Warm-up Wednesday ~ Bahamas!

Brrrrr! It’s the 2015 January arctic blast! This time of year, when the days are short and cold, I dream of tropical sunshine and turquoise waters. So this month I need a Warm-Up Wednesday to remind me that summer is out there. We’ll be revisiting some our favorite bluwatergetaways to the little latitudes each Wednesday in January.

A boat drink, flip-flops and some favorite island music ~ I may get through this cold week yet! Pour your favorite beverage, think warm thoughts, and enjoy an island escape for the next few minutes. The cold will wait. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week ~~~

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Online research, calendar planning, image searches, requests for information ~ sounds like work, but it’s a lot more fun. It’s vacation planning! Weather is warming up and first official day of spring is just around the corner. I gotta go where it’s warm!

Thinking about options for this year, I decided to revisit a couple of wonderful adventures from earlier years to get in the spirit.

I love the “dive, eat, sleep, repeat” vacations you can only get on liveaboard dive boats. Some of the prettiest water anywhere is in the Exuma chain of islands through the Bahamas ~ so cruising through the islands on the AQUA CAT liveaboard was a wonderful trip. I’ve done a dozen or so liveaboard trips – from small charter cruises to bigger luxury liveaboards, and this is one of my all time favorites. I enjoyed it so much, I’ve been twice and I’m sure to go again. I did make one strategic error though ~ this was Bluwaterguy’s first liveaboard cruise, so that set the bar awfully high. Definitely should have worked him up to this, because now he is totally spoiled!

The boat goes out of Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island, so it’s easy to add-on a day or two ether before or after and enjoy the Atlantis or other resorts on the island. I highly recommend this for a couple of reasons ~ first, the Nassau airport invented traveler frustration and avoiding it on high traffic days will extend your vacation ~ second, a day or so before gets you in the vacation groove before boarding, or a day after keeps your relaxed headset going. Even if you dislike mega resorts, the Atlantis is definitely good for a stroll and sightseeing. Here are a few snaps from our visit ~~~

Once on the boat, get ready for some spectacular diving. A three-story 102′ catamaran with a 35′ beam, the AQUA CAT has multiple points of entry for divers. I like to giant stride off the side, as I don’t like stairs even on land!

A few snaps of underwater friends and one foe ~ the Lion fish is definitely a scourge on the reefs!

I could write a thousand word post from this one trip. Actually, I’ve written other posts about this trip, just not about the boat. We saw the famous swimming pigs of Staniel Cay on Bahamian Independence Day, we visited Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park for unforgettable views, and we had a shark dive adventure. We had beautiful dives everyday, and a complete escape from the normal routine aboard a fantastic boat. That’s why I still love this trip years later. Can we go back tomorrow?

Hard to top this trip, but there have been others that were different yet equally memorable. I loved Islamorada and the Moorings Village a couple of years ago ~ a beautiful bluwatergetaway.  Our trip to the BVI on the SV CUAN LAW and visit to the Baths on Virgin Gorda was another one for the life enjoyed bucket. Check out the bluwaterlife~journey page for other bluwatergetaway posts :-).

Now I think it’s time for a margarita and some island music. I have to get this year’s vacation planned! Let’s go ~~~