We got up with the alarm and got ready, opting not to shave given the day's activities. We got dressed, gathered up our beach bag and headed downstairs for another hearty continental breakfast. Our tummies filled, we headed outside to wait for a bus to the high-rise area. We didn't wait long (they come every 15 minutes), and it was a quick ride to the Holiday Inn. We went past the hotel itself to the beach, where we checked in for our Jolly Pirates snorkel cruise, then walked along Palm Beach until it was time to board. We took a flat-bottomed motorboat from the pier to the pirate ship, which we boarded and found outselves seats under the sunshade next to a nice couple from Salt Lake City.
A few minutes after boarding, we found ourselves underway, headed north, to our first snorkeling spot, Boca Catalina. The waters were shallow (10-12') and calm, so it was a good first stop. We saw a pretty good variety of fish (sergeant majors, blue tangs, boxfish, bluehead wrasse, etc.), and with no strong current it was pleasant to just paddle around for 30 minutes until we were called back to the ship. The next stop, the Antilla, was a lot more challenging, as it was in deep (60') water with stronger currents and choppier seas. It was worth it, though, to see the wreck of a German WWII freighter so close to the surface that even snorkelers can enjoy it -- that was really neat (and the story of the wreck is fascinating). There were schools of fish, too, but Jess was struggling a bit, so we didn't get to study them closely. The last snorkel stop was Malmok, another shallow, calm spot right by the shore, which made for a relaxing break after the Antilla. This one had big schools of tiny silver fish and grunts, in addition to squid, French angelfish, bluehead wrasse, sergeant majors, tangs, yellow snapper and the like. Finally, it was time for the ropeswing -- Jess chose to sit that part out, but Jer went three times! The crew had a great time showing off, especially one guy who did double flips into the water and then did single flips with a female guest on his back! (At the end of the cruise, he shimmied up the rigging and back down again, to appreciative oohs and ahhs!) We finally took advantage of the open bar with lunch (BBQ chicken and ribs for Jer, a cheese and veggie burrito for Jess), so when an impromptu conga line around the boat formed when "Hot, Hot, Hot" played over the speakers, we joined right in. The Jolly Pirates cruise was a little crowded, but a lot of fun. We were glad we went.
Back ashore, we headed to the main road and caught a bus back to the MVC Eagle Beach. It was nice to take a shower and wash off the salt water, then we rested for a bit before rousing ourselves to head into Oranjestad. We took a mini-bus, rather than the city bus, which reminded us of the collectivos we took in Mexico. It dropped us off downtown, and we wandered around for a bit, checking out the shopping (we bought some postcards and Jess eyed some jewelry) and admiring some of the boats in the harbor (we generally preferred the larger sailboats, but we were also drawn to a sleek Pershing 90 motorboat that looked like it would go really fast). We walked past the Renaissance Hotel, stopping to watch brown pelicans make low circles over the water before diving down quickly in hopes of catching a fish. They're quite fast and fun to watch. Downtown Oranjestad is known for its colonial, pastel-colored architecture; while there was definitely some in evidence, it was a bit overshadowed by the influx of glass-fronted retail stores, although some of the malls were candy-colored. Catering to cruise ships has definitely made the harbor area less charming, unfortunately.
Eventually, we started getting pretty hungry, so we looked at our Oranjestad options and settled on Que Pasa, which was owned by the same people as Marandi. Again, after bread with yummy garlic butter, we had appetizers & pepper-crusted tuna tataky (what a surprise!), a Donna Summer salad and scallops en papillote. All of it was very tasty, and we followed it with more deliciousness & apple fritters with apple sorbet for Jess and a Dutch sorbet (fruit with sorbet in a goblet, with Sprite poured over the top) for Jer. We left full and happy, then decided to get a bus back to Eagle Beach. It took us a little while, but we eventually found the open-air bus station and caught a Number 10 bus back to our hotel. Once there, we each sent a few work e-mails, then Jess updated this journal, then we looked at our day's pictures until bedtime.