Exploring Provo

We had a day off from diving today and decided to rent a car and check out as much of the rest of the island as possible. First stop though was the dive shop to write our Nitrox test. I guess we are good students because we passed and are ready for the big three-tank dive day tomorrow.

Anyways, ready to drive on the wrong side of the road (which is the right side) we set out to go south and west.

We have a family tradition of breaking rental vehicles, so to hedge out bets, we started with a peek under the hood. 

And off we went to Sapadillo Bay to see the shallow south side beaches and search for pirate carvings in the rock. We managed to find the beach alright. 

And hiked up the hill above the dock to find rock carvings allegedly left by pirates in the 15th century. We are most certainly crappy pirate hunters because all we found were nerds!

Apparently the carvings have been relocated to the maritime museum downtown, but we spent a fair amount of time trying every road and path to find those carvings before we learned that. 

But there were some great views to some of the many shipwrecks surrounding the island and the idyllic Sapadillo beach. 

Up next we did the highly recommended drive by Chalk Sound National Park. It's a natural lagoon nearly contained inland that is dotted with tiny islands (cays) in breathtakingly turquoise water. It's a windy road with lots of development on either side and can be tricky to find good views or public access points. But I thought it was beautiful regardless. 

After Chalk Sound, it was time for a quick dip at Taylor Beach. The water is so warm and shallow that we walked easily 30 meters before the water was over dad's head. People were playing frisbee 20 meters out, there were lawn chairs partially submerged and kids yelling at their parents from far away from shore.

Still standing waaaaaaaaaaaay in the back.

Died and went to beach heaven.

My weekend home! Some day...

Erin the lizard had some much needed sunning time to restore her cold blooded energy reserves.

After beach time we headed for the more local area of the island - Blue Hills - and a snack at the famous Da Conch Shack. We had the conch fritters and the infamous, dangerous rum punch. 

Half rum, half sugar diabetes.

The conch farm. And then Pelicans trying their damndest to raid the conch farm.

Waiting for their tern at the bar. Ha!

All rum happy and full of fried conch, we circled around to the Pelican Baysrea on the northeast side of the island. Also called Leeward, it seemed pretty swanky with private marinas every block. It was a tremendous beach! Another as far as we could see or walk.

We took a long walk to try to work up an appetite. Resos at a fancy restaurant tonight. 

We walked all down Pelican Point to Emerald Point. I enjoyed the tiered limestone formations along the waters edge and the conch tree. One may be more natural than the other...

I was hoping to get a look at the ocean straight separating me from iguana island. 

My reptilian buddies are so close, but so far.

Oh well, no time to swim across the sea to see what I can see. Turning around we made our way back down the beach (still in the blistering 30C heat despite the sun trying to set). 

Off to Baci Ristorante in Turtle Cove for dinner. Some of us had a great meal, others had an over cooked meal, but the views were lovely - gazing out on an azure ocean and lavender sky.