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I was excited to get off the ship and started across the island. I wanted to visit Crane Beach, which was reputed to have some gentle surf and an awesome restaurant. Sadly, we found that it would cost $40 each way to ride the taxi, which was more than I was comfortable paying. (Judging from the expression on Joy’s face, she felt the same way.) The driver sent us outside the gate to the cheaper cabs, but they quoted the same price. I agreed with a driver’s suggestion to go to Payne Bay and swim with the sea turtles but given that Joy didn’t have her camera and snorkel gear (since we thought I was going to a body surfing spot) and did not want to rent gear., we finally decided to just go to Brandon’s Beach beside the cruise terminal.

The setting was primarily rum distillery, residential, and funky little shacks that were serving as bars. The sandy beach had a coral belt about five feet (2.5 m) wide. Instead of the shells one might find on a beach in South Carolina, the small bits of coral necessitated attention to where one might step. The fragments were mostly white but with some red and pink. The shapes were as varied as coral itself.

After swimming for a couple of hours, we walked the mile and a half or so back to the ship. There were five ships in port. When we finally stumbled back into the cruise terminal there were at least one hundred people in line in the hot sun waiting for a taxi out of the terminal to start their day. I was so tired that I slept until dinner.