5 Year Anniversary Cruise: Day 5 - Freeport

Friday morning we decided we better wake up early so we could see at least one sunrise out over the ocean. It was hard to get up but definitely worth it. And once again our camera does NOT do it justice! When we first got out to the back of the ship we thought we were going to be disappointed because there were so many clouds. As soon as the sun started to come up though it was gorgeous peeking through the clouds and sending rays through.

A nice lady offered to take our picture after she saw us trying to aim ourselves but when we looked at the camera we realized she hadn't included the sunrise at all behind us. It made us laugh. I guess she didn't realize what we had been ooing and aahing over the whole time so this one with Tyson's arm still ended up being the best one.

When the rays started coming through really vibrantly like this I get a little teary eyed thinking of how beautiful it was and how many amazing things we had been lucky enough to see and do during the week. I'm just so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who created so many beautiful things for us to enjoy. I am also so grateful for a wonderful husband to enjoy them with. It was such a great getaway trip.

After the sunrise we got an early breakfast then went back to our room to sleep a little more before getting off the ship. We knew we wanted to snorkel somewhere this day but again decided not to book it through the ship. We thought it would be as easy as in Nassau where there were dozens of people offereing rides and tours, but it was more complicated in Freeport. Paradise Beach, where everyone said the snorkeling was the best, was a long drive away so no one wanted to take us unless we had a group of at least six. Well either that or we could pay $80. We found two girls wandering and recognized them from our ship. We asked if they already had plans for the day and when they said no we asked if they'd want to snorkel. We still needed to find at least one more couple though.
Sidenote: the whole time on the ship, Tyson and I were on garment patrol to see if we could find any other Mormons (other than Jack and April obviously). We had not found more than one couple and we weren't even very sure about them. Then one night a couple came up to us and asked where we were from. We said Utah and asked about him. When he said St. George I realized he was wearing garments under his polo shirt and that's why he was asking and we all got so excited! They had been playing the garment game too and had spotted mine the day before and had been looking for us to talk to ever since. Fun! They were newlyweds on their honeymoon.
So, we were still looking for a couple to go snorkeling and our new Mormon friends appeared! We asked what their plans were and when they said they didn't have any either they were happy to come with us. Perfect! We took the long drive down to the beach and it was definitely worth it. We checked out our gear and listened to a little safety lecture about where we could and couldn't go, what kinds of sea life we'd see, etc. Then off we went. The water was quite a bit colder than the other water but once we were all the way in it was fine. We decided to hold hands the whole time we swam so we wouldn't drift apart from each other and not know since the goggles didn't give us any side vision. We also made up some sort of hand squeeze code so that if one of us saw something cool we could alert the other person so see it too. Or if one of us needed to stop and come up we had another squeeze for that. Yeah maybe we're nerds but it worked really well. :)

The floaty things looked and felt funny but were actually really nice for snorkeling because it took very little effort for hold ourselves face down to see things.

The colors look really boring in the pictures but the greens and oranges were pretty cool and the fish were all way brighter than they look.

There was a ton of brain coral like this all around and some of it was HUGE. This one was probably easily the size of two basketballs.

This was one of the few times we weren't holding hands just so we could take pictures of each other. All of a sudden Tyson started frantically motioning for me to turn around and look behind me. I was already feeling a bit wimpy since we had passed the main reef and were in the deep water (probably at least 40+ feet). Basically I thought I was about to get eaten by a shark so I turned and saw a huge grey shape behind me. It was a little mini heart attack until I saw...

...it was "just" this guy. He was HUGE though! His tail was probably 10-15 feet long, his body about a foot or two thick and bigger than the size of a card table. He was swimming right below me and it was pretty amazing to see. However, after he passed I remembered hearing something about sharks and stingrays in the opening lecture we listened to. I couldn't remember what they had said, just that sharks and stingrays had been in the same sentence. I didn't know if it was that they weren't there (which obviously didn't apply to where were were swimming) or if they were there but wouldn't bother us. (Still not ok to know that there might be a shark a few feet below us even if he wouldn't "bother" us.) Needless to say we headed back to the shallow part pretty quick.

The deep part really was pretty cool even though it freaked us both out a little bit. It was amazing how we could see everything so clearly when our heads were under water. The waves looked really cool from under the water too. We got out to a bouy at one point and decided to come up and hold onto it for a break for a few minutes. That didn't last long because the second we came up out of the water it turned SO dark and creepy below us. We held onto the bouy for a short little minute but all I could think about was the deep dark water and my legs dangling off the edge. I didn't really say anything cause I thought Tyson would think I was a baby but luckily he said he was ready to go back to the shallow part too. When we started swimming I noticed him glace below and behind us really quick and that made me even more nervous to know that he was feeling the same way and I wasn't just being a baby. Haha so probably we will never go scuba diving together... :)

When we got back to the shallow water we thought we were on our way back to shore since we were so tired but we saw several stingrays hiding in the sand below us and then a cute little sea turtle who just let us follow him around for a long time. It was so fun!

We first saw this guy hiding below us and shortly after, when the water was probably only waist deep, we saw the rest of our group and went over to say hi. They were standing by several more stingrays also hiding in the sand. I was tempted to reach down and touch one since they were so close and at our stingray encounter on Half Moon Cay they told us stingrays are pretty gentle. Then I remeebered Steve Irwin again and thought I better not risk it haha. From then on, every time we'd stand up in the sand to take a break I was nervous I step on one hiding below me and squish it!

Our little turtle friend was so relaxed and fun to follow around. He had no problem with us touching him or following him so we did both for a long time. He would swim in circles for a while then go back to his little rock hiding place where we would watch and wait until he decided to come out for another lap.

This picture is funny but also kinda sad. I was posing for Tyson with my hand on the turtle's back and looking at the camera so it would have been an awesome picture. Then I felt something sharp on my finger right as Tyson snapped the picture so I pulled away. It looks like I'm scared of the turtle but really, I thought the little fish he had following him had bitten me while I wasn't looking. I think I really just felt a sharp corner on the shell or something. It was funny.

I still need to find my notes somewhere but I'm just posting this unfinished so I can move on with the rest of the year! I'm WAY too far behind!