Guilligan's Island

Off the southern shore of PR, in Guanica, one can take a quick ferry ride over to another natural paradise.  Guilligan's island also has the crystal clear water like Culebra, but there is no real beach.  The island is filled with plant-life, the beautiful mangles (mahng-lays) grow tall in some places and you can climb them and jump into the water from them.  I was on my way swimming out in the lagoon to try and do a little diving but my friends and I all swam away from a huge jellyfish as if it were a damned shark.  The thing was huge though, like 9 inches wide, and I know this because after my friend stuck his hand into it and swam away like a madman (causing all of us to abort mission Mangle Dive) the huge creature decided to swim right by me...I was floating and I felt something and when I turned that bad-boy was floating.  It was not floating horizontally on the surface of the water but was swimming, turned vertically. That's when I saw how big it was (and pretty, ,it had purple in it) and I understood why my friend swam away so fiercely.  Anyhow, my new camera is in the states and the pics here were taken on my phone.  Not the best quality but you get the picture (no pun intended...)!  The sunset was amazing too!  The plants you see are the mangles.  This trip was awesome though.  We had a BBQ and drank bacardi rum punch all day while chilling in preserved nature.  Amazing.  

Culebra Island

Ahhhh, Culebra island is off the east coast of Puerto Rico and one can get there for $4.50 round-trip on a ferry.  I recently went on a 4am ferry and was at the beach from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. yup, a full work-day's worth of sun.  The water is crystal clear EVERYWHERE!  Flamenco Beach is ranked one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and I can understand why.  It is pristine...The sand is white and powdery.  There are no shells or rocks or anything floating in the water (except the occasional jellyfish).  I even got to dive off the pier into about 15-18 feet of water.  I COULD SEE ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM!  It was so inviting that I have jumped off the pier all three times I have been there.  The picture of that ladder is in the water I dove into.  Do you see how clearly you can see it even under water?!?  The place never ceases to amaze me.  I am glad that we (humans) have not messed it up!  The video is sideways...but you will get the idea!