Next day’s stop, Sunday, was Cococay for a variety of beach activities. Cococay is a Bahamian island, Big Spur Island on the maps, leased by the Royal Caribbean cruise line. A Carnival ship was anchored nearby near its leased island. Cococay has beaches and all sorts of beach activity -- snorkeling, sailing, parasailing, sunbathing, ... , and of course a barbecue buffet. Even after the crowd arrived in the afternoon, the place was not overcrowded. It's nice to have your own island.
Mike, Karen, Jason, Jeff, and I opted for a guided kayak tour, first thing Sunday morning. We paddled a triangle-shaped course and at a couple of rest stops our guide told us a little history.
In the cluster of islands including Cococay the water is quite shallow. Blackbeard the Pirate would chase unsuspecting ships, at high tide, into this area, block their exit routes, and wait for low tide to strand his victims and make them an easy target for plundering. In modern times, cocaine smuggling was the illicit activity of choice. Planes would fly in to a nearby island and transfer their loads to fast boats which would then deliver the cocaine to Florida. That ended when, on a dark and stormy night, a plane went down, the crew radioed for help, the Coast Guard (or Bahamian Navy I forget which) arrived, found a bunch of funny packages bobbing in the waves, and put an end to that particular operation.
We had thought the kayak tour would take us over scenic waters -- fish, or sunken pirate ships or airplanes, whatever. It didn't, though I did stumble upon a nice conch shell when we made a beach stop.
Several of our group went snorkeling and enjoyed that a lot – many colorful fish to see. Where Mike and Karen were snorkeling, an attendant tossed out fish food where they were swimming and they were quickly swarmed with fish. Sort of like The Birds under water.
Several of our group went snorkeling and enjoyed that a lot – many colorful fish to see. Where Mike and Karen were snorkeling, an attendant tossed out fish food where they were swimming and they were quickly swarmed with fish. Sort of like The Birds under water.
On shore, some of us happened upon this rather large lizard. Sorry, I don't know the technical name.
After Cococay, we sailed overnight back to Port Canaveral. This was the one night we all ate together in the dining room, at assigned tables, the classic cruise way. I think, though, we all finished up later at the buffet, which is also the classic cruise way.
Bottom Line: Everybody had a blast. Susie and I especially treasured this opportunity to get all our immediate family together and to see them enjoying being with each other and having some great shared experiences. 
Caribbean Cruise Cheers,
Susie and Rob
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