Columbus Isle, Lots of Diving

Well seeking shelter turned out to be impossible… we got soaked running o our room. The sad part was the Club had set up all the pretty tables with white table cloths for “White Night.” The tables got drenched and the dinner under the stars by the pool had to be abandoned. So we all made do with eating in the restaurant after all.

Joe’s birthday turned out good. He loved the island chocolate stout. He tried to hide when the entire GO staff came over and sang happy birthday after marching through the restaurant clapping and yelling. They presented the cake, he blew out the candles and that’s another year of life. 

Our buddy Bill is here with us so he was enjoying all the female attention to our table. He’s such a flirt! He’s got about ten girls he’s sweet-talking, but Joe got the ladies attention for his birthday pose!

The Montreal plane came in. It was fun to see all the new guests arrive with their heavy jackets and show up on the beach an hour later in swimsuits. Today was sunny and lovely. We took the day off of diving and spent the day lounging on the beach instead. 

It’s always a source of entertainment to watch people on the beach. We’ve had several older couples warn us very seriously about the “under-toe.” They clearly have never been to NorCal… I can’t imagine the ocean being this calm back home, ever. We stared hard at the water, thanked them for their advice, and raced each other into the surf (actually surf is an exaggeration for the gently lapping water). Since that moment, we’ve had a few days of mild surf to actually play in… you know the kind where you actually take your shades off.

A school of silvery fish got very excited when we tossed the little clumps of kelp away from us. They immediately swarmed around our legs to see if we were going to toss them some goldfish. Not real goldfish, but the orange fish-shaped crackers you get from the wooden bowl at the bar! I kept them busy tossing them sea-weed, but they went crazy when Joe returned with the crackers. That’s when I got out. Hungry fish rubbing themselves against my legs isn’t my idea of a good time.

The first show of the season was Tuesday night. It was mostly a Cabaret, but they always add a bit of comedy. As soon as they put five chairs on stage with one actor we knew it was our cue to escape. Those other four chairs are filled with four suckers from the audience… we’ve been up on that stage enough times to last a lifetime.

The next morning was more diving. We did our first drift dive with Club Med. You get in the water, drop to the coral wall, and let the current take you for a ride. Each diver has a blow-up buoy, so when your dive is done you simply fill your buoy with air and wait for the boat to come pick you up. Unfortunately getting to the boat ladder in a current is a hellacious workout. Then I have to hang on while taking my fins off (which seem to suddenly be glued to my feet). Then I have to remove my BCD on the ladder as it surges back and forth. The tank attached to my back yanks me from side-to-side. I kept my regulator in my mouth to guarantee an oxygen source. Unfortunately the dive master didn’t see that, so he grabbed my BCD I’d just taken off and yanked it out of the water. Good thing I don’t have false teeth! They would’ve been bouncing across the dive boat or sinking to the bottom of the sea.

The next dive was more reef-sharks. I asked about the tons of shark and got this explanation. The lion-fish have been steadily destroying the ecosystem of the Caribbean for years now. When in the Turks and Caicos we saw this on our dives. Zero sharks and thousands of lion-fish. The Bahamas have been proactive. About once a week they go lion-fishing. When they get into the marina, they clean them and toss the heads into the water. Apparently fish heads are a shark delicacy! The marina swarms with sharks during cleaning time. So now the Bahamas have a healthy shark population.

Going to Columbus Isle, Club Med

The flight from Sacramento to the remote island of San Salvador was basically uneventful. Sac—Chicago—Miami. We stayed the night in Miami at the Sheraton Airport Hotel. I recommend it. It’s an older hotel, but the beds were super comfy and clean. They have a restaurant, so getting dinner is a cinch. The mahi-mahi tacos were to die for… or maybe I was starving? The view is really nice--one side has the airport and the other is a combo of the golf course and Miami.

The next day we had a flight to our island. The only flight for the week. It left at noon so we had a little too much time to kill at the hotel and the breakfast was a bit spendy. So, off to the airport. The problem is that Bahamas Air has so few flights, they don’t even open for check-in until 2 hours before the flight. Almost everyone on the plane was going to Columbus Isle-Club Med. That’s always fun because it’s a festive group. 

Once we landed on San Salvador the bus took us to the resort one mile away. We were the first guests of the (official) season, which put the 600 person capacity Club at about 65 J This is the main reason we book this first week. They literally cannot have any more than one plane-load of people from the US. On the following Tuesday the next plane comes in from Montreal. Then Thursday The big jet from Paris will arrive and the club will be hopping. It will still only have 400, but it will seem like more.

We’re enjoying having an almost 1:1 ratio of activities staff for the moment. This is really awesome when we have a double-decker catamaran to ourselves… almost. There’s about 8 divers on the boat. First dive we saw so many reef sharks I lost count. They were very curious about us and followed us around to see what we were going to do. A grouper came up and tried to work up the courage to let me pet him, but he couldn’t do it. I respected his boundaries and made a friend. He followed me for the rest of the dive like a cat who wishes it had the guts to climb up in my lap. A large turtle went by with the scuba doc and his wife filming it’s every move. It was cool they got video of it, but it wasn’t cool to follow it so closely.

When we came up for our surface interval we saw a pilot-whale right in front of the boat. This is actually more in the dolphin family, but it sure looked like a whale. The captain stopped the boat and gave it some space. It frolicked around at the bow while we all hung over the sides like little kids. It was so exciting. I'm bummed I didn't get a photo. The next dive was even better because it was shallower. I was amazed at how many different schools of fish we saw simultaneously.

The remodeled Columbus Isle has a new restaurant called La Pinta. It’s in the Spanish style of tapas.  It has a stunning bar overlooking the turquoise ocean (which is where I’m sitting typing this). Even better, it has a wine room! Yes, a wine room. Can you feel the tremor in my fingers as I type this? We booked a wine tasting session for Friday night. It will be an hour of food pairing and tasting in the glass enclosed wine vault.

I already bribed the sommeliers by bringing them a taste of my wine from NorCal J Joe’s birthday is Tuesday the 23^rd. He’ll be 60, so I want it to be special. One of the sommeliers is going to go to town and get some chocolate stout beer for me. I think Joe will be thrilled.

We’ve really enjoyed getting to know the G.O.s (guest organizers). They’re such a unique group of people from all over the world. Most of them are young and all are multilingual. They share the guest’s passion for travel. One of the things to expect at any Club Med is guest talent. We happened to become buddies with the Evon the singer, and Manu the guitarist while waiting in line at customs. They play a lot of English and American hits, though they are French. We’ve convinced them to learn Kenny Chesney’s song; “no shirt, no shoes, no problem.” I’m dying to hear them play it. They swear they’ll have it learned by the end of this week.

We dove again today. Trying to take advantage of the almost empty boat. Next week will be crowded. Our dive was great again… lots of shark and various schools of tropical color. I spotted a large lobster. It was crystal clear and no current. We just hung there in the water enjoying the moment.

A storm is coming in now, but it should clear out by Thursday, I hope. So right now the wind is whipping my hair around my face in a most annoying manner. I think I will stop and seek shelter J