Crandon Park Bear Cut Preserve State Park, Cay Biscayne, Florida (Port of Miami)

“Hike, Bike, Kayak and Snorkel” Excursion off the Ship

Ship: Norwegian Dawn (NCL)

Sailing Date: December 28, 2003

Date of Snorkel: Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Equipment Availability: we have our own which we take with us, but fins, masks, snorkels and vests were available at no extra charge at the Park Headquarters building.  All equipment for borrowing appeared to be clean and well maintained.

Water Access: Presumably Beach

This is a shore excursion/snorkeling trip that should have never happened in the first place.  But, without knowledge of the disasters that awaited us, we knew it would be our first opportunity to snorkel on this cruise after a long, chilly, and very busy fall semester in New York.  We signed up for it reluctantly, asking the “Dive and Snorkel” Desk on board the ship specifically if we had to hike, bike or kayak (we are neither of us in any shape to do any of these things) and they responded “no—only if you want to”.

At the onset, our bus driver got lost several times en route trying to find the State Park.  We were over an hour late arriving.  But, the friendly folk at the Park told us we would have our full time for fun and still make it back to the ship in time for sailing.  They divided us into three groups: those for hiking, those for biking and those for the kayak and snorkel.  Here again, we asked if we had to kayak and were told “no”—only if you want to! We signed all the various lengthy release forms, and met our local guides for the day.  Both appeared very knowledgeable about current conditions, explaining various features of the geological and marine history of Key Biscayne and specifically the Bear Cut Preserve area (Mrs. Crandon is the lady who gave the money to set up the Park). They did mention that due to local rain storms in the past few days, there were “a number of Portugese Man of War” in the water, but they would “not be a problem”.  Our hearts sank.  We explained our situation to one of the guides, who firmly promised to help us with the kayak portion of the trip—the only way to get out to the snorkeling site.  We decided to persevere and proceeded to the beach to get into our wet suits and the kayaks to set off.  NOT! We were only about 100 yards from shore when Peg simply could not stand the pain in her lower back any more.  Our “helpful” guide suddenly remembered his promise and towed us back into the beach. Getting out of the wretched kayak, Derek was stung by a baby Portugese Man of War that had attached itself to our snorkeling bag, presumably having been tossed out of the water by our kayak paddles.  We made a mad dash back to the Park Headquarters where one of the Park Rangers applied a good dose of ammonia. It didn’t help much; Derek suffered a bad burn that lasted for several days.  We arranged a cab to drive us back to the ship at our own expense and were grateful to find that the wallet in our snorkeling bag (usually used for the occasional tip or souvenir) contained just enough money to cover the cost of the cab.  More tears from Peg as we approached the Miami dock and saw the Celebrity logo on the nearby headquarters building on Blue Lagoon Drive.

Later in the day, we learned that a number of other passengers on this excursion had also been stung by jellyfish. One boy had to be evacuated from the site (and presumably from the cruise) with a Portugese Man of War wrapped around his arm. NCL should have cancelled this excursion before we even got on the bus!

 

Snorkeling Grade:  F