Barbados Trip

I am a few weeks late, but better late than never!

We stayed at a Sandals Resort. Why Barbados? Because they were supposed to have some of the best scuba diving out of the Sandals locations.

The resort was awesome! We love the all-inclusive idea. It's so nice to be on vacation and order what you wish to order, and not have to think about price. Especially if you're "cost-conscious" like both Ryan and I tend to be.

It is a really good deal to do Sandals if you are a scuba diver. You get 2 included boat dives/day. If we were to go on a normal vacation and do that, that would cost about $150/day to drive. Just for the diving + gear!!!

The restaurants at the resort were amazing. We had 9 to choose from. Our favorite was definitely the Indian restaurant. They had sushi, Indian, seafood, Italian, a desert/pastry shop that was French-inspired, swim-up bars, wine bars, you name it!

On the beach you had unlimited use of paddle-boards, ocean kayaks, and you could take out Hobby-cats/catamaran  if you knew how to use them.

We were in heaven!!!

We went with another couple who have the similar pace for adventure and action that we do. They are great travel buddies for us - we often do our camping/hiking/diving trips with them. We had such a good time!

Here are a few pictures to tell the story of our great trip!

We had an all night flight, and I definitely did not get any sleep during our flights or layovers. In fact the day we left I got up at 4:30 am, ran, went to urgent care for my sinus infection that was not going away (in fact, 5 weeks later I'm STILL on antibiotics), drove to Phoenix, flew all night, and got to our resort at 4 pm Saturday! We were sooo tired! We were in bed by 8:30 that night! Ha! 

The next day we were not able to scuba dive - since you need to give 24 hours after a flight to dive. So it was a beach day! We all met on the beach for some tropical cocktails!

I played ping pong for the 1st time ever. I'm terrible. Here we are during intermission swinging on a giant porch swing and being a tad silly. We may have imbibed in some wine before this ;)

Now time for some scuba photos! And let me tell you - the red-light filter isn't the best on our go-pro. Therefore, pictures don't even come close to justice on how incredible it is down there!

This is one of my favorite fish from the dive. It looks like a leopard! 

Okay, this little Angelfish is probably my 2nd favorite fish. These guys are fun to chase around. It is amazing how close the fish let you get when you're underwater.

I loved these tubes. I have no idea what they are called. But pretty cool, huh? Sometimes if you stick your fiji stick down them - you can find little crabs or other tiny fish

The sea turtles were everywhere! They are so beautiful and incredible!!

This is the front of the shipwreck we dove. It is a wreck from the 1600's that they sunk in the 70's. It was 100 ft below the surface. Coolest dive ever!!

Very mysterious yellow fish!

Green monkeys are native to Barbados. I got to hold him! 

This is a picture of the dive boat we took out every morning from the harbor in Bridgetown. Our dive masters were so nice, fun, and helpful! 

Here is a picture of the town. It is so beautiful and filled with history. We had a blast people watching and exploring the island.

We went to the other side of the island and toured some caves one of the days. This was a farm we walked by. I thought it was so simple and beautiful...and the goats were kind of fun 

The 1st day that Ryan tried to go out on the sailboat - the wind completely died on him once he got out there. A jetski had to rescue him to shore. It's a good thing he is pilot and not a sailor ;) hahaha! As you can see - a storm was rolling in. Which lasted 15 minutes ;)

We toured some of the live caves -- called Harrison Caves. Very cool to see! 

If you are ever in Barbados, I highly recommend Oistin's Fish Market. It is a big party held on Friday nights. All the locals gather with their art, music, beer, rum, and fresh-caught fish. There is dancing, grilling of fresh marlin and Flying Fish (which is a native dish to the island). It is truly a gem of an experience!! 

*Flying Fish - fresh fresh, coated with a cornmeal batter, and grilled out -- a-mazing!!!Flying fish are huge in this region. They actually jump out of the water and skip across the surface (hence the title "flying")! They are so neat -- and delicious!

This trip was exactly what we needed to reset our spirits. I definitely fell in love with the culture, beaches, tastes, and sights of the Caribbean. We cannot wait to return to St. Lucia in May 2018!!!