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I (25F) Confronted my exclusive fwb (42M) about our relationship status and it did not go well and I don't know what to do to make things better?
TL;DR at bottom. this has been going on for ~7 months Before we get started I'll provide a little background. About a year ago (March 2019) I started a new job as a restaurant manager at a nearby casino. I left my comfort zone at a job I had been at for 5 years. Fortunately met a lot of new great people who I am still friends with. Due to my position as manager I wasn't allowed to hang out with staff that were of the same age as me. One of the employees (30M, we'll call him Snorkel) who I had befriended left the company and quickly added me on social media and started flirting with me. He had a girlfriend but I was feeling really emotionally vulnerable and ended up hooking up with him on and off for several months. During that time I befriended a lot of his friends/roommates who were quick to tell me that while they really liked me,i should cut Snorkel off and that he'd never change, blah blah blah. I ended up catching feelings and let it go on for way too long because I was stupid and lonely. During the time Snorkel and I were hooking up I was let go from my job for other reasons. One night I went to the casino to see my old coworkers and apply for new jobs. I ended up going to the bar frequented by a lot of the casino employees and ended up hooking up with one of his friends (42M-- the subject of this post, we'll call him Cutter). Cutter knew about me and Snorkel and had talked to me about it on a few occasions. Cutter agreed that what Snorkel was doing was shitty but it wasn't his place to say anything because they were more minor acquaintances, friend of a friend sort of bullshit. At this point I had started seeing a therapist due to emotional distress from getting fired for the first time, moving, and ongoing issues with my inability to stop seeing Snorkel despite his relationship status. After getting a new job, I had begun to spend more time with Cutter. It worked because we were both casino employees, and it's hard to date someone when they don't share the same schedule as you. The issue was I was still seeing Snorkel. One night I kinda just cracked and told Snorkel's girlfriend about what had been going on for the last 10+ months. Snorkel was devastated, and quickly many of the friends I had made due to him started to turn on me. Since Cutter wasn't really a close friend of his, he still talked to me and we continued to hook up. The issue at this point was that no one could know about Cutter and I because a lot of his friends were friends with Snorkel and they all hated me. Cutter and I agreed to keep seeing each other; since he was starting a new job outside the casino the people that really hated me weren't going to be as involved in our day to day life as they would've been previously. I agreed because we got along well, and I really enjoyed spending time with him and he said the same about me. We were seeing each other every weekend and on some weekdays (he had to be up by 5am so I usually didn't stay over on those days). Once COVID-19 quarantine hit and the casinos closed I was able to be around a lot more. We spent every weekend together and texted during the week. He'd ask me how my day was and keep me updated on his dog (who loves me). Cutter and I had a few discussions about where we stood relationship wise. I've never been in a relationship and have a relatively high bodycount (80 something?). We've had a lot of long talks about this and while he doesn't really approve of my bodycount, he admitted it didn't matter to him because he got to know me and it was irrelevant. We came to the agreement that we enjoyed spending time together, would exclusively be seeing each other, and if anything changed we would let the other know. This is literally the furthest I've gotten in terms of exclusively seeing someone so I'm vaguely uncomfortable and having dreams about cheating on him and feeling guilty about it even though it didn't happen. We do cute couple things like hold hands and cuddle, make each other dinner, he'll drive me to my apartment so I can take care of my cat who is 13 and diabetic, just so he knows I'll for sure come back after. He likes when I'm at his house when he gets back from work. He likes how happy his dog is to see me. Due to Easter he had a 3 day weekend (he's essential still, for some reason, even though he works in an office that has plenty of funding to allow him to work from home). I spent the entire time there, we watched movies, played video games, the usual. During my time there Snorkel messaged me and said he hoped I was okay but he was still mad. I showed Cutter and he said it was likely he was just looking to fuck me and said if it weren't for the fact that I was with him that I would go back to Snorkel. I denied this because I really really don't have any desire to go back to Snorkel at this point but it didn't seem Cutter believed me. Sunday night rolls around, I try to not stay the night on days he has to work because I keep him up. I had maybe two drinks or so and around 9:00 he insisted we watch The Goonies because I've never seen it. Whatever, fine, I don't have to be up at 5am tomorrow. I have no idea what came over me but I brought up to Cutter the fact that we were basically dating. This made him upset. I mentioned that we do all the things that people who are dating do, that we spend all of our free time together, we don't have sex with other people, we cuddle, we spend a lot of time together outside of having sex, we talk all the time, he likes having me around and i like having him around, etc. He got very defensive and said we were NOT dating and that because of what I did to Snorkel (snitching to the GF) we can not be in a relationship. I got upset, because this is probably the first time I've ever been rejected in person. Usually when guys tell me they don't want to date me its over text because that's how 20-somethings reject you, but he was still laying on me and cuddling while he told me all the reasons why we weren't/he didn't want to be dating me. I got teary eyed but just said "forget about it, it's fine." I didn't want to push things because I knew I was making things uncomfortable and I hate doing that. My eyeballs and tear ducts had other motives so I'm trying to blink back tears while watching The Goonies. I just tried to explain how all of this was new to me and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and he said that was fair and tried to change the subject. Eventually the movie ends and Cutter says "Yeah you kind of ruined the movie." So I apologized and told him I had to go. I told him it was because he wasn't going to sleep while I was there, but it was actually because I was sad and really wanted to ugly cry and knew he had work in the morning and I didn't want to keep him up like I usually do. I start collecting my things (toothbrush, clothes, food items for the dinner we made, etc). He keeps asking if I'm okay and I'm just going "I'm fine, I'm fine." because I know me pressing the issue isn't going to fix or help anything. I walk out with my bags and he asks me one more time if I'm okay (I think he assumed I was drunk, I was probably 3-4 drinks deep at this time), and I just say " Yeah, I'm fine" and walk to my car in his driveway. I sit there for a minute and just ugly sob because I've ruined the one relationship I have with someone I care about. Meanwhile he's sitting on his porch with his dog just watching me. I pull out and drive home because I don't know what else to do and I don't want to go back in and pretend everything is okay. I don't know what to do. I really like Cutter and care about him, but I don't want to keep investing in someone who is only going to use my past with Snorkel against me. I get feelings really easily and I know that I have them and I know if it weren't for my history with Snorkel that Cutter would be 100% on board. It makes me sad and I don't know how to move forward. I want to apologize for bringing up the status of our relationship in the way that I did (I was for sure stubborn "this is what we're doing, here are the reasons I think that, and I don't care if you don't agree), but at the same time I feel like he brushed me off and I don't know if I want to make amends if I'm just going to end up in another situationship with an ambiguous ending. TL;DR: I hooked up with a taken guy, and then hooked up with one of his friends. I told the taken guy's gf that we hooked up and a lot of his friends hated me except for one, who i started some sort of weird friends with benefits relationship with. when i tried to push it he used that as a reason as to why he could never date me, even though he doesn't particularly care about or keep in touch with this friend. EDIT: included length of time we've been involved
I’m so, so sorry. I only meant to give you a treat when I put the steak scraps in your bowl. You’re so well mannered- that’s the only way you’ll eat human food! The vet says it’s pancreatitis and I should put you down. You’re fourteen after all. I’m not an idiot. Pancreatitis is brought on by rich foods. I was only trying to make you happy, and it seems I killed you in the process. I don’t know how I’ll manage without you. You were mine from the first. My lovely grandparents gave you to me as a gift. The Golden Retriever next door had taken up with the Irish settelab mix down the road, and that’s how you came to be. When I took you home, eight weeks old, you could fit into my cupped hands. I know what everyone says about allowing your kid a pet if they’ll take care of it. That they won’t. But I did. Everything, even though I was twelve. You cried so much that I slept in your crate with you the first two nights you were home. I didn’t have any friends until I was about fourteen, nor anywhere to go, because mom was driving my brother all over the country for sports and Dad was “the lump on the couch with the checkbook.” Just you and I, all the time. Even though Dad was usually passive, he could fly into unpredictable rages several times a year. Mom would just yell and take and take and take things from me for months at a time, until it got to the point where I had nothing to do at all! So I covered up for you. Cleaned all your messes and hid the evidence, spent hours every day training you. A month later, you already knew “sit” “stay” “down” and “come,” then quickly learned “no” “quiet” “shake” and a stupid pet trick where I would balance a treat on your nose and you wouldn’t eat it until I said, “okay.” I kept you with me 24/7 whenever I wasn’t in school. I was afraid my dad would hurt you or my mom would yank you away like my other “privileges.” When I cried, you would comfort me. You always listen. This kept on until you were four. Mostly, things were okay. I kept you safe. When things got hairy, I covered your ears so you wouldn’t be afraid. My dad was a social worker. He knew not to hit his kids, that’s reportable, but nothing was said about pets. Maybe three or four times a year, if either of us really messed up (read: chewed something, got a B+, “talked back,” he would try to hurt you instead of me. I never let him. I would wrap myself around you and refuse to let go, which goaded him. I took your kicks and hits, and afterwards, in my room, you would sit with your head in my lap and nudge me under the arm over and over until I laughed and petted you again. You would run to greet me every afternoon after you graduated from crating during the day, and my best friend and I would walk you together. You see, a German Shepard mauled her when she was two. She was afraid. But you were so calm and friendly that even though she never held you, she could be persuaded to pat you hello and throw the ball. But after all that, the carefully stacked house of cards toppled. My parents found out that I was cutting myself, and the reaction was to yell at me about how I was being dramatic and lying and just manipulating people. They wouldn’t find anyone to help me. I guess, though, we had a lucky break. You see, it was my best friend who first figured out what was going on, and your family basically offered me a home and help with deciding what I should do about the fact that I was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I said, “Thanks. But not without Daisy.” This was a big deal in the first gen immigrant culture of theirs who viewed dogs as bad and dirty. But I was so insistent, and you were so well-behaved, that you came too. I’m sorry they made you sleep in the garage and didn’t pet you, but at least we were safe. You saved me as much as anything else, but I was so scared to let you out of my sight in case someone hurt you! So you were by my side for nearly every appointment and therapy session. You let me hug you any time, even though I know now that dogs don’t like hugs. I even got you certified as a service dog for my anxiety before I went off to college! There was nowhere to go for you, but I had to live on campus as a freshman. So I combed the rules early on, found the service dog exception, and trained you to bring my cell phone and sit on top of me when I panicked. As soon as I had that wrapped up, I never let you out of my sight again. Not in the dorm, the classroom, or even the factory where I worked two summers! A dog wearing ear protection was a really silly sight, but you weren’t trouble. I made a big box for you out of cardboard scrap, and you just slept or chewed toys in it all day. When I didn’t know about my future and got depressed when I was twenty, you kept me alive. I knew there was no one else who would take care of you. So I had to live, so you could. Then I decided to go to grad school, which was in a large city not far from my hometown. Since I was already familiar with it and public transit was great, we went absolutely everywhere! Gyms, cafes, malls, hiking, bars, trivia night, parties...Some nights after a few too many, you almost walked me home. I remember during the same sex marriage debate, some guys wanted to hurt me because I was wearing a pro-LGBT t-shirt. You growled and bayed so ferociously that they tore off yelling, “what is that THING?” I got married when I was 23. It was a tiny ceremony. I trained you to carry the rings to me! You were eleven but still going strong. We went to Las Vegas for the honeymoon. I didn’t know if you could handle the strip and the casinos, but I swear you did a better job than I did! I had fun, but it was so much sensory overload. Last year, we went to Hawaii for two weeks. You couldn’t do everything but by god, you tried! On that snorkeling trip, you jumped off the side of the boat and swam next to me, snapping your teeth at the fish and turtles. My fault really. I didn’t tell you to “stay” on the boat. I thought that was obvious, don’t go splashing off into the hundred food deep Pacific after me! You sat under our table as we ate fresh coconut, mahi-mahi, and loco moco. When the tsunami sirens went off and I flipped out- I thought it was a missile attack like that false alarm- you sat in my lap even though you’re way too big, then ran off to find a person to help me. The housekeeper at the hotel who followed you back to me nearly fell over laughing after she explained no nuclear Armageddon was coming. I mean, that night after a mai tai, I laughed too. And now I can hear you crying and whining, but your tail still thumps against the floor when I pet you. I know what I have to do. You were the best. I know I need to end your pain, but I don’t know what to do without you. I haven’t been without you in so long, I almost forgot what it’s like.
I (25F) confronted my exclusive fwb (42M) about the status of our relationship and it went poorly.
TL;DR at bottom. Before we get started I'll provide a little background. About a year ago (March 2019) I started a new job as a restaurant manager at a nearby casino. I left my comfort zone at a job I had been at for 5 years. Fortunately met a lot of new great people who I am still friends with. Due to my position as manager I wasn't allowed to hang out with staff that were of the same age as me. One of the employees (30M, we'll call him Snorkel) who I had befriended left the company and quickly added me on social media and started flirting with me. He had a girlfriend but I was feeling really emotionally vulnerable and ended up hooking up with him on and off for several months. During that time I befriended a lot of his friends/roommates who were quick to tell me to cut it off and that he'd never change, blah blah blah. I ended up catching feelings and let it go on for way too long because I was stupid. During the time Snorkel and I were hooking up I was let go from the job for other reasons. One night I went to the casino to see my old coworkers and apply for new jobs. I ended up going to the bar frequented by a lot of the casino employees and ended up hooking up with one of his friends (42M-- the subject of this post, we'll call him Cutter). Cutter knew about me and Snorkel and had talked to me about it on a few occasions. Cutter agreed that what Snorkel was doing was shitty but it wasn't his place to say anything because they were more minor acquaintances, friend of a friend sort of bullshit. At this point I had started seeing a therapist due to emotional distress from getting fired for the first time, moving, and ongoing issues with my inability to stop seeing Snorkel despite his relationship status. After getting a new job, I had begun to spend more time with Cutter. It worked because we were both casino employees, and it's hard to date someone when they don't share the same schedule as you. The issue was I was still seeing Snorkel. One night I kinda just cracked and told Snorkel's girlfriend about what had been going on for the last 10+ months. Snorkel was devastated, and quickly many of the friends I had made due to him started to turn on me. Since Cutter wasn't really a close friend of his, he still talked to me and we continued to hook up. The issue at this point was that no one could know about Cutter and I because a lot of his friends were friends with Snorkel and they all hated me. Cutter and I agreed to keep seeing each other; since he was starting a new job outside the casino the people that really hated me weren't going to be as involved in our day to day life as they would've been previously. I agreed because we got along well, and I really enjoyed spending time with him and he said the same about me. We were seeing each other every weekend and on some weekdays (he had to be up by 5am so I usually didn't stay over on those days). Once COVID-19 quarantine hit and the casinos closed I was able to be around a lot more. We spent every weekend together and texted during the week. He'd ask me how my day was and keep me updated on his dog (who loves me). Cutter and I had a few discussions about where we stood relationship wise. I've never been in a relationship and have a relatively high bodycount (80 something?). We've had a lot of long talks about this and while he doesn't really approve of my bodycount, he admitted it didn't matter to him because he got to know me and it was irrelevant. We came to the agreement that we enjoyed spending time together, and would exclusively be seeing each other, and if anything changed we would let the other know. This is literally the furthest I've gotten in terms of exclusively seeing someone so I'm vaguely uncomfortable and having dreams about cheating on him and feeling guilty about it even though it didn't happen. We do cute couple things like hold hands and cuddle, make each other dinner, he'll drive me to my apartment so I can take care of my cat who is 13 and diabetic, just so he knows I'll for sure come back after. He likes when I'm at his house when he gets back from work. He likes how happy his dog is to see me. Due to Easter he had a 3 day weekend (he's essential still, for some reason, even though he works in an office that has plenty of funding to allow him to work from home). I spent the entire time there, we watched movies, played video games, the usual. During my time there Snorkel messaged me and said he hoped I was okay but he was still mad. I showed Cutter and he said it was likely he was just looking to fuck me and said if it weren't for the fact that I was with him that I would go back to Snorkel. I denied this because I really really don't have any desire to go back to him at this point but it didn't seem he believed me. Sunday night rolls around, I try to not stay the night on days he has to work because I keep him up. I had maybe two drinks or so and around 9:00 he insisted we watch The Goonies because I've never seen it. Whatever, fine, I don't have to be up at 5am tomorrow. I have no idea what came over me but I brought up the fact that we were basically dating. This made him upset. I mentioned that we do all the things that people who are dating do, that we spend all of our free time together, we don't have sex with other people, we cuddle, we spend a lot of time together outside of having sex, we talk all the time, he likes having me around and i like having him around, etc. He got very defensive and said we were NOT dating and that because of what I did to Snorkel (snitching to the GF) we can not be in a relationship. I got upset, because this is probably the first time I've ever been rejected in person. Usually when guys tell me they don't want to date me its over text because that's how 20-somethings reject you, but he was still laying on me while he told me all the reasons why we weren't/he didn't want to be dating me. I got teary eyed but kind of just said "forget about it, its fine." My eyeballs and tear ducts had other motives so I'm trying to blink back tears while watching The Goonies. I just tried to explain how all of this was new to me and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and he said that was fair and tried to change the subject. Eventually the movie ends and Cutter says "Yeah you kind of ruined the movie." So I apologized and told him I had to go, because I was sad and really wanted to ugly cry and knew he had work in the morning and I didn't want to keep him up like I usually do. I start collecting my things (toothbrush, clothes, food items for the dinner we made, etc). He keeps asking if I'm okay and I'm just going "I'm fine, I'm fine." because I know me pressing the issue isn't going to fix or help anything. I walk out with my bags and he asks me one more time if I'm okay (I think he assumed I was drunk, I was probably 3-4 drinks deep at this time), and I just say " Yeah, I'm fine" and walk to my car in his driveway. I sit there for a minute and just ugly sob because I've ruined the one relationship I have with someone I care about. Meanwhile he's sitting on his porch with his dog just watching me. I pull out and drive home because I don't know what else to do and I don't want to go back in and pretend everything is okay. I don't know what to do. I really like Cutter and care about him, but I don't want to keep investing in someone who is only going to use my past with Snorkel against me. I get feelings really easily and I know that I have them and I know if it weren't for my history with Snorkel that Cutter would be 100% on board. It makes me sad and I don't know how to move forward. I want to apologize for bringing up the status of our relationship in the way that I did (I was for sure stubborn "this is what we're doing, here are the reasons I think that, and I don't care if you don't agree), but at the same time I feel like he brushed me off and I don't know if I want to make amends if I'm just going to end up in another situationship with an ambiguous ending. TL;DR: I hooked up with a taken guy, and then hooked up with one of his friends. I told the taken guy's gf that we hooked up and a lot of his friends hated me except for one, who i started some sort of weird friends with benefits relationship with. when i tried to push it he used that as a reason as to why he could never date me, even though he doesn't particularly care about or keep in touch with this friend.
Howdy! My wife and I just got back from a week in PR. This sub was a huge help so I wanted to give back and write a trip report. We flew down on 8/28 (day Dorian swung by) and came back 9/4. 8/28 When we boarded in Chicago, the weather channel was squawking about the storm on-stop. It was worrying but at that point we were committed and felt comfortable it would pass by. We landed at SJU and there were brief showers. It was easy to catch a taxi from the airport but know that you have to use one of the approved taxis. No ubers or anything like that. Rates were set. To go from SJU to our Air B&B in San Juan was $21. I think if you're going to Old San Juan or Condado it was approx $25. I had plenty of cash. No idea if they take care but it would be foolish not to carry cash. We checked into our Air B&B. Bc of the storm, almost everything was closed and there were no alcohol sales bc if the state of emergency. We are at Bebos which was thankfully open. The weather was perfect, no wind no rain, so we walked to the beach. The sunset was unbelievable pbly because of the storm (western part got some rain but San Juan was perfect weather). There's still lots of Maria PTSD and this was the first storm since then. They were overly cautious but it's better to err on the side of caution. We ate snacks back in our room, wished we could've had a beer to unwind, and went to bed early. 8/29 We took an Uber from San Juan to Old San Juan. Super easy and only like $8. The Uber wait times were super short. We visited El Morro and Cristobal Forts (tickets are $7 per adult and if you keep the stub you can get into both forts so keep your ticket), got a pina colada at a small bar in OSJ, and wandered the streets. It was a nice day trip but we felt we did it fully in one day. Def not worth more than that in my view. 8/30 We rented a car from Enterprise in Condado and drove to Fajardo. It was approx $75. Driving was super easy. I swear the drivers are better than in most places in the States. Side roads can be rough with potholes but the main highways were great. We drove to El Yunque only to find out it was closed for the day to clean up after the storm. It seemed a bit overly cautious but no worries. The website said they were open that day even though they weren't so just be flexible, relaxed, and go with the flow. We drove to our Air B&B in Fajardo, walked around, sat on the B&Bs porch drinking Medella, and had the best fish dinner I've ever had at El Boho. Seriously check it out. The locals recommended it bc the owners family are all fisherman. An absolutely incredible meal. 8/31 I returned the car and bc I called ahead, they drove us to Ceiba to catch the ferry free of charge. I'd purchased ferry tickets online (before they stopped doing that) but hadn't been able to purchase any for our return trip. I was told at the window no advanced ticket sales were to be sold, only day of. The ferry was fine. It's cheap but sweet goodness is it poorly run. No communication whatsoever. Check out the Facebook page they have. There's drama every single day. I was pretty stressed but we got there with plenty of time and had no problem getting to Vieques. When we arrived in Vieques, there were boys riding horses up and down the street and chickens wandering around. It's like the Wild West and a glimpse at what the Caribbean used to be like. I would strongly recommend not doing Vieques as a day trip. Too much rushing and too many logistics. Also, call ahead a rent a vehicle/scootegolf cart. They were sold out our first day so I reserved a golf cart for the next two. It was $80 for 24 hours. Fairly expensive but absolutely necessary. You could taxi around but half the fun is discovering stuff on your own and this island is not walkable at all. After we got settled we went to Sea Glass Beach in town. It was a fine beach, not perfect, but very accessible although we struggled to find the entrance for a while. This afternoon/evening was the low point of the trip. We exhausted, had no transportation, and were a bit overwhelmed. We had pizza at Mama Mia in Isabelle (comfort food), walked to the Arepas festival, and went to bed early. We were staying in Isabella so everything in town was an easy walk but all the good beaches were a ways away. 9/1 Incredible day. We picked up the golf cart and drove to Blue Beach (called something else in Spanish). We got there early but even being Sunday of Labor Day weekend, it never got overly full. Lots of people rented Jeeps but a golf cart was perfect for us. Just let faster cars go by and enjoy the experience of putting down the road. We explored red beach and one or two in the area. Really wonderful day. We ate at Biekas Bistro for dinner and then went to the second night of the festival. Lots of people, great music, fried foods for sale, and a ton of the community turned out. It was a really nice night and only my favorite day of the trip. 9/2 Same as the day before. We picked up Subway so we could spend the whole day at the beach and drove fairly early to Black Sand Beach. It's a really cool hike to the beach. It's not a great swimming beach but the views are beautiful and it's worth checking out. We then went to Sun Bay to spend the day. It's $4/vehicle to get in but totally worth it. We put our chairs under the shade of a palm tree and had the nicest day drinking Medallas, snorkeling (not great but still enjoyable), and loving life. We then drove to Esperanza. Right across from a hotel or something, there is a peninsula that sticks out into the bay. Walk out there (past all the tents) and bear to the left. Eventually you'll find a semi-overgrown path that takes you to the top of the cliff. It gives a stunning view of Sun Bay Beach. A local told us about it. It's probably pretty well known but I hadn't heard about it anywhere on Reddit or online. It was the cherry on top of the trip. We sadly returned the golf cart, ate dinner from a food truck park just outside of Isabella, and did the 7pm Bio-Bay Tour thrive Wie-Vie(?). We booked online. They picked us up in front of the air b&b in a van. The other people on the tour were harder to find. Some were still eating or running behind so we drove around getting them. Eventually we got them and got to the bay. The tour was super safe and well led. Lane our guide was the definition of a cool dude originally from the States. The new moon had been 5 or 6 days before. It wasn't totally dark but dark enough to see the stars. The luminescent wasn't peak bc the storms had messed with the bay but we still say some light up. I think a few people were slightly disappointed but anyone that actually does shit outside knows conditions are not always perfect. It's not a damn Disney ride. We loved it. The stars were incredible, the water was warm, the bay was cool, and the info was interesting. We then went to this really incredible little bar in Isabelle. Something like the old hat. It was run by some folks form the States that now lived there. They were having trivia night and was packed with locals that had moved from the States years ago. We had he nicest time. Robert the owner was a true gentleman. He did we'd be back because everyone who falls under the spell of Vieques must return. He's right. The place has a quality to it which is hard to describe. We'll be back. 9/3 I was still pretty stressed about the ferry so I bought tickets for the 9:44 around 8am. Supposedly they only start selling them an hour or two before but who knows. The ticket window was open, I got our two for super cheap, and life was good. We got there by 8:45 because I was still concerned. Turns out nothing bad happened, we got back fine, and enterprise picked us up in Ceiba. We took the car to El Yunque and did the Britton Tower (really really incredible and the something Juan waterfall. The rainforest was cool. It was busy and I'm glad there was no change to get in but it was still interesting. We then drove to Condado, ate some great tacos, enjoyed being back in civilization, wasted $4 at the casino (why do boomers love casinos so much?? They are so boring) and got some beers and sat on the beach taking it all in. The only hiccup was the alike conditioning at the air b&b broke. We are pretty hardy folks but it was 89 in the apartment. The host was super apologetic. By 9pm it was apparent the repair man wasn't coming so we got a refund and found a cheap hire across the street. Lagoon something next to the Comfort Inn. It was no big deal, totally in the spirit of the adventure, and just one of those things that happen. We flew out the next day. It wasn't a classic relaxing trip but we wanted an adventure and certainly got one. Just be patient, laid back, not an asshole, and relish the adventure of it all. Bring cash and give yourself plenty of time to get anywhere. It'll all work out.
https://preview.redd.it/bmhuszv10jq31.jpg?width=4200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78a2d9716ac93631194abb245b05ee95ada7b62b No doubt, North Goa is a paradise for travelers. Hub to some really stunning beaches and serene point of worship, North Goa is an ideal part of the Goa trip. There is so much in North Goa that one can enjoy while at this point in the dazzling state that one may never wish to go back. Nature lovers can opt from a collection of places, whereas the adventure seekers can openly sway from here to there as adventure water sports await them. Newly-wed couples can boast their special moments in the calm backwaters and hidden places, whereas buddies can hang out together in the Goan shacks and dance to some loud beat. Foodies can zest the scrumptious food and peace seekers can opt for a lonely place with a serene view for themselves. North Goa offers something for al. And most of all an insane peace of mind that is not so easy to get anywhere else. So take a look at these unexpected places to visit in North Goa which will keep you visiting back again and again.
Fort Aguada
Aguada Fort is the most popular fort among all the architectures in Goa. In the beginning, this fort was a hub to the Portuguese people, whereas now it is converted into a jail. Don’t miss the panoramic view from the lighthouse while you are here. You ought to visit this place to explore the joyful views of the mighty Arabian Sea. Besides beaches, it is one of the best places to visit in North Goa.
Anjuna Beach Flea Market
Anjuna Beach Flea Market is a mini carnival in itself. Organized every Wednesday, this flea market is explored by the locals, Indian tourists an International tourists as well. This market is where one can find a lot of activities to do until late at night. This market is no less than a fashion street, where one can find great gifts, fashionable attires, and captivating artifacts. Food stalls are also part of this flea market as well, where one can savor some scrumptious Goan cuisine.
Deltin Casino
The Deltin Casino is one of the most popular casinos in Goa where one can try their luck. It is located on the Calangute beach in North Goa. Her one can have a feeling of Las Vegas. It is where you can savor several electronic games like Roulette, Blackjack, Slots, Poker, Craps and much more. One will also get a chic bar and plush lounges in the casino where you can enjoy the nightlife at its best.
Chapora Fort
Chapora Fort, another witness to the miracle of Portuguese architecture, is one of the top places one can include in your North Goa trip. The remains of the ruins of today were once where the Portuguese suppose to rule for more than 150 years. The ideal reason to visit this place is that it bids marvelous views of Anjuna Beach and Vagator Beach. It is a perfect hotspot for photographers to spend some ideal time and catch the moments in their camera. You will also get two tunnels that Portuguese bulti to break out in case of an emergency. Calangute Beach One cannot forget this popular beach from the list of places to visit in North Goa? It is named as “queen of beaches” by many tourists. Shopaholics—big showrooms of graceful handicrafts from Indonesia, Tibet, and Kashmir are lined up on the main road alongside the beach. From beach bathing to sipping drinks on the shack, you can have chilled. Laid-back time on the beach during your Goa holiday. Grande Island Grande Island is amongst the most bizarre yet wonderful tourist places in Goa. True to its name, it offers a grand experience to the adventure lovers who are seeking for adventure watersports as it is a hub to excellent Scuba Diving spots. Some of the Scuba Diving sites around Grand Island are Suzy’s Wreck, Shelter Cove and Bounty Bay. Take a day trip and don’t forget to experience Snorkeling or Scuba diving at Grande Island.
Hello Everyone, I frequently see questions about what to do around the coast, in here I will attempt to keep a running list of ideas. Some things are in multiple areas e.g. Fresh food markets/live music so I haven't listed every individual item, if you see something that that interests you try googling to see if there's one in your area! Starting from North GC then moving south you have: Pimpama/Ormeau(ish):
Game Over (Indoor rockclimbing, go karting, and lasertag).
Organise some mates and go on brewery tour with Hop On Brewery Tours, they pick up/drop off at many places along the coast so check the website to see where the bus travels.
Check out NightQuarter night markets for food and live events.
Mt. Tamborine:
Visit the Tamborine Mountain Distillery, if you're lucky there will be a lady there that does a $5 tasting session, last time I was there we did about 8-10 (half-shots) of samples each. Na Zdorovie!
Visit one of the many winery's/brewery's and eat some cheese platters with a view.
Nerang(ish):
Have dinner at The German Club (I highly reccomend getting a pork knuckle on a friday/saturday night and washing it down with a tall glass of unfiltered honey wheat beer).
See a movie at Nerang Cineplex -admission tickets very well priced!
Go indoor go karting at Slideways Go Karting. The track was recently refurbished and now has a three storey layout and neon lights- track video.
Side note: Varsity Station is the furthest south the train goes. If your planning on training it to Surfers Paradise you'll want to get off at Nerang Station and then get a bus. Use Journey Planner to plot your public transport methods and make sure to buy a go card in advance at a 7-Eleven.
Funny enough Little Viet Rolls in the Robina Town Centre food court does a cracking good Bánh mì (Vietnamese Pork Roll- SUHHH GOOD).
Walk up to the top of Burleigh Headland (and definitely don't climb onto the overhanging rock for a sweet view or selfie -if you're into that sorta thing).
Justin park at Burleigh occasionally has drum circles on Sunday nights, go kick a hacky sack around and make friends :)
Walk to the end of the Jetty at The Spit and eat a sanga, watch the waves and many men of Asian descent catching fish.
Take a break from all these exciting things listed here and relax in a sensory deprevation tank at float.life.
Get some friends together and take on a real life point-and-click adventure! Escape Hunt has many scenarios and difficulty puzzles to choose from (I'd recommend starting at easy, they are a bit difficult).
Perform your famous rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody at Tune-up bar and Karaoke (it's above the Off ya tree on Cav Ave) or hire a private karaoke booth at G-Clef.
A must-stop meet up place for coffee/art is Dust Temple.
Hire a Stand Up Paddleboard (colloquially known as a "Sup") or Kayak for 15 bucks/hour at Currumbin Boatshed or Gold Coast Sup and cruise up and down Currumbin Creek.
Take some surfing lessons/hire a surfboard. Many operators so google this one, often they are already at beach carparks and you can just walk up.
Fishing.
See how ridiculouly far out you can walk out at Rainbow Bay.
Special thanks to Veritasfides, Katastrophe87, Nebo64, Sipc, shadesofgray029, and verifiedpain for their suggestions! Updated 05-10-2019 To do: (Ignore this, or don't. Meh) -Reboundland -Fun360 -Bounce inc moved, airfactory gone -elvis museum -alpaca farm -herb cottage -gold coast clay target club -Order it so it's actually geographically correct north to south. Duh.
Whether a student or an employee, a businessman or a housewife, everyone needs a break from their hectic life. What is a better way to take a break than a family holiday? Spending some quality time with family is just what is required to relish the stressed body and soul. There is a diverse kind of family holiday destinations in India ranging from the historic architectural marvels to peaceful valleys, azure sea waters to religious pilgrimages, but we think Goa is one of the best. So here are the best places to visit in Goa with Family. Grande Island Goa offer families several options, these options are not to be found all in one place. And Grande Island is one of them. There is no limit of water activities at Grande Island. It is the headen of adventure water sports. There is a lot to be experienced here from scuba diving, snorkeling and parasailing. But, Scuba diving at Grande Island is the most popular water activity as it offers so much in terms of underwater expedition. Beaches Beaches of Goa are among the most recommended tourist places to visit in Goa with family and visited with both domestic as well as international tourists. The beaches of Goa offers long coastline with an amazing view of the sea and the front side of these beaches are dotted shacks, restaurants, clubs and shopping outlets. Once can also enjoy a plethora of water sports at these beach. Everybody who has been to Goa would have visited these beaches. Dudhsagar Waterfall Again, Dudhsagar Waterfall is one of the places to visit with family in Goa. Dudhsagar waterfalls, which means a sea of milk, is a 4 tiered waterfall and 4th tallest waterfall of India. Situated at a distance of 46 kilometers from Madgaon, waterfalls appear spectacular during monsoon months after being filled by the rains. Casino If you want to try your luck then visit Casinos in Goa. The Deltin Casino is the largest casino located in Panjim, the capital of Goa. It offers 24 hours of nonstop fun with luxury live gaming on three levels with 850 gaming positions. Live entertainment is on the restaurant floor and during peak hours. For those travelling with their family, visit to the casino is must to gather some wonderful memories. Go Shopping The husky markets of Goa are also an essential part of the itinerary of Goa tour packages with family. Basically evoked by bohemians as a means of earning money by bartering or selling their stuff, today it is very much a part of any Goan itinerary of tourists. Arpora night market is held every Saturday from 6pm until late at night, whereas Anjuna Flea market is every Wednesday from 9am until ends at sunset time. You can also find food stalls offering a bountiful range of delightful expense and a point which hosts live concerts. Mandovi River Cruise If you are seeking for some calming experiences with your family, River Cruise Mandovi is one of the best things you can try in Goa. Just head to the luxury cruises and set out on an exploration to grasp peace and have fun. Indulging in this lethargic experience is an admirable opportunity to unfurl while catching the essence of Goa. To know more about the memorable experiences of Goa, check out our Family Holiday Packages in Goa.
No doubt, North Goa is a paradise for travelers. Hub to some really stunning beaches and serene point of worship, North Goa is an ideal part of the Goa trip. There is so much in North Goa that one can enjoy while at this point of the dazzling state that one may never wish to go back. Nature lovers can opt from a collection of places, whereas the adventure seekers can openly sway from here to there as adventure water sports await them. Newly-wed couples can boast their special moments in the calm backwaters and hidden places, whereas buddies can hangout together in the Goan shacks and dance to some loud beat. Foodies can zest the scrumptious food and peace seekers can opt a lonely place with a serene view for themselves. North Goa offers something for al. And most of all an insane peace of mind that is not so easy to get anywhere else. So take a look at these unexpected places to visit in North Goa which will keep you visiting back again and again.
Fort Aguada
Aguada Fort is the most popular fort among all the architectures in Goa. At the beginning, this fort was a hb to the Portuguese people, whereas now it is converted into a jail. Don’t miss the panoramic view from the lighthouse while you are here. You ought to visit this place to explore the joyful views of the mighty Arabian Sea. Beside beaches, it is one of the best places to visit in north Goa.
Anjuna Beach Flea Market
Anjuna Beach Flea Market is a mini carnival in itself. Organized every Wednesday, this flea market is explored by the locals, Indian tourists an International tourists as well. This market is where one can find a lot of activities to do till late at night. This market is no less than a fashion street, where one can find great gifts, fashionable attires and captivating artifacts. Food stalls are also the part of this flea market as well, where one can savor some scrumptious Goan cuisine.
Deltin Casino
The Deltin Casino is one of the most popular casinos in Goa where one can try their luck. It is located on the Calangute beach in North Goa. Her one can have a feeling of Las Vegas. It is where you can savor several electronic games like Roulette, Blackjack, Slots, Poker, Craps and much more. One will also get a chic bar and plush lounges in the casino where you can enjoy the nightlife at its best.
Chapora Fort
Chapora Fort, another witness to the miracle of Portuguese architecture, is one of the top places one can include in your North Goa trip. The remains of the ruins of today was once where the Portuguese suppose to rule for more than 150 years. The ideal reason to visit this place is because it bids marvelous views of Anjuna Beach and Vagator Beach. It is a perfect hotspot for photographers to spend some ideal time and catch the moments in their camera. You will also get two tunnels that Portuguese bulti to breakout in case of an emergency. Calangute Beach One cannot forget this popular beach from the list of places to visit in North Goa? It is named as “queen of beaches” by many tourists. Shopaholics—big showrooms of graceful handicrafts from Indonesia, Tibet and Kashmir are lined up on the main road alongside the beach. From beach bathing to sipping drinks on the shack, you can have chilled. Laid-back time on the beach during your Goa holiday. Grande Island Grande Island is amongst the most bizarre yet wonderful tourist places in Goa. True to its name, it offers a grand experience to the adventure lovers who are seeking for adventure watersports as it is a hub to excellent Scuba Diving spots. Some of the Scuba Diving sites around Grand Island are Suzy’s Wreck, Shelter Cove and Bounty Bay. Take a day trip and don’t forget to experience Snorkeling or Scuba diving at Grande Island.
I just got back and a friend who is taking the exact same cruise and is also cost conscious asked me to give him all my lessons learned. I figured you all might benefit even if some of this information isn't strictly about cruising. I'm going to ask my travel companions to review it (first time in Hawaii and first time cruising) to see if they have anything to add.
Getting There And Getting Around
Air Fare With Southwest now offering tickets to Hawaii, I expect the competitive market to drop prices across the board but unless you are fortunate enough to live on the west coast in a city with flights that fly direct, air fare can be pricey. I had to get 4 people there round-trip (2 from rural Maine, 1 from Louisville Kentucky and 1 from the Baltimore/D.C. area). I ended up signing up for the Chase Sapphire credit card (annual fee waived for the first year) and the Alaska Airlines credit card that gave me a buy one/take one sign up offer. My total air fare cost was $2400. Besides the credit card, there was no secret other than monitoring the prices as far in advance as possible to see what typical prices are and then striking when there was a decent sale. I would also mention following Scott's Cheap Flights on the off chance a deal becomes available for when you were already planning on traveling. Ground Transportation We flew into Waikiki on Tuesday (cruise started on Saturday) so I got a rental car through Autoslash. The total cost for a mid-size for 4 days was $176 and ended up being from Alamo. While I feel this was a good deal as I had four people, if you're not 100% sure you will need it - you can probably get by with an Uber, taxi or even a hop on/off bus (see excursions later). Many excursions had an option for hotel pickup/drop-off. Probably the best deal I found was Star Taxi which only charged $25 for up to 4 people one-way to/from the cruise terminal and not much more for other locations. Call 1 hour before you need the service. Parking Parking is EXPENSIVE so be sure to do a lot of research if you plan on renting a vehicle.
Oahu
General In your mind, you have this idea of what Hawaii is going to be like. Oahu (specifically Honolulu/Waikiki) is not it. It is very over developed and crowded. Many places are run-down because investors have purchased the property but have chosen to wait until conditions are more favorable to develop. There is a very large homeless population in Hawaii overall but I was shocked by the number of shanty towns and abandoned vehicles doubling as homes I saw on Oahu. Excursions
Snorkel-Cruise-Swim-Dolphins-Turtles - highly recommended (hint: This excursion may be cheaper directly with the vendor Dolphins And You - if you buy the photos, you will have to go to their Waikiki office later to pick them up and they will offer you a 10% discount on merchandise at that time).
Shark Dive - Unfortunately, this tour got canceled due to weather so I can't comment on it. Since it is on the north shore, the plan was to do an early morning adventure (when the water is calmest) and then spend the rest of the time exploring the beaches and surfers. (hints: You may be able to get this cheaper directly with the vendor North Shore Shark Adventures and if you drive, take one way to get there and another way to get back so you can experience more of the island).
Sunset Cruise & Show - The people I was going with had never cruised before so this was to get their feet wet so to speak. It was nice but not spectacular. You may be able to get it cheaper directly through the vendor Star Of Honolulu. On Fridays, they offer an extra hour for a nominal fee upgrade which includes fireworks. I didn't see the fireworks myself but several people I talked to said they are put on by a hotel and aren't anything special. (hint: If you drive, they will validate your parking ticket and parking will only be $4 instead of $18).
Waikiki Trolley Hop-On Hop-Off You can trade time for money and if you have time, this would be a much more cost effective solution to getting around and is very configurable (how many days of use, how many different lines, etc.)
Polynesian Culture Center - I had the Ambassador Luau Package With Circle Island Tour of Oahu. Pickup was at 8:30 in the morning and drop off wasn't until after 10 PM so it is a long day. If you do this one I have several recommendations. First, take it early in the trip because it includes a multi-day pass so you can go back at no charge for 3 more days and the Circle Island tour allows you to see some areas you may want to explore on your own. Second, you don't get food until 6 PM so be sure to eat breakfast first and plan the rest of the time accordingly (bring snacks for instance). The only thing I was disappointed in was the Diamond Head didn't actually drive up to the crater. Update After the initial post, I was reminded by mashel2811 of a few things. The PCC is Mormon owned/operated which has pros/cons. On the downside, there is no alcohol on-site and things overall tend on the conservative side. Not that I have an issue with that but if you're looking for authenticity then this would represent Polynesia post Christian missionaries. On the upside, it is a huge facility that truly will allow you to experience many of the cultures besides just Hawaii. Also, regardless of how you feel about religion, the money taken in from PCC helps to sponsor many students education from all over Polynesia. I had nothing to compare the luau to but I have heard from several other people that there are much better options (the luau at PCC is optional). The Breath Of Life was awesome.
Pearl Harbor (see the end of the cruise excursions)
Recommendations/Notes
You probably want a beach other than Waikiki due to the number of people - Hanauma Bay looked awesome. If you do decide to stay in Waikiki, walking the coastline towards Diamond Head is a better choice for the beach instead of around all the hotels. This is because in Hawaii, beach access and water is considered a public service (free)
What is and isn't expensive didn't make any sense. Eggs imported from the mainland were cheaper than eggs from Hawaii despite chickens EVERYWHERE but I was able to get a large jar of peanut butter for $1.89. The best place I found for groceries was Don Quijote and it had a free parking garage.
Souvenirs were much cheaper on other islands
It rains - almost daily - but not for long - don't let it fool you - WEAR sunscreen of at least SP50
Hydrate more than usual - especially if you're drinking beer like me
Updates From original post below
You can get insanely discounted Pearl Harbor tickets from recreation.gov but they sell out in 5 minutes. Exactly 7am Hawaii time they sell tickets for the next day or for 2 months out. Nothing in between. I recommend having 2-3 people trying it simultaneous for different time slots. The early tickets sell faster. Then the bus ride anywhere is $2.50 each. When you board the bus ask for a transfer ticket. The transfer ticket is good for two more rides for the next 2.5 hours. If you get out of PH within the time slot you can ride back for free.
There's a stand near Breakout Waikiki that is a hard sell timeshare sales pitch (couples only). If you're willing to sit through it, they give you $150 towards an excursion or a free meal and a $120 Visa gift card (as of March 2019). If you want the exact location, message me.
You may think being a Costco member will help you out on expenses and you're probably right but know that the busiest Costco in the world is on Oahu and they claim 1 in 4 people have membership so plan accordingly (think shopping for the latest toy on Christmas Eve)
Pride Of America
I have to be honest, this was hands down the most expensive cruise I have taken and it was the worst cruise ship. I had a great time but there was a lot left to be desired.
Entertainment was very underwhelming - I believe unlike other mass-market cruise lines, NCL's entertainers are on multi-month contracts just like other staff. This tends to be bad for entertainers like comedians (how many different sets can they have prepared) but should be better for magicians (you shouldn't have to rely on the suitcase you get through security at the airport). I have seen a Vegas quality magic show on NCL before (Norwegian Spirit last November) but this act was honestly no better than a birthday party. I could go on but I will summarize it as this: On Carnival, I struggle deciding what I am going to do because of so many good things where as on this ship, I struggled to find anything I actually wanted to do.
Beer prices were outrageous and included a mandatory 20% gratuity and since you spend a LOT of time in port, taxes too. In each port, I found a better selection of beer right off the ship for at least 20 - 30% cheaper than on the ship. If you do drink on the ship however, I highly recommend the Gold Rush Saloon as it has a couple of beers on tap you can't get anywhere else. It has a self-serve popcorn machine and is adjacent to the buffet so you can get self-serve ice cream too.
The food was mediocre (main dining quality was about the same as the buffet which was good but not great). I didn't spend the money to try any of the specialty dining.
Update: One thing that really stood out as being a good thing is that the room had 3 US standard outlets!!! Why Does It Cost So Much
There is no casino to subsidize the fare cost
It is a US Flag cruise ship which means it has to abide by US labor laws (this is an indirect result of the Jones Act as it doesn't travel to any foreign ports)
Hawaii not only has a sales tax but a tourist imposed General Excise Tax which of course NCL passes on to you
Exclusivity - unless you want an extremely sea day intense cruise from California, around Hawaii, to Mexico and then back to California (or similar) cruise - they're the only show in town
Hint: You should get the NCL Mobile App. It includes dinner reservations, account charges, dinner reservations, deck plans, passenger to passenger chat for an additional fee ($10 vs Carnival's $5) and other nifty features. Observations I was astounded by the number of first time cruisers I saw (based on their ship card color). Because so many of the employees were American, I was also surprised by how many told me that they were on their first contract and wouldn't be back. The people (both employees and passengers) were incredibly friendly and most everyone seemed to be having a good time. I didn't see long lines at guest services. I mentioned earlier how this was the worst ship I had been on - and, while true, shouldn't give you the impression that I didn't have a great time. For my traveling companions, they had nothing to compare it to and other than the entertainment - they had no complaints at all and loved it.
Day 1 & 2 Maui (overnight)
If you have ever been on a Caribbean cruise and you didn't feel like paying for an expensive excursion you could always just walk off the ship and go to a beach or a shopping district or a friendly bar - something. This is not the case in Maui. Where the Pride Of America docks there is absolutely nothing (it took 10 minutes to walk out of the port with chained link fence on both sides only to end up about another 10 minutes away from a strip mall). I do want to point out that the strip mall did have a few artisans selling things out on the sidewalk but this was far from what you will be used to at other locations. So what to do instead?
Rent a car if you want to go on your own - day rentals are common and you will be in port overnight. You will have to do your own research as to what to do as I booked excursions for both days
Go up to Haleakala Crater for sunset or sunrise. I went for sunset as sunrise required leaving the ship at 3 AM. I can't stress how amazing this sunset was at nearly 2 miles above sea level. If you go, take plenty of warm (think Maine winter) cold. It was 44 degrees without the windchill when we arrived at around 5 PM (still sunny) and the temperature dropped significantly by the end of the sunset (around 6:40 for us but varies based on time of year).
Road To Hana - I didn't take this excursion but it is extremely popular. Most guests I spoke with said they absolutely loved it though a few called it the road to hell (it's an all day excursion)
Maui Northshore & Waterfall Walk - This is the one I took because it was rated as "easy" and one of my traveling companions has mobility issues. There is an alternative called Waterfall Hike that you may want to consider. This was a great excursion which took you into a historical town for lunch (delicious) and gave you some free time to explore the artisans (glass blowing, jewelry making, etc.) before taking you to the private access Wailele Farm. The waterfalls you can walk to (as opposed to hike to) were not breathtaking but overall the plants and flowers here were amazing. You will get an opportunity to eat many of the things you encounter so if you're feeling adventures, give it a try.
This is the first of two days on the island of Hawaii and it is on the eastern (very wet) side of the island. Normally doing two excursions in one day is a not recommended. I would make an exception here because the Botanical Gardens are not to be missed. It is a short excursion (2.5 hours), is relatively inexpensive (you can even do it on your own) and is offered at multiple times allowing you to get another excursion in. Recommendations
The Botanical Gardens - either through NCL or directly with Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden - they have social media as well if you have questions. Tip: One of my traveling companions said walk through twice - once looking down and once looking up because there is just so much to see.
Go zip-lining. I happened to choose Zipline Through Paradise as it had a tandem/parallel course (you got to zip at the same time as someone else). You can even hold hands on one line for a very special photo. You may even want to book directly with Kapohokine
The other side of the island is a stark contrast to Hilo as it is dry/desert climate. It is the only tender port on the cruise. Unfortunately, we didn't fare very well here on excursions but shopping and beer was good. It has been on my bucket list to be in a real submarine and go over 100 feet to below the surface to the ocean floor. That's what 3 of us did here in Kona and while I am glad that I can now say I have done it (105'), the experience itself was underwhelming. To not interfere with the wildlife, the sub doesn't use any artificial lights nor does anything to attract the fish to your windows. This means almost everything is a monochrome blue (the color red doesn't exist at this depth for instance). It's also nearly impossible to get nice photos out the windows even though they are clear enough - just not the right conditions. Now, I met a guest back on the ship that said he had a phenomenal time on a sub that wasn't sponsored through NCL but I'm not sure what it was. The other guest in my party decided to go on the Gold Coast & Cloud Forest excursion and was also not impressed. The gold supposedly comes from the Hawaii state fish (yellow trigger fish also known as humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa) but apparently they haven't been plentiful enough to turn the coast gold for years. She also said if she was a coffee drinker, she probably would have enjoyed it more (they are famous for their coffee). Recommendations
If you would like to buy coffee at a discount, a tour guide let me in on a little secret. To be called Kona Coffee it has to indicate what percentage is from Kona (i.e. 100%). Well, geography being what it is, the line between Kona and the region to south is arbitrary (created by humans) so buying coffee labeled just across the boarder (I forget the name of the place - I don't drink coffee) is 25% cheaper
If you want to see the pretty coral and reefs, consider a glass bottom boat ride. The bartender I chatted with told me that she used to work on the sub and a much more beautiful experience was the glass bottom boats.
Normally, the closer to port you are the more expensive things are - like souvenirs. That may in fact be the case in Kona but I found the prices at Whalers General Store to be very competitively priced. Many of the same items I saw at stops before here were at least 20% cheaper.
Have a drink or 6 at Paradise Brewing Company. I was fed up with the prices on the ship so I checked this place out (there was another one further up the street with a fairly large beer menu as well but they weren't very friendly so I moved on. I sat in here for hours (was one of the last tender boats back to the ship). It was extremely friendly - the beer was good, the food was good - I would definitely recommend.
Remember how I said you have this ideal image in your head of what Hawaii is and Oahu doesn't meet it. Kauai exceeds it - I fell in love and if I ever go back, I will just fly directly here and stay on this island - it is that good. I am not going to suggest you do anything other than exactly what I did because I couldn't possibly imagine having a better time. Recommendations
Day 1 - Best Of Kauai. I have no idea if a similar excursion can be booked elsewhere because it included 5 stops (Waimea canyon, Spouting Horn Park, Keoki's Paradise for lunch, Opaekaa Falls and Wailua River Fern Grotto). If you want to "build your own", just go to Waimea canyon and dine at Keoki's Paradise as they were the highlights of the day. If you are into photography and have gotten tired of lugging all of your lenses around, today is the day to have it all at the ready.
Now, there's more to the story than just these two excursions. First, since you're overnight you can stay out as late as you want. I asked our tour guide where an affordable place to get good beer close to the ship was. She recommended The Nawiliwili Tavern (or just the Tavern). It happens to be a 2 minute walk from one of the free shuttle stops and they have great pizza, beer and pool. Secret I learned this is also where a lot of the crew from the ship hang out after they get off at 9PM so if you want to have a real conversation and ask real questions - this is the place to do it. Once the bartender realized I was into craft beer and trying all they had, she told me about a brew pub not too far up the road that I really wanted to try but ran out of time.
Napali Coast (still day 6)
The cruise ship leaves port early (circa 2PM) and instead of heading to Honolulu backtracks around Kauai. There is a portion of the island that's only reachable by air (helicopter) or by sea (cruise ship) and I was fortunate enough to do both. Actually, our pilot said that a few of the beaches can be reached by a hiking 11+ miles but it isn't an easy hike. In any event, this is where the opening scenes of Jurassic Park were filmed if I remember correctly - utterly gorgeous. My pilot also let me in on a little secret - that the captain times the cruise ship to sunset when the coast is all lit up in spectacular colors so be out on deck with camera ready.
Day 7 - Honolulu (Pearl Harbor & City Tour)
I made a big mistake here. I booked a late flight so I could go to Pearl Harbor and then get dropped off at the airport. We had already done the Circle Island Tour and none of the other offerings were of interest. This was a mistake for two reasons. Reason 1: Exhaustion After having spent 5ish days in Waikiki and then taking a 7 day cruise, we were wiped out and really didn't have the stamina to really take it all in. Recommendations
Eat a big breakfast as this tour didn't include food
Bring food for the tour and possibly the airport (see airport notes below)
The cheapest place to get hot dogs at the time was at the Missouri ($6 as of March 2019)
If you are using your phone as a camera, practice taking photos against the bus window as the city tour took you to some neat places but they didn't stop to let you off
The tour includes the Missouri and the Arizona - everything else is additional
At the time of this writing, the Arizona was still under repair so you only took a boat close. You will be watching a very emotionally moving video before the boat ride so sit as close to the exit doors (front left) as you can so that when it's over you can pick one of the corners of the boat to get unobstructed photos from - they don't allow you to stand up and they don't play. Oh, and if you are sensitive to loud noises - when the bomb actually drops on the Arizona it is about 10 times louder than the rest of the film so be prepared
Our guide got tickets for the Arizona at 2:15 PM, helped us navigate the shuttle over to the Missouri and told us he would see us at the bus 3:30 PM. If you're not comfortable navigating on your own then this is probably not the tour for you
It's only 5 minutes from the airport so if you want to stay longer because of a late flight it would be fast/cheap to go on your own - just ask to get your luggage off the bus
Reason 2: Airport If you have a late flight home, I'm sorry. All of your checked bags have to be screened by agriculture (certain plants are not allowed to leave the state) which is airline specific and unless that airline is running flights all day (looking at you Alaska), then you will have to wait for them to open before you can even check in. While you wait, there is essentially no place to eat (Starbucks and a bar that serves hot dogs for $12.50 - yes, $12.50). I recommend you keep some food with you for this reason. They do offer a baggage hold service but the prices were ridiculous (4 checked bags for 24 hours was $100). Sorry if it seems like I am whining - it was the end of a long trip and I was returning to reality.
Update: Viator
In this post, I have provided a number of links to NCL's excursions, directly to the vendor and also to Viator. Viator is part of Tripadvisor and generally speaking, you can trust the reviews. On most of the bookings, you can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours in advance. They are competitively priced and you can usually get a discount. For instance, new customers will get offered a 10% discount off their first purchase. Companies like Ebates and TopCashBack will offer an additional 3 to 6% cash back as well. Use a credit card that gives back 2-4% on travel and it can really reduce the price. I haven't had too much trouble figuring out what vendor was being used through Viator so you could just book with them direct too and just use them as a way to find fun things to do and use the reviews to distinguish between what's good and what's not.
Cheapest option for snorkeling? Average casino prices for black jack? Dinner on the beach options? Help !
Hey guys my girlfriend and I are going to Aruba from July 28 to August 4 and we want to make he absolute most out of our trip. Location: We will be staying about 10-15 mins walking distance from Eagle beach. What we look forward to: Beach, nightlife, kayaking, natural pool or coves, play a little bit at the casino,bar hop and dance, dinner on the beach, and visit other beaches on the island. In order to take advantage of the trip we need to spend smart. There are going to be obvious price differences in snorkeling prices but that offer the same experience so I want to what would be the best option. We want to go out to bars but we also don’t want to pay $7 for one domestic beer. We want to go out to eat on the beach but we don’t want a commercialized tourist location. Hopefully I have elaborated well enough. I’m well aware that you need to spend money on a vacation and I more than willing to however my main point is that I do not want to get suckered into a commercialized over priced tourist trap when there are much more similar options for a much more reasonable price.
In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II attended the premiere of the 20th James Bond film. I'm sure she never gave it a public review. But I sure will. A deeper look at Die Another Day (2002)
Hey folks! I'm planning on watching all 23 of the James Bond films between now and the release of Spectre in November. 007 films have always been my guilty pleasure and I thought it might be worth trying to have a more analytical discussion about them. If you all are interested, I'll be posting one of these discussions/reviews every 2 weeks. So here goes!
Story This film has so many issues, it is difficult to decide where to start. As much as I want to just start ripping into the actors, the proper place to begin would be the script. I am positively baffled. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade return again to pen the script for Die Another Day. I don't know if the script was rushed or whether there were some sort of studio politics that drastically altered it for one reason or another but this humongous turd feels so unlike anything the pair had put out before or have put out since. From start to finish, the entire script feels hokey. It is empty, inauthentic, and overly stylized. It feels as though the characters should high five each other and say, "F**k yeah, action movie!" after every single line of dialogue. When the script isn't serving up contrived action-speak, it's full of pointless, banal dialogue. Entire conversations (e.g. the introductory conversation between Bond and Jinx) do virtually nothing to develop character or plot. Gags are thrown in, completely at random, without any regard to the flow of the story or relevance to the plot (e.g. the Moneypenny fantasy scene at the end). The entire film tries so agonizingly hard to be cool, funny, and smart and fails so miserably. Apart from Rosamund Pike, every single actor and actress in this film falls flat on their face. Halle Berry and Toby Stephens turn in two of the worst performances I've ever seen. Stephens overacts every scene he's in and Berry's performance is on par with a 1980s after school special. Seriously, just pick a line and it'll be a perfect example. I mean she makes a "yo mama" joke for god's sake. Jinx unequivocally belongs among the absolute worst of 007's companions -- worse even than some of my previous least favorites: Rosie Carver (Live and Let Die), Tiffany Case (Diamonds Are Forever), and Mary Goodnight (The Man with the Golden Gun). As for the plot, my criticism is the same as everyone else's. DAD suffers from the inevitable trap of escalation. Any time you have a franchise like this, the plots need to continually have higher stakes in order to bring audiences back. Unless you're rebooting the series, what reason do people have to come back unless things are going to be bigger, badder, and more perilous than ever, right? Well that's what the studio figured, anyway. This leaves us with a space laser attacking invisible cars, melting ice palaces, and creating tidal waves for our protagonist to surf upon. The film becomes hyperbolized without being intentionally satirical -- a bad combination. Look and Sound From the very get-go, the film starts off on the wrong foot. A crummy electronica remix of the Bond theme paired with a terrible CGI bullet flying at the screen during the gun barrel sequence establishes that this film is going to do everything possible to seem as contemporary as it can -- at whatever cost. After watching some puzzlingly bad green screen effects (I thought we had finally fixed this...) during the cold open, we are thrust into one of the worst intro songs of the series. Madonna's auto-tuned bubblegum pop is spared the title of Worst Song thanks only in part to the equally terrible '80s love ballads during the Roger Moore era. It's rare that the editing of a film is so bad as to be noticeable. This is one of those instances. This particular scene is the perfect example of how much of a technical trainwreck this film is. It gets everything wrong. In addition to the terrible dialogue and acting, the editor, Christian Wagner, made a mess of the scene. The framing continually jumps back and forth between close ups and medium shots with erratic and awkward timing. And if that’s not jarring enough, Wagner continually cuts between sentences. Editing 101 will teach you that to properly cut a conversation between two people, you execute what is called an L cut. The L cut will often play out in such a way that the person not facing screen will begin talking first. At an appropriate time, the shot will cut (mid-sentence or, if there is an action performed by the speaker, mid-action) to show the speaker speaking. This is because we, as humans, don’t always look at someone before they speak. Our eyes may be fixated on something else and their speech will draw our eyes to them. Wagner fails miserably at this throughout the entire film. Director Lee Tamahori fails at every aspect of directorial duties. Not only did he fail to pull an iota of decent acting material from his cast, but the visual decisions he made are ludicrous. To explain what I mean, I would like to formally nominate this little sequence for the Single Worst Scene in James Bond's Entire 53 Year History award. It is so bafflingly terrible, I struggle with where to start. From a narrative standpoint, we are meant to believe that Bond, using the… power of… his traumatic past (…?) was able to fake a heart attack by willing his heart down to 14 bps before assaulting multiple doctors, using six words to sexually arouse the third (who, while the other doctors were being assaulted, stood by with a look that can only be described as mild inconvenience), and sneaking into a 5-star hotel located conveniently just across the bay from the hospital — all while in his pajamas. From a stylistic point of view, it's even worse. In fact, I can use this specific scene to address just about every issue I have with the overall aesthetic of DAD. The low shutter speed slow-mo (seen in the previous clip and used frequently throughout the film), ultra high contrast color, speed ramps (seen in the previous clip as well as in this scene), and multiple instances of superimposed montages are horrible. I mean just downright… asinine. This is a multimillion dollar Hollywood film — not a 1998 anti-piracy commercial. Finally, the issue that most folks have with the film: the CGI. This scene always comes to mind when people discuss their grievances with DAD. Rightfully so. The damn thing is nearly 100% CGI and it doesn't look remotely realistic. The lack of practical stunts completely ruins any sense of tension for a given situation. Callbacks, Recurrences, and Tropes DAD is frequently criticized for its vast collection of shoehorned callbacks to previous Bond films on account of this being the 40th anniversary of the franchise. Some are more obvious than others. The following is a list of the props that appear during the briefing sequence:
• Col. Klebb's poison-tipped shoe and Bond's briefcase from From Russia With Love • Snorkel with a bird on it from Goldfinger • The jetpack from Thunderball • Little Nellie from You Only Live Twice • The grappling gun from the elevator scene in Diamonds Are Forever • The Acrostar jet and the crocodile submarine from Octopussy
Additional references throughout the film:
• When Bond is in Cuba, he picks up a book called Bird Watching in the West Indies. This is a reference to the fact that Ian Fleming was reading a similar book and liked the name of the author, James Bond, and decided to use it as the name of his protagonist in his first book, Casino Royale. • When Q first introduces Bond to the Vanisher, Bond sees the invisible car appear and says, "you must be joking." Q responds with, "as I learned from my predecessor, I never joke about my work, 007." This is almost the verbatim discussion between Bond and Q in Goldfinger when Q mentions that the Aston Martin DB5 has an ejector seat. • Q also assigns Bond a new gadget-clad watch. He remarks that it's Bond's 20th. This refers to DAD being the 20th film in the franchise. • Finally, during an underwater sequence, Bond uses a rebreather. It is the same one as Connery used in Thunderball. • Bonus reference: When Bond is talking to Q (John Cleese, mind you) he refers to another character's injury as a "flesh wound," a reference to a line spoken by Cleese in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The roster of returning characters contains no surprises. Judy Dench reprises her role as M, Samantha Bond returns as Moneypenny, Colin Salmon returns as MI6 staff member Charles Robinson (reprising the role from Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough). The only major change is John Cleese officially taking over the role of Q from Desmond Llewelyn. DAD contains many of the typical tropes but with a little added spin. The gun barrel sequence is present but has been updated to include a (terribly unnecessarily) CGI bullet that flies toward the screen. The title sequence and theme song are also present. This title sequence is one of only two (the other being On Her Majesty's Secret Service) that covers plot. In DAD, we watch as Bond is tortured in North Korea. Bond delivers his iconic name introduction and makes a reference to his preference to shaken martinis while encountering turbulence on a flight, however aside from there, there aren't many more of the typical Bond Tropes. No provocative character names, no card games, no train fights, etc. Overall Impression This movie just plain ol' sucks. The only thing that remains left to be said is that this film just simply doesn’t feel like a James Bond film. It feels like a bad late-‘90s/early-2000s superhero film. Tell me this guy doesn’t look like he belongs in the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. Quick Hits
Category
Score
Note
Writing
2
God awful. Dull dialogue, campy plot.
Directing
1
Every single decision was a terrible one. From camerawork to stylistic decisions with the overall look, Tamahori is a complete disaster.
Acting
3
All three of these points come solely from Pike's performance. Berry and Stephens are two of the worst actors in the entire series and that includes this guy.
Cinematography
3
I can't say it any more succinctly. The whole film feels like a "You Wouldn't Download a Car" ad.
Production Design
6
Lamont's usual top-notch work is undone by the requirement to use such outlandish sets and props
Score
5
Techno-y, pop-y, lousy.
Editing
2
Choppy, amateurish.
Effects
1
Not only are these abominations bad in context of prior Bond films, but for 2002 these effects are/were an absolute disgrace.
Costumes
6
Bond, Jinx, and Frost all look good for the most part. Graves' robo-suit looks stupid.
Bonus Category! So for each movie my wife and I will be enjoying a spirit or cocktail that relates to the film. Die Another Day is credited for reviving the general public's interest in mojitos. In honor of such an accomplishment, we couldn't help but enjoy a couple ourselves. • 1 measure white rum • 1 tsp sugar (or simple syrup) • mint leaves • lime juice • club soda Combine rum, sugasyrup, and lime in a shaker. Shake over ice. Pour over ice into a highball glass and top off with club soda. Garnish with mint leaves (crush them up a bit to release extra minty goodness).
So what do you folks think? How does Die Another Day fare in your opinion?
Staying for a week in Jan 2018 for 30th bdays / wedding anniversary. Interested in food, drinks, walking, beach, nightlife / live music, etc. Not so much casinos or shopping. We plan to rent a car. Looking at Marigot or Grand Case, want to be able to reach parts of the island without too much driving. Can anyone make any recommendations? Would the Mercure be too far out of the way? Any resources you can point us to, food and drink, hotel or airbnb, etc. that you can recommend would be great, tips, whatever. Things on our list: - Loterie Farm - Calmos Cafe - Beaches, snorkel, jet ski Thanks guys.
My husband and I don't have much travel experience and could use your help planning a $5K March 2015 honeymoon.
So my husband and I are huge procrastinators and we're still at the beginning stages of planning our honeymoon. We'd like to go outside the U.S. and are definitely not interested in cruises. Here's what we've got: My travel history: Canada, France, Spain His travel history: Never been outside the U.S. Travel Bucket List/Interests: Ireland, India, Africa, Belgium, Iceland, France again, Turkey, Philippines (this one is only me), Central/South America (only me again). This is not an exclusive list, if you guys know of someplace else we haven't thought of we're all ears! This is just a starting point. Less interested in...: Germany, Russia, China, Philippines (Husband doesn't have much interest but it were the best option he'd go), Hawaii. Length: Sometime within the dates of March 14-22 2015 for about a week Travel Time: Since our vacation time is limited, we'd prefer someplace that is within 1 day air-travel from the U.S. Budget: $5,000 Climate: Climate-wise, we could go either way, and this is where it gets murky for our decision making. Since the honeymoon is in March we'd prefer someplace that is at least a little warmer than our current Midwestern paradise. (I've also been hardcore lifting for the past few months and would like once, just once, to show that hard work in something other than a parka.) However, we're really open to hearing anything. Safety: We're fine with places like Thailand or Africa, as long as we're not traveling to a particularly conflict-torn part. I can speak a little Spanish as well. Interests Food--We're both big foodies and when we dine out now we typically gravitate to seafood, Mexican, Indian, Greek, Turkish and mediterranean food. I think we'd both be miserable eating at the same resort restaurant every night; we'd much prefer trying a new place every day and having the option to wander into someplace interesting to eat. Beer--We love craft beer and will probably have at least one beer a day on our trip. Outdoors-- He loves hiking, I love horseback riding. Neither of us cares particularly if there is a beach to hang out on, however we'd both like at least a really nice hotel pool to relax in. I'd also be down for something like snorkeling; neither of us are scuba certified. Culture-- We'd enjoy wandering around the city streets looking at shops, visiting museums, going to see plays/musicals/local entertainment or seeing any really great landscapes/architecture. So basically everything. Nightlife-- Casual to almost dive-y bars. We're both introverts and we're not likely to visit crowded casinos or nightclubs. tl;dr Our biggest dilemma is that we want warmth, a nice pool, horseback riding/hiking but also want good beer, sightseeing, and a different restaurant every night. It feels like one is a canned resort experience and the other is a wandering European trip. Neither of us has a ton of travel experience so we'd love to hear your input!
Vol. 1 The next thing I knew was that the boat was fighting to push forward and climb another wave. My salt-crusted eyes opened just in time to see as Kyle slammed the throttles into the furthest forward position they could be, maxing them out - and the boat lurched slowly forward in response. My whole body could feel the strain of the motors pushing against the weight of the water that now filled the boat to almost knee height. My eyes grew wider and wider as I realized the gravity of the situation - there had to be 100+ gallons of water inside the floor-space with us. "Holy shit!" I yelped pathetically, hurriedly pulling my feet up underneath me onto the captains chair as we lurched forward and up on top of the oncoming wave; as the bow turned upward near the top of the wave, water began gushing and pouring out of the back of the boat, streaming through the gap between the motors, over the dive platform, and back to the depths from whence it came. I had to lunge and grab onto the dive bag, filled with our fins, masks and snorkels, before it joined the masses of water returning to the ocean. While the water remaining on the floor of the boat (now only at ankle height) was busy sloshing around, trying to find a path for escape, we were still being relentlessly tossed around by the surrounding waves. It was as if the ocean was laughing at us, challenging us to a duel that she knew we could not win. To me, the sea has never been a thing, but more of a powerful entity - a goddess who was either cruel or fair, completely dependent upon her mood. And today, she was toying with us. For some reason, this thought made me incredibly angry. Perhaps it was partly the fear wracking my brain, or the knowledge that literally thousands of people die after their boats capsize along this very coast each year, I'm not sure which - but as we continued swaying and rocking, I held on tightly to the frame of the captain's chair, and screamed out to the laughing waves, "Is that all ya got?! We are GOING to Bimini!" Luckily for me, the din of the storm in combination with the motors struggling to churn the water all but drowned out my taunt. I can't say whether it helped us or not, but in that moment, I should have realized this was a sign. The conditions turning sour were a warning to stay away from the islands, and we, in our excitement for our long-awaited vacation, were not paying attention. Even though everything in my gut was telling me we should turn back in that moment, at that point I was so angry I was determined to reach our destination. It will be worth it... any kind of obstacle will be worth it once we're there... I had thought, gritting my teeth. Retrospect would aim to teach me that in reality, the opposite was true. There was nothing - not all the mountains of lost treasure or schools of trophy fish in the sea - that would be worth what we were going to face on the island. We completed the rest of the 42 miles of our voyage fighting the storm, and only took one more wave over the bow. By the time we had reached the shore line of the island, the ominous weather and less than favorable seas we saw in the Gulf had all but disappeared. In its place was everything we loved about Bimini - clear skies, clear water, and clear minds. We pulled through the channel at the tip of the island right at noon that first day, completing our journey in just over 3 hours. We pulled into the marina at our hotel, the Seacrest, and literally fell out of the vessel on wobbly legs. We knelt and kissed the wooden planks of the dock repeatedly, much to the amusement of the locals standing at the fuel pump at the end of the marina. "You crazy fools crossed over on that today?" One of them called, laughing. 26' may seem like a big boat, but it really is not. Big for a lake, sure. Big for the ocean? Not a chance. "Yep, should've turned around many times! But here we are!" Kyle answered, throwing his arms up in mock praise to the sky. "So you are. Welcome to paradise, crazy white boy!" Another man called back to us, and the group of men laughed again, nodding in agreement. We had to check in at customs, then unload all of our gear before we could start adventuring. We were staying on the second floor of the faded yellow hotel (much to our dismay when carrying all of our gear up and down the flights of stairs), which overlooked the marina and faced out to the east, the flats of the island. In the flats, the maximum depth was around twelve feet, and the expanse of pristine water over sparkling white sand stretched as far as the eye could see. The island has a rich history as a known pirate island and rum running operation, then later on, a major cocaine running operation. The way the island is situated makes it a perfect location for hiding, if one knows how to navigate the water - only one entrance exists. Because the maximum depth of the flats on the interior east of the island (where the hotel looked out over) was so shallow, and these flats extended a decent ten-twenty miles out away from the island, many a ship had fallen prey to the flats. Any ship that was unaware of the depth would have run aground in the flats, even if they came by way of the open sea. There was only one entrance to access the interior of the island, which was the ship channel at the southern tip of the island we had entered in through. This being the only entrance, it was very easy to keep track of who was coming and going from the island. Bimini consists of three actual islands: North Bimini (where we stay) South Bimini, and East Bimini (mostly uninhabited). North Bimini itself is only seven miles long, and around 700 feet wide. There are two main roads, the King's Highway and the Queen's Highway, which run parallel to each other down the length of the island. Between the roads, the locals have built their homes and a few scattered businesses. There are only a handful of restaurants, gift shops and grocery stores in operation on the island, and their hours are subject to change. There have been several occasions when we ventured out to get a drink, or pick up a grocery item, to discover that the posted hours outside the business do not really dictate the hours - the owner does. The only way to know what is open and what isn't is to physically get down to the business yourself, or ask the locals where and when to find what you need. The one business in operation on the island that adheres to "normal" business practices is the infamous Hilton Hotel. I say infamous because most of the locals on the island despise the hotel. The reason may not matter to some who only come to tropical islands to sip cocktails by an infinity pool, they would not understand the hatred. There are plenty of swimming pools at the Hilton. There is also a casino, several restaurants, and acre upon ocean viewing acre of luxury accommodations. The problem is that the construction of the hotel blasted its way right through the mangroves that extend around the northern tip of the islands and all the way into the flats - which make up the breeding grounds and nursery for virtually every species found in the water - effectively bringing the ecosystem to its knees. The hotel also takes business from other, smaller hotels and restaurants on the opposite end of the island. So not only did the owners rape the island and the surrounding reefs, now they steal any remaining business from the locals. We hardly ever make it to that end of the island when we visit, choosing instead to support the locals and local businesses - but I'll never forget the time we had bad weather for snorkeling and decided to rent a golf cart and trek to the casino for some lazy, drunken fun. When we returned and told the dock-master at our hotel where we had been, his look immediately turned dark. His happy, cheerful demeanor shifted immediately to cold and aloof. "That place down there is the biggest money laundering outfit I've ever seen," he said, angrily. "If you're gonna rent my carts, don't take 'em down there," he mumbled, and took off around the corner of the hotel. We were stunned into silence, but knew from then on to keep those types of expeditions to ourselves in the future. After we had finished checking in at customs and unloading everything into the hotel room, we decided we would start our current adventure with a little late afternoon snorkeling. First we took a celebratory shot of whiskey in the room, then walked across the dusty road among the golf carts and bicyclists to our favorite bar, simply called "Toons' Place." There are no signs outside the brightly colored building, no banner with the name or hours posted. This is because Toon's Place is always open, and I do mean always. There is also loud music blasting, huge fans blowing the hot air around, and every space of the interior is covered in dollar bills stapled to the wood. Our favorite part though, is the bartender and owner, Toons. He's that type of bartender that is always drinking and having fun with those at his bartop, and if he likes you, he's notorious for passing out free shots. "Ayyy, yo, my white cousins!" Toons yelled from behind the bar as we walked across the sandy floor, his dreadlocks swinging wildly to the blaring music. He extended his tanned ebony hand first to Kyle, then to me, and turned immediately to pour us each a shot from a random open bottle of liquor on the bar next to him. He poured three - always one for himself - and with that, we smiled and touched glasses in cheers, then took the shots in unison. "So you two crazy kids are back, huh? What's on the agenda today?" Toons asked, popping open a beer for another customer and handing it down the bar. "We're headed out for some snorkeling in the front of the island, maybe shoot a fish or two," Kyle said, grinning. "Alright, alright. Just be careful. I've heard there are some sketchy folks about this time of year. You want a drink for the road?" Toons asked, glancing in our direction as he polished off glasses and stacked them neatly. I stopped to think, my head bobbing to the steady boom of the bass in the music. It was strange for him to mention being careful, with all the stories we had told him over the years, he knew that we knew what we were doing. I chalked it up to island superstition, as most of the residents didn't trust anyone they didn't know - especially the Cubans that frequented the casino. "Yeah, give us two Goom Bay Smashes. And don't worry about us, we'll be on the lookout for pirates," Kyle said, winking at Toons, and handed him a twenty. After we had our pineapple infused beverages laden with local rum in hand, we made our way to the boat. We left the marina and immediately took the channel out to the front of the island, which faced west, as the sun was beginning to sink. The sky was blue tinged with the loveliest shade of rose on the horizon, and everything was bathed in sunlight. The boat was now cutting though the water like butter, hardly any sound of effort could be heard from the motors - nothing like the conditions we experienced coming across from Florida. I sipped my drink and held on to the boat topper above my head, looking down into the perfectly calm, clear water. We drove about a mile up the shoreline and picked a spot to jump in. I donned my black skinsuit and started to de-fog my mask while Kyle secured the anchor. We were probably five hundred yards from the beach, and I could just make out structural details on the mansion style beach houses dotted along the shore. It seemed that every one was at least three stories tall, with wraparound porches for each level, spectacular windows facing the beach, and towering leafy trees all around. All the homes were painted in bright shades of green and blue - colors of the waters just out in front of the homes. The sound of the gentle waves lapping the surface and the playful breeze combined with the sight of the ocean mansions was lulling me into a serenely calm state, and I started to hum lazily while I pulled on my fins. We were both seated on the starboard side of the boat, one leg draped carelessly into the water and one firmly planted inside the boat before launching into our first snorkel. I closed my eyes and worked to calm my breathing, dragging my hanging leg back and forth in time to the counting in my head. Just as my breathing synced to the rhythm in my head, I happened to notice a woman standing on the top balcony of one of the mansions. She appeared to be facing us, and was wildly waving her arms in our direction. I nudged Kyle, who was adjusting his snorkel, and pointed to the woman. She was still waving her arms in our direction. We both waited and squinted to see if she was pointing at the water - signifying a shark, and for us to stay out of the water - but she was just crazily waving us off. The more we watched, the more it dawned on us that she wanted us to leave. A chill went up my spine. Nobody had ever been rude in that way here before, it was too laid back on this end of the island for snooty people who think they own the water in front of their beach rental. The end of the island with the Hilton, sure. It was easy to ignore them, though, as all the ocean view accommodations also had white fences that blocked the occupant from having to see lowly peasants like ourselves actually enjoying the water. The woman's motions began to get more frantic, as she waved us away over and over again. I could just barely hear her voice, she seemed to be yelling "leave." Now she was jumping around, seemingly desperate for us to notice her. We looked at each other, and laughed nervously. "Crazy old bitch," Kyle said, shaking his head, "let's just get in the water and we won't be able to see her anymore." He flipped his other leg over the side of the boat and with a splash slid into the water. I watched as his shape moved slowly away from the boat and out over the brown and black splotches of reef. I watched the woman frantically wave for a moment more, not totally convinced we should really be getting into the water. I couldn't make out any specific details about her person other than she appeared to be white and wearing all black clothing. After a few more minutes of the same thing, I sighed and resolved to join Kyle under the waves, deciding she was probably harmless. I kicked both legs to hang into the water over the side of the boat, and pulled my mask back down over my eyes. As I slid into the water, though, I caught one more glimpse of the woman - but this last flash was different. Instead of flailing her arms wildly, she seemed to be facing a different direction, and her body language was totally different. I slid into the water - the temperature was like a warm bath - and decided to swim closer to shore to see what was going on with this crazy old bat. If I could, I aimed to tell her the ocean belonged to everyone and to get off her high horse with this "leave" bullshit. As I swam towards the shore, I scanned the water beneath me. A few large triggerfish were floating aimlessly around the reefs, their oversized dorsal and pectoral fins flopping around stupidly. Parrotfish dotted the reefs as well, their iridescent pink, purple and green scales catching the light as the meandered along. Other smaller fish came and went into crevices in the coral of the reef, and tiny white jellyfish floated in and out in front of my mask. Everything was peaceful here, nothing amiss among the colorful reefs and perfect expanse of white sand. I estimated I was probably about a hundred yards from the shore now, and since the water level was getting much more shallow, I knew the beach wasn't far off. I surfaced, treading water directly beneath me with my fins, and pulled off my mask. I found the house just in time to see the woman who was waving us away engaged in conversation with someone else, a new figure. I had to keep up a steady pace with my fins pulsing beneath me to stay above the surface enough to see the pair, but immediately noticed something was off. The woman in black was facing away from me, looking at this other person, and now her hands were raised in front of her in what I immediately registered was a surrender. My eyes widened as I watched the scene unfold from the silence of the waves, the two seemed to be arguing. I could not hear what they were saying from my watery hiding spot, but I kept up the pace with my fins long enough to see the new figure raise their arm and bring it down quickly towards the other woman's head, striking her - and saw her fall immediately to the floor. I gasped as she fell, which was my first mistake, - my mouth was right at the surface of the water at this point- and I simultaneously took in a huge gulp of salty water. As I choked and spat out the water, I lost sight of the figures on the balcony. I tried to find Kyle while I gasped for air, spluttering, but could not see him. I knew I had to get back to the boat, so I swam as fast as I could back toward the rope stretching up from the reef - our anchor. I knew now the woman had been motioning for us to go and get help, not to leave. The other thing I knew was that I had not been seen, and it was a stroke of luck we had been in the water when the assailant attacked the woman. I reached the ladder at the back of the boat and heaved myself up and into the vessel as quickly as I could while still wearing fins. I threw my mask and snorkel into the dive bag and immediately spun around to face the house. The two figures were gone. Confused, I rushed to the edge of the boat closest to the shore, grabbing onto the railing to hold myself up as I leaned out as far as I could, squinting at the house. Yes, they were most definitely gone. The sound of water splashing startled me, and I turned to see Kyle pulling himself up over the dive platform at the back of the boat. He pulled off his fins and mask, shaking his head wildly back and forth to spray salt water in my direction. He smiled up at me, but his smile faded immediately when his gaze found mine. "Are you ok? What did I miss?" he asked, standing to grab my face between his hands, obviously worried about my horrified expression. "That woman... she... he was.... something is wrong," I said, frustrated at my own stumbling effort to explain the situation. "Whoa whoa. Calm down. Something happened to the crazy old bitch?" He asked, gesturing in the general direction of the house, not taking his eyes off of mine. "Yes," I said, taking a steadying breath, "she was still waving us away when someone else came outside. They got into a scuffle and he hit her. She went down... hard. Then I tried to get back here to be able to see and maybe call for help, but now they're both gone," I said quickly. We stared at each other for maybe another three seconds before I continued, "I'm going to call for help on the radio." I walked past him for the captain's chair and reached up next to the GPS system to dislodge the radio from the dash. "Wh... what do you mean?" Kyle rushed up behind me to snatch the radio out of my hand. "They're not gone. Look, there's someone up there right now," he said, pointing up to the railing of the beach house. I slowly turned to face the house, praying it was the woman, hoping she was alright. There, in the middle of the porch and facing towards us, was the other figure, the one was sure I had seen attack the woman. The figure stood perfectly still, perfectly straight. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as we stared up toward the unnaturally motionless figure. How long had they been standing there? I hadn't seen them just a moment ago when I was straining over the edge of the boat.... Suddenly, we heard a mournful call come across the water from the direction of the beach house. "I'm sorrrrrryyyyy....... I'm SOOOORRRRYYYYYYY," it grew louder as it repeated over and over again. The figure remained motionless, making it impossible to tell if the cry came from them, or somewhere else. The just stood and.... stared in our direction. I frantically looked to Kyle for answers, but he just continued to stare at the figure. Who was sorry? What were they apologizing to us for? I was sure we hadn't been seen in the water when the scuffle took place.... or had we? The call droned on and on, each new "sorry" making the situation more and more eerie. "What are you sorry for?!" Kyle yelled, cupping his hands suddenly around his mouth to answer the call, which was still sounding out, as if it were being played on repeat. Almost immediately, the call was cut short. The repetitive groaning apology stopped mid-sentence. Simultaneously, the figure turned quickly on their heel and walked into the darkened doorway of the house, leaving us alone with nothing but the sound of the waves lapping gently against the shore for an answer.
Casino Point Dive Park Snorkeling, are there poker machines in canberra, hoyle casino glitches, poker tdu2 Welcome to our guide to the best Australian online casinos.If you are an Aussie visitor, you have come to the right place. We strive to provide the best Casino Point Dive Park Snorkeling resources to all our visitors. There is reason behind our shortlist and Australian online casino reviews, so read on to find out why these are the best casino sites accepting Aussie players. Location: Casino Point on Catalina Island. General Admission $55. 2-hour tour includes gear fitting/orientation plus approx. 1 hour on tour/in ocean. All snorkeling equipment is provided: mask, snorkel, fins, and wetsuit. Bring a towel, bathing suit and your sense of adventure. Foto van Snorkeling Catalina, Avalon: a great view at Casino Point - bekijk 5.828 onthullende foto’s en video’s van Snorkeling Catalina gemaakt door Tripadvisor-leden. Casino Point Dive Park Snorkeling Tour, friv juegos de poker gratis, imac 21 5 ram slots, casino des pins les sables d'olonne Registration No Deposit Bonus Casino Point Marine Park Snorkeling - Big Dollar Casino Available in Casino Point Marine Park Snorkeling New York . Wagering requirements: 60x You should get this bonus relatively FAST; Maximal cashout: $100 New players only; Terms apply, please gamble responsibly Parks in Avalon, CA Casino Point Dive Park Snorkeling Tour, casino alicante torneo mensual, fallsview casino resort, summer concert seriex 2019 rivers casino Casino Point is one of the most popular dive sites in California and deservingly so. The city of Avalon has done a great job making the city and Dive Sites very Diver friendly. The Dive Site itself is easily accessible via the stairway leading directly into the water from the walkway. Once in the water Casino Point Dive Park The Casino Point Underwater Park is located next to the world-famous Casino Building. First established in 1962, this park is the first nonprofit underwater park in the country (and maybe the world), and offers the best shore diving in California! To make entry and exit in and out of the water as easy…
Catalina dives, Casino Point. Best of dives: Dive Park ...
About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... one of several clips from our dive at catalina Casino point snorkeling 2 - Duration: 1:32. Miles 2000 57 views. 1:32. Scuba diving in the kelp forests at Catalina Island, California - Duration: 2:55. Amartya Banerjee 24,160 views. The most popular snorkeling spot on Catalina Island is right at Casino Point. While the water clarity is usually under 10 feet, it is well suited for beginne... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Our first scuba dive on our own after completing our certification. This dive was made at, Casino Point, Catalina California. Diving Casino Point Catalina - Giant Sea Bass - Duration: 7:10. spKelpDiver 24,245 views. ... California Snorkeling (With Music/Fish ID's) - Duration: 2:57. Andy's Awesome Adventures 22,026 views. 2 days of diving in the beautiful Catalina dive park. The kelp here is amazing and the sea life abundant, a must go for anyone and everyone! Shot on Sony AS15 Action Cam in WaterProof Housing.What an exhilarating experience!!!! It was physically and emotionally demanding, but soooo much fun! Some ... Catalina dive 2016. Best of. Catalina dive park.
