divers on both sides of and behind to watch over us. 

Beautifully-colored fish were everywhere.

There was a lot of different coral and plants, too.

Fishy, fishy.

We were led past a part of a shipwreck, and over beautiful coral, with a variety of fish swimming past, under, over, toward us.  It was wonderful.  It was amazing.  It was fascinating, and I could see why people who dive love it so much as we saw hundreds of fish, with many swimming just an inch or two away from our faces.

One of the divers took our photo.

Both times we were photo-bombed by a fish.  I like this one that he took upside down.

All too soon the excursion was over and we were headed back to the boat.  We got off our scooters the same way we got in … tipping up the top, and backing out of them.  All I could think was, “WOW.”  That was the excursion of all excursions.  I was so glad we’d done this, and that I’d been able to get past my fear and nervousness and do it. 

Much of the reason why I, and others, could participate, was because the captain and crew explained everything very well, were professional, efficient and had total regard for our safety and comfort.  I give kudos to all of them, and hope that I’m able to do this excursion again sometime.  It was well worth the money and was, bar none, the best excursion I’ve done while on a cruise.

Once back to the dock, Jaz and I continued to rave about the BOSS and how much fun we’d had.  Nothing could compare, so we took a taxi to town and wandered around.  We saw some things to photograph, but continued to talk about the underwater scooter. 

We walked by a cemetery and had to go in.

This one that looked like a greenhouse was most captivating to me.  So many of them have lots of beautiful flowers paying tribute and respect to the departed.

This lovely young lady allowed me to take her photo.  She worked in a bookstore/souvenir shop and told us some of her island culture and history.  The island has only a population of 51,200, and I was happy we'd found her to chat with.

Even back at the ship, we continued to talk of our underwater adventure and to tell folks what we’d done and how great it was.  It’s something that we’ll tell people who are cruising to the Caribbean … it is a “must do” … because we were that impressed.  And you know it takes something pretty special for us …