A Day At The Carnival (Island)

Pigeon Cay, Cat Island to Half Moon Bay/Little San Salvador |  3.6 Hours  |  21 Miles 

The rolling waves of yesterday afternoon settled overnight allowing for good sleeping. We were up at 6:00 and I was able to get my workout in before pulling up the anchor at 6:45. There was a nice breeze which the sailboats in our group took advantage of. Shooting Star had all of their canvas full of wind. We soon entered Half Moon Bay and got our first glimpse of the Carnival Cruise Line's private island. The beached pirate ship bar dominated the horizon. We lowered the dinghy and paddleboard into the water, had a quick lunch, then took off with the group in search of a good snorkeling spot. 

Barry jumped in with the others. As usual, I stayed onboard waiting to receive a report that the scenery was worth getting wet. Everyone came up disappointed and voted to head to another spot. Many thanks to Fred (Shooting Star) for rescuing Barry and our anchor which was stuck under a rock. We raced across the bay to the other side and went out to the point.  

A significant ocean swell was traveling along the western side of the island and breaking across the rocky coastline. We abandoned our pursuit of wonderful snorkeling and returned to Crossroads. I took the paddle board to shore to check out the beautiful beach. I'm getting better and/or more confident and it felt good to go solo to the shore. I even managed to pull out the camera for a shadow selfie. The beach was perfect. Dry, soft sand packed perfectly when wet and made for easy walking. The western end of the crescent beach was only sand -- no trash, shells, or anything else. I took a few pictures then left the board high and dry, out of the reach of the incoming tide, and went for a walk.

Absolutely beautiful!  

Shooting Star and No Limits finished snorkeling and came ashore in their dinghies. Joanne and I went off in search of the horses. We had seen that horseback riding by land and sea is offered as an extra excursion for $100 per person. We spotted the mounting blocks and followed a path back to some stables. No horses, but the bougainvillea was the fullest I've seen so far. We continued on the path and found all the horses grazing. Ted, the resident donkey, came over for a few head scratches. I'm sure he hoped we had brought treats.

The island was a ghost town. Final preparations were being made for a ship's arrival tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. A front end loader was redistributing sand in front of hundreds of beach loungers. Tractors were raking the sand to a pristine smoothness. We need to be out of the harbor before it arrives. The cruise ships do not have enough depth to enter the harbor. They anchor outside and ferry the close to 3,000 passengers to shore in smaller tenders. We all returned to our motherships for a few minutes before reconvening in the surf for sundowners. We didn't quite make it to sunset as the water got chilly. After a quick shower, Barry and I watched the sunset from the upper deck. We were hoping for a green flash, but it was not meant to be.

The island of Little San Salvador was purchased by Holland America/Carnival in 1996 for $6 million. Plans are in the works to construct a massive docking pier to allow passengers direct exit onto the island. Check out Carnival's website for some more cool facts and great pictures. Nothing beats coming here on our own boat. When this is no longer possible, I can see myself searching out a different method to return to this beautiful spot.