We warmed up some of our food in the toaster oven. And although it took much longer than I expected for the food to heat up properly once it was done (after about an hour in the toaster oven) the food was great (considering we cooked it ourselves
). Not sure if you guys want to see pics of the food so I didn’t include them but if thats something I should be doing feel free to lmk!
DAY 2
I guess with all the time difference we woke up at around 4am, mostly because the baby wouldn’t go back to sleep, and since the sun wasn’t out yet we just hung out outside. At 6:30 breakfast opens up, complimentary for gold & diamond members, so we took our bikes and headed there. This is around when the sun starts to rise so it was a beautiful bike ride and the breakfast area, named the Tasting Place was beautiful. There was only one other couple there. The views were beautiful and it was right on the beach with a choice of indoor or outdoor dining. The buffet was in a separate room and seems to be the only place in the hotel that they require you to wear a mask when entering. When we asked about the kosher options they said that they have separate pots and pans, cutlery, and plates for kosher guests since they get so many and offered to make eggs and such. I also inquired about what milk they have since I’m not CY and for anyone that was wondering Ill post a pic below of the options they have.
Some things I forgot to mention or include yesterday was some pics of the stroller and highchair they offer as well as the fact that they don’t have or offer a printed map of the resort so I would recommend you bring your own as its a big place. Also going to include the floor plan of the OWB and the kids program schedule:
After visiting the breakfast area we wanted to bike around the resort to see more of it as we didn’t explore at all on the first day. The day and weather were really beautiful and sunny. The bike ride felt like it was never ending since the hotel is just so big. I remember being able to walk around the SR in like 30 minutes but this Island seems triple the size of the SR. It really felt as if every time we say a new part of the resort on our bike ride we didn’t believe it could get any nicer. There are lots of nice bridges with scenic views as you bike around the resort. Our first stop was the beach and water sports area. They have a really nice swing area that the baby really enjoyed and made for amazing pictures. In this area they have volleyball court, ping pong, foosball, and the like. As well as where you would do paddle boarding and all that. In regards to the beach, I am not sure if I’m mixing up my trip to SR MLE or SR BOB but one of them had pretty bad sand by the beach. I think it was BOB. For the WA the sand leading up to the water is pretty horrible and uncomfortable to walk on but once you get close enough to the sea its soft and nice to walk on.
Nearby that area is the public pools and the kids club. The kids club was closed since it was before 9am but we got to see the water park area that looked amazing. The pools were empty since we were there so early. I know it seems like I keep saying this but the pool was absolutely stunning (since it was easy in the AM the pictures do not do it justice!). There were two right next to each other and it seemed as if the first one was really shallow for kids and the second one less so. This is considered the family pool and approximately called The Ledge because the zero edge look it has at the end. Both pools have an amazing view of the beach and meet at the end to make one big pool. Not expecting another pool, since that one was so big, I was shocked to see another one that also looked really nice. It had a cool purple tile throughout and behind it was a grass and lounge area. After that we biked around some more and came across this arching bridge that over looked a beautiful stream. On the edge of the stream you can see the gym which looked really cool and something I will be visiting later (open 24/7)! The spa is near the fitness center as well. Continuing to bike around we passed by a nice looking tennis court (tennis is free if you don’t use a coach), cool restaurants that had beautiful views overlooking the ocean, and ….
We headed back to our villa as the baby was getting tired. And as I was telling my wife how it seemed that snorkeling wouldn’t be as good as it was at the SR we happened to see an eagle ray swimming under the bridge! We also some pretty birds and fruit bats. And even a pretty looking bird perched on top the stunning terra restaurant (where they don’t allow kids to dine due to safety concerns).
Once we got back to the villa we went swimming in the pool and also went in the ocean. The ocean was warmer than the pool which was also the case in the SR. What I really don’t like compared to the SR is that you can’t really jump of your OWB into the ocean since the reef is so shallow. It basically goes up to your knees and it looks like that is throughout all the OWB.
You could see that where the reef ends there was lots of activity from jack fish jumping out the water and chasing small schools of fish. Some of the areas mentioned on FT for good snorkeling that we have yet to try are circled or highlighted in red below:
We went snorkeling for a little and although we didn’t see much I’m happy we at least saw some fish as I was worried that because we didn’t see much fish from our patio the first day compared to the SR. But today we saw a lot of activity. We saw a long eel (I think), a nurse shark, and some other big colorful fish! Unfortunately, we only got crappy pics above water for those so my GoPro pics of the snorkeling we did do will have to do for now:
We found Dory
Corals were clearly bleached and damaged. You really didn’t see much fish unless you ventured closer to the end of the reef.
After snorkeling we just lounged by the pool and enjoyed some of the fruit we got from breakfast this morning. Then we took our son to the kids water park and kids club which was really amazing. There was slides and water guns at the water park to enjoy and if not interested in getting wet there was a bunch of things to do and even a trampoline! Inside is a lot of toys and activities to do like painting and coloring.
Since the kids club was next to the public pool and beach we headed there next to enjoy and then headed to the villa to heat up some homemade penne vodka pasta and Mayven pizza! Like last time we seemed to have messed up with packing the pizza as the cheese either gets stuck to the foil or the pizzas stick together. Welcoming any advice on how to properly pack pizza
. Needless to say it was delicious and after that we headed for the complimentary drinks for happy hour at Peacock Alley. Here is the selection to chose from:
