Ahhh sailing. You’re the best. Well, more specifically in this case, boating. It’s not really a sailboat. Which is a good thing, because we’re going around the entire island today, and a sailboat may take awhile. We’ll spend the whole day circumnavigating the island of Roatan with several snorkel stops and lunch on a tiny deserted island.

I confess, I had very little to do with planning this part. It’s an activity much of the group had done the year before and wanted to do again. I simply paid Dave my portion ($165) and showed up when told to. From what I can tell, there are several companies that offer a similar trip, but we go with Bay Islands Adventures. It’s best booked with a larger group as it’s not a cheap activity.

Bright and early, Emma and I catch the water taxi to Sunset house to meet up with the rest of the wedding gang. Since there’s roughly 30 of us, we’ll be split into two boats – 18 in one, 12 in the other. Even now, I have no idea how we managed to fit everyone.

Once we’re all in, we make a quick stop in West End to pick up masks and fins before we’re on our way to our first snorkel stop.

While we’re waiting, someone spots a blob floating in the water. Upon closer inspection (by getting out my telephoto lens – I did NOT jump in), it turns out to be a Portuguese man o’ war. Yikes! Do I really want to get in the water now? Good thing we’re going some distance away!

Our first snorkel stop is a partially sunken ship. I don’t usually love snorkeling, preferring to dive whenever possible, but this looks like a pretty cool place.

We don our snorkel gear and jump into the warm water. I make the rookie mistake of jumping in without holding on to my mask and immediately lose it. Fortunately the water is shallow and it’s easily recovered. I am not sure what my deal is this trip, but clearly I am trying to lose everything. I’ve already manged to throw my own mask overboard on a dive earlier this week.

Since the water is so shallow here, the colors of the coral are quite vivid. Plus 1 for snorkeling.

I’m excited to try out the GoPro dome (referral link) I brought for this exact occasion. It’s perfect for getting the above and below split shots of the boat. Excuse my while I indulge in some camera fun.

For our second stop we travel further up the island. The captain anchors over a shallow spot with no reef. From there we swim over to a drop off where the water gets deeper.

Next we head over to a most perfect white sandy beach for snacks and a bathroom break. There are plenty of tourists around so I assume there’s a resort nearby, but I don’t recall actually seeing one.

This looks the most perfect place to relax for a day or a week or a lifetime. I’m not picky.

A palm tree shower? How do I get one of these installed in my backyard?

Segways on the beach? I always thought I would fall over on one of these things until I did a Segway tour of Chicago a few years back. It was more fun than you might think.

While we wait for the food to be ready, I put my camera on top of my head and wade out to this little island. The water only comes up to my waste at its deepest.

There isn’t anything here, but it’s pretty all the same.

Looking back at the beach where we docked.

Finally it’s snack time! We all huddle in the shade to eat chips and fruit provided by the crew.

It’s not even noon yet and we still have a long and very enjoyable boat ride to a deserted island for more food and snorkeling. I can’t wait to share those photos with you!