Our day.

We awoke to a cloudy, overcast day. The first one here for us, as it's been hot and sunny. We headed to Southwest Bay Beach late morning and shared a Plato Mixto from El Divino Niño for lunch - whole fish, lobster, crab, coconut rice, plantains, conch and salad. About $15. Bargain.  Watched it rain and rain. 

Walked back to our hotel in time to catch a cab to hop a boat to Crab Caye (small island) to snorkel.  Apparently all day would be rainy. We were left on the TINY island that has a couple of picnic shelter type structures and watched our boat go back to shore, just beating the first of several squalls.  We were the only people on the island.  We tried to snorkel in very choppy seas until the lightning rolled in, then our "get out of the pool when it is lightning" childhood training kicked in and we waited out several storms in the picnic shelters over the 2.5 hours we were there - watching the seas get ever choppier, and discussing how we would fashion rafts and paddles out of the material on the island if our boat failed to return to get us.  Minimal snorkeling was achieved.  

The boat eventually picked us up and as we arrived back on shore (just in front of the darkest storm yet), we noticed that our underwater camera was nowhere to be found. Figures.  

Tom suggested he take one of the kayaks back over to the caye to retrieve the camera from the watery depths (probably fell out of his pocket snorkeling). Um, no. Storm rolling in, very dark, very bad idea, Tom. So, the very nice people at a hotel we were not even staying at pulled one of their maintenance guys, whose boat happened to be anchored out front, off of his door repairing duty to shuttle my determined husband back into the approaching storm. They made it across as the rain started and, unknown to me, Tom's snorkel mask chose that exact moment to "come undone".  No mask + Storm + Rough seas <> Camera located.  So as the storm hit full-on blowing rain and lightning status, they left the island and headed back to land in very very rough seas.  Empty handed.  I'm very glad they made it back, it was a serious storm. Seriously. 

And so, on our last day on Providencia, we are renting a motorbike (the preferred mode of transport here) and likely the first stop of the day will be renting a kayak and paddling back to Crab Caye with our snorkeling gear (Tom fixed his mask) and searching the sandy bottom for a camera that was probably "carried by the current due to the storms and possibly covered with sand" as the locals said. Should be a productive morning. 

Southwest Bay Beach. Deserted and perfect.