Kayak Tour and Fish Fry

Today was an early start as we needed to be to the marina (the same spot we went to catch the ferry to North Caicos) for 8:15 for our kayaking tour. We found where we needed to be and discovered the tour was just going to consist of us and another family of 5. We were in clear double kayaks and since we had odd numbers in each of our groups, Amanda ended up sharing a kayak with the Dad (goes by the nickname of Hop) of the other group. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they would be towing us across the channel to the mangrove area to start our tour.

We got our gear and got in our kayaks while the tour guide connected us all together. Erica and I were in the front and had a great view of the tug boat operator pull the engine pull cord to start the engine and watched it break off right in his hand. The next 20 minutes was an entertaining show watching the guys try to rewind it and pull again. They didn’t get it fixed and another tour operator who was pulling 3 kayaks on a jet ski was motioned over to us where we caught a ride with them.

Once in the calm water near the mangroves we kayaked and saw several sea turtles. These are Erica’s favorite. It was really cool when one of the turtles swam directly under our kayak and I could look down and see it. When we first started talking about doing a kayak tour I wasn’t really sure if the clear kayaks would be worth it, but after experiencing it I can say they are.

We kayaked and parked on the shore of Iguana Island. Here our guide took us down a nice trail to find iguanas. Obviously the island is named what it is because of the population of iguanas that live on the island (https://www.visittci.com/other-islands/little-water-cay). We spotted several of them and when we had our fill observing and taking their picture, we had an opportunity to wade in the beautiful blue shallow water.

The next stop on the tour was to kayak in the mangroves. At one point we stopped in the mangroves so our guide could go find a live conch to show us. We also saw an upside down jellyfish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopea). This type of jellyfish does not sting and actually lives upside down on the sea floor. It was nice to be around a jellyfish that didn’t want to hurt me. Once out of the mangroves our tour guide spotted a lemon shark and got it to swim in our direction. It was small and fast and there was no way I could get a picture of it.

Thankfully the tow boat was now working and was able to pull us back across the channel to the marina. The water in the channel was much choppier than it had been in the morning. I could not imagine kayaking across it. As it was with the boat pulling us, it felt like we were barely moving. It was a good tour and we were happy with the number of sea turtles we saw.

It was after 12:30 when we got to our car and we all agreed that we could use some lunch. We picked out Omar’s Beach Shack which is located on the other side of the island, but was also on the way to some other beaches we wanted to check out. We got a great table overlooking the sand and water. I had baby back ribs, Amanda a jerk shrimp wrap, and a chicken jerk wrap. My ribs were really, really good. Amanda and Erica said their jerk was really spicy.

When we were done eating we actually decided not to go to the beaches we originally discussed because we thought we would like to spend more time there than the couple of hours we felt we had since we were planning on attending the weekly Fish Fry. We had passed Turks Head Brewery on the way to the restaurant. We have talked for several days about going there so we thought this was the perfect time to go. They do have a brewery tour 3 times a day, but none of us were interested in actually taking the tour since we’ve all been on other brewery tours, but we did want to try a sample flight of beer. I will say this brewery has some interesting beer names. (https://menu.bartrack.beer/m/dd73372e-459f-40c2-9c73-848d41bc184c/3) We shared a flight of: “Gon-Ta-Nort”, “I-Soon-Reach”, “You Red My Mind”, and “Wheat the Parents”. I have already been drinking “I-Ain-Ga-Lie” all week. We liked the beers we tried, but didn’t feel the need to stay any longer.

It was still early so I suggested we go snorkel Bight Reef. It had become overcast and the water was a bit choppy but it still ended up being a good choice. There is a snorkel trail that is buoyed around the reef. The reef itself is a protected area so you can’t snorkel over it, but you can snorkel around it. Thankfully Amanda has mask defogger so my mask didn’t fog up this time. Almost right away we saw a sea turtle! We also saw many colorful types of fish. We were just about done snorkeling when we saw a huge puffer fish. He wasn’t puffed up, but still really cool to see. For me personally, this was better snorkeling than what we had done at the beginning of the week.

Side Note: If you read the post earlier in the week about the snorkeling at Smith’s Reef, Amanda discovered that the weird frog/fish/tadpole looking animal is actually a batfish.

It was about 4:30 when we got back to the car from snorkeling and we decided to make our way home to have some time to relax and shower before heading back out to the fish fry. The Fish Fry (https://www.visittci.com/fish-fry) isn’t really a fish fry as us Wisconsinites know it, but it is more like an outdoor market with live music, vendors, food and drink stalls. This happens every Thursday from 5:30-9:30. We got there around 6:30 and walked around to browse through the vendor stalls. I spotted a tent for one of the stores we had went to the day before that carried some unique Christmas ornaments. I hadn’t bought it when I saw it in the store but had been planning to go back and get it, so since it was the same price I bought it at the fish fry. We walked past all the food vendors but wasn’t feeling it, and decided on mojitos instead. We found a spot on a curb to sit and listen to the live band and people watch. We were enjoying the vibe but once our drink was gone we decided to wonder back through one last time before heading out to find food. All the food vendor stalls were quite expensive so we had decided if we were going to spend that amount of food we would rather do it sitting down at a restaurant.

We walked next door to a restaurant called Mr. Groupers and got seated right away. I ordered a grilled grouper (how can you not get the fish that the restaurant is named after), Erica a grilled chicken sandwich, and Amanda a shrimp salad. I thought my fish was very good and was happy with my choice.

We got back to the house a little after 10:00. Tomorrow is our last full day. We plan on exploring a couple of beaches, and if there is time going back to Smith’s reef to snorkel once more.

Stats of the Day

Steps: 6,224
Number of Turtles Spotted: At least a dozen
Cost of Christmas Ornament: $20