Since we had a three day weekend for Carnaval, I decided to go on a snorkeling trip with a few of my friends on Saturday. I've been terribly behind in classes and studying since I put off all my other classes for my head and neck practical on Friday, but I knew that this was probably the best weekend to do something recreational. The trip started out by a roughly hour long drive to Champagne Beach, which is about 15 minutes past Roseau. I was mildly carsick from the twists and turns, but thankfully, I felt fine as soon as the ride ended.
As corny as this may sound, out of all the times I've gone snorkeling in the Caribbean and in Hawaii, I've always had to wear a lifevest because it was required by the companies we were snorkeling through. This time, all I got was the snorkel mask/tube and flippers. I didn't even end up using the latter. The beach was beautiful and quite secluded. There were only a couple of other people there besides our group. Since it was in the Caribbean Sea, the waves weren't high, yet they were STRONG. I love jumping waves, but these little strong ones provided quite a challenge to many of us because they really kept knocking us down. It was rather unpleasant with all the rocks and pebbles too.
However, once I finally braved the waves and got passed the surf, it was amazing. I saw so many tropical colorful fish and lots of beautiful coral. In all of the times I've gone snorkeling, I think this is the most tropical fish I've ever seen. What makes Champagne Beach particularly unique is that there are volcanic fissures under the sea floor not far from shore, so there are bubbles coming up from below. It looks just like champagne. It was really cool and made for a great snorkeling experience. I seriously can't wait to go back there, hopefully when the waters are calmer.
Afterwards, we went to Scott's Head, about 15 minutes away. It's where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea, only separated by a narrow strip of rocks and sand. It's pretty cool because the Atlantic Ocean has huge waves while the Caribbean Sea LOOKS calm, but again, still manages to knock everyone over. I got a good workout just from dodging the waves at both Champagne and Scott's Head. However, I didn't even really end up snorkeling at Scott's Head because it was a lot colder there, and my snorkel mask decided to not cooperate. I kept getting water in my mask, so I eventually gave up. Hopefully I'll make it out there again.
For lunch, we went to Roseau and ate at The Garage, which is a pretty decent bar with pub grub. I got chicken wings with a pretty good Caribbean sort of barbeque sauce. The only thing that sucked about that place was that they took forever to bring our food out since we were a fairly large group of 12. However, it's still a good place with decent food as well as flatscreen tv's to watch soccer.
On the way back home, we stopped at an ice cream place. I got coconut cream and strawberry cheesecake, both of which were pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I got really carsick on the way home. Thankfully, I didn't vomit, but I came pretty close. I need to remember to take non-drowsy Dramamine every time I go anywhere further than Portsmouth.
Even though this trip took way longer than I thought it would and set me back on my plans to study Saturday night, I'm really glad I came. Most of us really don't like this island, but I honestly think it's not that bad as long as you go out and do things and make the most of what's presented to you. Dominica is one of the better snorkel/diving destinations in the Caribbean, so there was no way I wasn't going to come here and never do any of that.
Overall, I'm really glad I went snorkeling on Saturday because it allowed Dominica to redeem itself and prove to me that it's kinda beautiful afterall.
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