his dive story / 39

Well, it’s been weeks since Sandy came and left with very little damage but she left behind weeks of poor sea conditions with very strong surges that washed away many of our beaches. Of course, this meant that there was no diving as the boats did not go out to sea. Now that things have calmed down a bit, I decided to go diving and I must admit, I was dying to splash into the warm sea.

The boat left from the southside this week so that meant that we would either go to French Cay, West Caicos or the Channel which is between Northwest Point and West Caicos, one of my favorite dives when conditions are ideal. And as it turned out, it was ideal as we stayed for two dives before the tide dropped. The reason I mentioned the tide is because, the Channel rests on a slippery slope and when the tide is high, the diving is heaven and when it is starting to drop, the current pushing you down into the reef wall is unbearable and all the sand would kick up.

At the channel, there are always sharks, many sharks and the occasional couple of spotted eagle rays. I love eagle rays and saw two in the second dive which I believe normally roam this area because I have another video of the eagle rays from last November. Enjoy the majestic eagle ray!

All previous his diving story posts – James

giving thanks

today i give thanks for good times and great friends, for an amazing husband and the best family i could have – a day to express my enormous gratitude!

may you all have a wonderful holiday if you’re in the states!

ps – if you’re in provo for the holidays and want to celebrate thanksgiving

cheers from the islands

have you any plans for this weekend? i’m going to the ladies hat luncheon at the regent palms, a fund raiser to help the holy family academy mission school in provo. i can’t wait to see all the ladies in super hats!!

also, on island –

on sunday the 6th annual windvibes kiteboarding tournament and beach party on long bay beach

and a delicious thanksgiving menus suggestion if you don’t have any plans yet – i can’t believe thanksgiving is just around the corner

next week, the 9th annual turks and caicos conch festival by blue hills – remember last year?

happy weekend from turks and caicos!

dolphins in turks and caicos

i’m all about keeping this blog on the positive side, and try to show all the amazing and beautiful things that the turks and caicos islands have to offer, wether you live here or come to visit. but today i would like to share something that i am not so proud of.

recently our governor has approved for a turks and caicos dolphin cove to open in 2013, keeping them in captivity as a tourist attraction. this goes all against what turks and caicos represents, beautiful by nature.

if you have visited turks and caicos for the last 25 years, you have definitely heard of jo jo (he has his own facebook page!), a friendly bottlenose dolphin who loves to swim with tourists and residents near the beaches in provo. i truly believe in the island’s natural beauty represented by jo jo, and that dolphins should be kept in the wild.

if you would like to help and sign the petition to stop the development of dolphin attraction in turks and caicos – click here

for more information on this visit no 2 caged dolphins in turks and caicos on facebook and read the open letter to governor ric todd from turks and caicos goodwill ambassador tanya streeter on the turks and caicos sun newspaper.

thanks catherine for the gorgeous picture of jo jo and friends!

la minervetta / italy

when we travel we always like to stay in al least one special place, after having worked for more than 10 years in luxury hospitality, i really enjoy analyzing how hotels go the extra mile to be the favorites – how does it make it a better experience.

la minervetta conquered me from the very first sight, when i stumbled upon it on tablet hotels (we like choosing the hotels for our trips through tablet, and you?). we tried to book it when planning our honeymoon, but it was fully booked for the whole stay – not strange since it’s a 12 room boutique hotel and september is high season…

but when i want something so bad, i think positive, i do all i can to get it…(ok, and i get on all waiting lists possible and bug them for possible cancelations every other day!) and a week before traveling the hotel was opening a new room – available to book!

the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant, but breakfast, served in the terrace, is as good as it can be. i could have breakfast, with the stunning views to the bay of napoli and mount vesuvios, all day long.

the decor is incredibly stylish, with the perfect mix and match of blue and red marine stripes, sicilian ceramics all over, and corals and conch in-between.

the location is perfect, perched above sorrento’s harbor, we adventured down the steps for dinner, and  walked back from the city centre after having gelato – but basically just wanted to hang out in the hotel.

ok, we only had one night to enjoy it, but it was well worth it and a good start of our vacation before heading across the bay to the crazy city of napoli.

hotel la minervetta sorrento’s website

and other places i stayed and liked.