Sshhhhh! It's a secret beach!

On Friday there was a major malfunction at the bookstore. The bad news: we were closed for the weekend while our manager desperately tried to fix the computer program we were using (dated 1997, by the way). The good news: Rachel, Christina, and I had a weekend off!

The spouses organization had tried to put together a trip to secret beach a few weeks ago, but it fell through when the guy in charge of the rental place was too hungover from Carnival to help us out. Weary that this would be the case again, Christina ran down to the beach ahead of time and reserved our Kayaks. She had been to secret beach before, with Clint as a guide, so she was able to get us the "cute blonde discount" and we paid for a one hour rental even though we were gone a little longer than that!

Bookstore Girls ready for action!

So we hopped into the kayaks. Rachel had a little problem with this one (too bad the camera was packed away in a ziplock bag). We were just thankful 1.) she wasn't in the kind of kayak that has the lining around your waist (and therefore underwater upside down) 2.) Clint didn't take away her kayak (he tried to!) and 3.) She had a waterproof bag for her camera and phone

Secret beach is about a mile down the coast from Clint's kayak rental. For some reason I had a hard time keeping up with Rachel and Christina. The whole way there I was unable to participate in the conversation because I was several yards behind. I just couldn't keep up. And of course I'm dripping sweat even though the sky was slightly overcast and there was a nice breeze! Finally we made it to the closest thing there is to white sand beaches on the island (and only accessable by water).

Secret beach, the south side

Secret beach, the north side

The last time Christina kayaked to secret beach, Clint showed her a cave in the rock that surrounds the beach.

Here is the entrance to the cave... see that black shadow? Um, yeah. The first thing I said to Christina was that I couldn't fit through that. But I did. Oh yes. We crouched down to squeeze through a little tunnel that lead to a large cavern. The water was a little bit higher than my knees. The floor was sandy and there were several large rocks in the center. I did a quick eel check (not that there was anything for me to do if there had been one) and relaxed.

Inside the cave! The opening from the cave to the ocean (a second entrance, not where we came through)

We headed back to the beach and splashed around in the water for a while. Then we got back into the kayaks (Rachel was more successful this time) and paddled through the little "tunnel" on the edge several times. If you timed it right, the waves pushed you through like a water ride.

By then it was time to head back. The return trip was against the wind, but somehow I was able to keep up with Christina and Rachel. The water was so beautiful and clear and the weather was perfect. So much better than working at the bookstore!