Sunday, 5/11/25:  Both flights to get to Ft. Lauderdale were great!  (Phx to Houston and Houston to Ft. Lauderdale).  There were 119 empty seats on the first leg of the flight and many extra on the second leg!  Got to the hotel and slept, since I pulled an all-nighter last night getting to the airport at 3:00 am!  We have to the in the lobby tomorrow morning at 6:45 to be taken to the charter flight to Bimini!

I didn’t know I was going to have a room mate in the hotel, (and neither did she!) but Morgan is REALLY sweet and easy to room with!

 

 

 

Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas, located just 50 miles east of Miami, Florida.  Despite its small size – stretching only 7 miles long – Bimini holds a unique charm with its two main islands, North Bimini and South Minimi, and several smaller cays.  The district’s capital, Alice Town, serves as the hub of activity on North Bimini.  With a population of around 2,000 residents, Bimini offers a laid-back atmosphere where English is spoken and the Bahamian dollar is used, pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Known as the “Big Game Fishing Capital of the World,” Bimini has long attracted anglers, divers, and tourists seeking marine adventures.  Its rich waters teem with marlin, tuna, dolphins, and colorful coral reefs, making it a top destination for snorkeling and scuba diving.  The island has a touch of literary and mythical allure, having once been a favorite escape for Ernest Hemingway in the 2940s and home to the mysterious Bimini Road – an underwater rock formation some believe is linked to the lost city of Atlantis.

Monday, 5/12/25:  We left for the airport at 7:00 am only to get ther eand be told that bad weather, both in Ft. Lauderdale and Bimini were going to make the planes really late taking off!  We all gathered in the airport cafe and drank coffee and got to know one another!  It seems like a very open, accepting group of people!

We finally left Ft. Lauderdale about 2:00-ish.  The private plane was really fun.  i think it held 10 people and I got to ‘co-pilot’!  Very fun!  The pilot gave me headphones and was explaining everything he was doing and how to read the gauges!  The water is amazing…  Light teal blue that doesn’t even look real!  The island is tiny!  Only aobut 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide.  It’s the smallest of the Bahamian islands.

We had a quick lunch when we got there and then went out on the boat.  It was really cold and windy!!  We went to a reef and got in and snorkeled.  Lots of fish!  No dolphins today!  A couple of the people in the group saw a small reef shark, but I missed it!  Bummer!  I guess there was a Moray Eel as well that I didn’t see!  Snorkeling in water that rough could almost make you seasick!  Loved the really rough boat ride, tho, over the huge waves!

We got back and I had a very light dinner as I was still full from lunch and then had a meeting as a group to go over how the week will work.  It was fun…  I was held in a large upstairs room with little ‘back-support’ chairs on teh floor in a circle with a candle and a plant in the middle of the room.  Definitely a more ‘spiritual’ vibe than I’m used to!

Tomorrow is supposed to be windy and rainy as well, so not sure what the day will bring, but Wednesday through the end of the week is really supposed to be nice and sunny!  Heading to bed early…  I’m sooooo tired!

Our first orientation meeting with the Captain

Tuesday, 5/13/25:  I did an Active Meditation this morning!  Okay…totally NOT my thing!  It started out with freestyle dancing, then moved on to bobbing up and down.  Then finally laying on the floor!  All while blindfolded!  Live and learn!

The weather today was great!  After awesome storms all night it was really sunny by the time we went out on the water!  OMG…DOLPHINS!  They were the Spotted Dolphins.  They were all around the boat and we went in 3 times to swim with them.  They are AMAZING!  Between all the staff and a few of the buests that could freedive, it just drew the dolphins in and swam around them as they were diving down!  We didn’t back back until 7:30 pm!  Dinner was at 8:30 (Indian Food!)  Yuck!  Had a protein drink and a slice of Naan.  Now I’m beat and ready to sleep!

Wednesday, 5/14/25:  AMAZING DAY! Before lunch we stopped at “Bimini Road” to snorkel the underwater rock formation many think is the Road to Atlantis”.   This was actually a ‘guided snorkel session’ by Leona to take us out and back and took about 20 minutes!  

We swam with both Bottlenose and Spotted Dolphins!  Their personalities are totally different.  The Spotted Dolphins tend to be real playful and interactive, especially when people freedive down.  The Bottlenose Dolphins were feeding at the bottom and would only surface to come up for air and then head back down.  they didn’t seem to be as interactive, but were much larger.  And pictures of the Bottlenose never came out as well as they were stirring up the sand looking for food!

There were Nurse Sharks hoviring along the bottom with the Bottlenose Dolphins.  There was a Remora fish swimming along with the shark that I thought was a baby, but Leona and Kathleen told me it has a symbiotic relationship with the shark.  It feeds off the stuff that builds up on the shark’s skin and the shark offers it protection!

We swam twice with the Bottlenose and once with the Spotted Dolphins.

Thursday, 5/15/25:  I think this was the most amazing day yet! 

I started off the day by meeting Trudy and Marco over at the beach where they did of photos of me in her mermaid fin!  So much fun!!  They outfit was beautiful.  She is really a ‘mermaid’ in real life!  She hosts childrens parties and puts them in Mermaid costumes!

Mosel Bank Reef where I spread some of Joe's ashes...

We ran into a pod of Spotted Dolphins and they just wanted to play!  They twirled around between all of us and I finally got my ‘up close and personal encounter’ withe them!  That little eye that looks right at you is almost life-changing!

After lunch we went out and found a Spottled Dolphin pod a couple more times and swam with them both times!  Never did I think I would physically be that close to such a beautiful creature!  They danced and dove and spun around and swam on their backs and flapped their tails on the surface of the water just seemingly inviting us to play wiht them.  There were about 8-10 of them!  Just an absolutely amazing day!

Friday, 5/16/25:  This morning after breakfast they set up a little ‘store’ with tee-shirts, jewelry, hats, photos, etc.  We chose what we wanted and paid the rest of the money owed. (Fin rental, gratuities for the staff, etc…)

We went out to a shallow reef area to swim before lunch! They had named it “Kathleens Reef” because in the off season she lives on a small piece of land in front of this reef and swims there every day!  Lots and lots of beautiful fish.  There was a Nurse Shark under one of the Reefs and Leo took the camera down to get a vidow of it!

I went in the water twice to swim with the Dolphins, but none of them stayed around for long.  Lots of Bottlenose Dolphins swimming and jumping at the surface of the water, but they disappeared as soon as we got in the water.  We also was some of the Dpottle Dolphins on the way back, but it seemed like they didn’t want to play today.  And although we did swim with them, I saw lots of new behavior from them at the surface.

After dinner we had or “Closing Circle Meeting”.  They gave info about when we had to be out of the room and how to get back to the charter plane.  It was a bit more ‘iary-fairy’ than I was comfortable with, but still a nice way to close out the week!  We sang “Celebrate you home; Celebrate you home. We love you a lot; Oh, we love you a lot” to every greaking person in the room (About 30 with all the staff!) Not sure I’ll ever get that rune out of my brain!  I took a pass on the group hug and the hugs goodbye!!  

I’m soooo glad I had Morgan as a roomthate though!  She wa so friendly, so chill and totally no drama!  I can’t imagine a better roomate to end up with!

So happy with the week.  It was everything I could have hoped for!  Definitely a BIG ONE checked off the Bucket List!

Some Fun Photos from the Week...

The AMAZING Staff!

Saturday, 5/17/25:  We left WildQuest about 7:30 to head back to the charter plane to take us back to Ft. Lauderdale.  I had a flight from Ft. Lauderdale back to Phoenix (Through BROOKLYN ,NY!!) that got me home about 8:30-ish!