Water Cay

One of the perks being with Captain Morgan was that even on days when we were not diving, we could board the boat and snorkel the site where the others went diving, and since we had decided from the beginning that we would scuba every other day, we wanted to hop on the boat. However, they had too many people already, so since that was not an option, we decided to go visit Water Cay. Everyone spoke really highly about this small little island, so we wanted to see it for ourselves. Aside from the free snorkel gear provided by the shop, they also made available kayaks to get to water cay, so we settled on that being our plan for the day. Before that, however, we went to have breakfast at the green house, and discovered baliadas, a soft tortilla filled with eggs, beans, cheese, so good in fact that it became our regular breakfast, let alone the fact the price was right, less than 50 cents for one. By the time we returned, the dive boat had already left, so we picked our kayaks and headed out. Josh and Marisa got the large, two person yellow one, while I took one of the two red, single kayaks. We had to travel past a few other cays before getting there, not only Jewel and Pigeon Cays, but the smaller, private Jack Oneill´s Cay and Bell Cay. Things started off great, since the water is always calmer in the morning, though once I got to Oneill´s Cay I started to slow down a little bit. I stopped for a bit on its shores, inspected the kayak to learn that it was in fact taking on water. I drained some of it, then resumed paddling, reaching Water cay safe and sound.

Water Cay is one of the closest examples of a picture-perfect postcard Caribbean island; it is so small in fact that you can walk around it in less than 20 minutes. Towards the east and the south there is a very abundand coral reef, while the north and west sides have nice beaches for swimming and suntanning. On the west side, a sand spit connects it to Morgan´s Cay, so shallow in fact that you do not even need to swim to get across, you can simply wade in the water. We had brought our snorkeling equipment with us, so we headed into the water to explore the corals. We saw a school of blue durgeon, french and gray angelfish, 4 eyed butterfly fish, stoplight parrotfish and many, many others all swimming around beautiful corals. We even spotted a baracuda hanging around, eyeing us from a distance, which made us back up a little bit, as they have really sharp teeth and can get somewhat agressive especially if you wear jewelery, since they consider anything shiny to be lunch.

As we got out of the water to dry off, we started a bit nervously watching the waves and the wind pick up, since we were warned to make our way back before noon, as in the afternoon the current can be really strong and we would have to paddle against it. We drained our kayaks of water and started the long and difficult paddle back to Jewel Cay, but it didn´t help my kayak that much. As soon as we got into the sea mine started taking on water again, slowing me down considerably; I made it across to Bell Cay and stopped to drain it again. Josh and Marisa were already at Jack Oneill´s Cay waiting for me, but as I started heading there I soon realized that it would be a futile exercise. Taking on so much water slowed me down to a crawl and, getting caught in the current, it felt that for every paddle forward, the sea would push me back by three. Wondering what was going on, they returned to my location where they learned my questionable situation; at this point, most of the kayak was underwater (from a distance it looked like I was just sitting on water), except for the front tip that was doing its best impression of the sinking Titanic. Realizing that there wasn´t much they could do for me, they did the right thing by going forward, waving their paddles high in the air, the international sign for distress. Meanwhile I was drifting further and further out, away from the Cays, in the opposite direction. I started contemplating putting on my snorkel gear and swimming back towing the kayak, but even that would have taken quite a lot of effort, and I was exhausted from all the pointless paddling.

Just when I started tipping over, I saw a boat in the background, first stopping by Josh and Marisa´s kayak, then heading in my direction; one of the fishermen spotted their distress call and was coming to pull me out of the water. We put everything into his boat, including my soaking self, and I was extremly thankful for Toby spotting us and coming to my rescue. He gave me a ride back to Hotel Kayla, to the shocked looks of those on the dive boat, who had just returned back to Jewel Cay. I thanked Toby again as I unloaded everything from his boat, then spent the afternoon drying off in the sun, and repeating the story endless times to anyone who wanted to hear it. Of course it seemed funny after the fact, but while it was happening none of us were laughing, especially not me. I did inspect the kayak afterwards, and found that it had a huge hole at the bottom, which was patched, but obviously not to well. For the rest of my stay at Hotel Kayla, I warned everyone not to take that specific one, reminding them of my adventure.