2013-12-7 Grand Bahamas:

The next morning we were excited to wake up to another beautiful day and our much anticipated return to Paradise Cove to snorkel Deadman's Reef.  Angie, Tim, FAith and I had actually stayed here for 3 nights back in June of 1999.  We all LOVED it!  We were the only ones there when none of the cruise ships were in town.  In 1999 there were 2 old 2 bedroom villas, 2  old 1 bedroom condos, and 2 brand new 2 bedroom villas not quite finished.  Now the old villas and condos are gone (blown down by a hurricane), but the 2 newer villas look great.  Looks like they also rebuilt the Red Bar area and check in area shown here.  I had reserved our trip through their website for $35 @ (which included snorkel gear and rt transportation) instead of the $80 the ship charged.   We also rented a locker for $5, 2 chairs for $3@, and prepaid for lunch $7@. 

 It was as beautiful as I remembered! 

 I didn't remember all the different reefs out there, but I'm sure they were there in 1999.  We were anxious to see if what we remembered as being fantastic snorkeling was still fantastic after snorkeling so many other places since then.  We actually only snorkeled 1 day of the 3 we were there in 1999 because we all stayed out too long (8 or 9 hours) and got burnt terribly, to the point of extreme pain and even chills! 

 And we're off.  The water this Dec. day was about 76 degrees and quite clear.  Here's a look back at the beach with the Red Bar to the left and the 2 new villas to the right.

 One of the first areas of reef that we encountered.  Still in very shallow water and quite a ways out.

 In 1999 we were too scared to go to the back side of the reef.  In our memories, it dropped off to oblivion.  After 14 years of snorkeling since, we eagerly snorkeled the back side, too, and surprised to find it only about 30 or 40 feet deep. 

 Was I impressed???  Yes!!!!!

 Even in the shallower sandy area there were lots of corals and fish.

 And a few barracudas.  Again, that would have spooked me in 1999, but we've seen so many since then that we don't think much about it anymore.

 Another look back at shore from the front of the reef.  All the way to this point the water is probably shallow enough for me to stand up in, but I don't because of the coral.

 and more.

 Even saw some interesting birds on bits of the reef sticking up out of the water.

 Pelicans on the reef.

This is a very large gray triggerfish.

 Gray Angelfish

 I believe this is a Puddingsife wrasse.

 I have a couple of these sea biscuits on my dining room table centerpiece that I got from here in 1999.

 There were a bunch of these jelly fish throughout the area, but they didn't seem to have stingers.

 After a couple hours, we came in to enjoy the chairs we rented and eat a lunch of bar b qued hamburgers, chips and a soda at the REd Bar  .

 I also took a walk down the beach a bit and took some more pictures.

 Such a gorgeous beach!!!

I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to get back in.  The snorkel groups of beginners kept going to the right of where we were earlier, so I had to go see what was there, too!
This looks like a pretty healthy reef to me!  Look at all those green fan corals!

 A large queen Angel fish.

 Another colored Angel Fish.

 blue tang.

 a hogfish

 a hogfish, a snapper and a surgeonfish .

 I have a feeling the guided beginner groups must feed  the fish sometimes.  A ton of fish came to greet us.

 More of the area behind the reef

 There were lots of parrotfish here, too.

 Not sure what this guy is.  This was at a cleaning station even though it's hard to see the little cleaner wrasses in this picture.

 Saw a couple of these large scrawled filefish.

 Here are 2 hogfish.  Note the yellow trumpet fish swimming above one of them.  It partnered with the hogfish for as long as I watched them.

 a 4 spot butterfly fish.

 the shallowness out by the reef.

 more kinds of coral on the inside of the reef.

 inside the reef area.

 a soldier fish

 these butterfly fish had symbiotic critters attached near their mouths.  Supposedly they don't harm the fish, just eat food remnants that get by the fish's mouth.

 I believe this is a razor fish.

 Another type of snapper.

 After a couple more hours it was time to come in.

 After 2 cans of sunscreen and about 6 hours of fun on the beach, it was time to go.  But I couldn't leave without getting a picture of the villas.  Hopefully we'll get back there for another land based vacation.  Looks like they have the footings for a couple more villas.

 Good bye Paradise Cove!

Alas, it was time to head back to the ship.  Our bus ride back took about 25 minutes. 

 WAlked around the ship some more.  This ship has a separate restaurant where the anytime diners eat.  We cut through it during non-dinner times to get to the back of the ship.

 Loved the assortment of chairs on the lido deck.  We got an ice cream and sat in these blue rocking chairs watching a concert on the big screen for awhile.

We noticed the ship next to us was the Celebration ship.  I believe this is the one that goes out of West Palm Beach and only goes for a night or 2 and only to the Bahamas.  Sounded like they were even more of a party boat then Carnival.  Noises coming from that ship were obnoxious!

 Right before we left we were treated to another pretty sunset.

 Then we treated ourselves to a milkshake from the Viennese Café (had to use the OBC I had for owning CCL stock) and sat in the Atrium listening to a young lady singer.

 Video room --- they even have a way to get money from kids!

 mother and daughter. 

 This was the dinner time when we met 2 of our other dinner mates.  Apparently they got along really well with blondie the night before and did again through this dinner time.

 Blondie's (not her real name, but I don't remember what it was) travel mate and the other guy's partner.  The guys live in Denver and it was interesting listening to them and Angie compare notes from when she lived there. 

After that dinner, we mentioned we were going to the punchliner lounge to check out the kareoki.  They all thought that sounded like a great idea and came with us.  It was here the guys finally had enough of the blonde gal and said, "I've had enough!" and abruptly left.  Her friend spent the next half hour explaining to her why they left.  Shortly after that, they left.   I wonder if any of them showed up for dinner the next night?! 

It was another great day!  I wasn't sure I'd be as impressed with the snorkeling at Grand Bahamas now that I've been snorkeling so many places, but I still was.  I hope to get back there again!