Monday, July 11: Costa Brava kayaking and snorkeling excursion

On Monday, we had to return the rental bikes. By this point we felt like we were finally getting around without stopping to look at the map at every corner. Also, we were beginning to feel comfortable with the bike traffic patterns in Barcelona, making it much easier and more fun and efficient to ride in the city. But every good thing must come to an end, so we rode them back to the rental place and dropped them off.

From there we walked to the meeting place for our day trip through Barcelona Excursions to the Costa Brava.
The tour guides were English speaking (Australian and US), and the whole experience was fabulous from the start. The guides were funny and engaging and the weather was perfect.

 We rode in a comfortable air conditioned tour bus about 1 1/2 hours up the coast towards France to the famous stretch of the Mediterranean known as the Costa Brava.  There we locked up all our stuff in a building and were divided into smaller groups (12 per group) and given masks and snorkels, life jackets, tandem (2 person) kayaks and paddles. Since we had 5 in our group, I wound up sharing a kayak with a nice Australian girl named Lauren, who was by herself. Charlotte and Alex shared and Ben was with Daryl.

We had Elena as our guide, and she made us feel so comfortable.  She told us what to look for in the water and facts about the area. Also a legend about a hidden treasure never yet found.

  We paddled along the beautiful coastline to an area where the water was crystal clear and tied up our boats (to buoys)  for some snorkeling.

Compared to the Cayman Islands, there was not as much to see, but the water was nice and clear and there were pretty fish, urchin, star fish, sea cucumbers, crabs, and sea tomatoes.

 Unfortunately we did not see the octopus that was supposedly often to be found in the local waters,.
After snorkeling for a while, we were shown a specific rock that was safe and accessible for rock jumping! We took turns climbing up and jumping off the rock. Even though it was not that high, it was a little scary and definitely a thrill to jump down in to the blue waters below!

All the while, Elena was taking all of these fabulous photos of us (about 100 pictures of our group!), which were later made available to us on Facebook for free. What an awesome perk of this excursion!

After being in the water for a while, we were so cold, some of us shivering, so it felt good to get back onto the kayaks and continue to soak up the beautiful sunshine. We kayaked along the rocky shore into little coves and even caves! There were rock islands and it was fun navigating through the passages in between. It's no wonder the Costa Brava is a famous tourist destination!

Elena removed a sea urchin from a rock and we each had a chance to hold it if we wanted to.

Then, we returned to the beach and by this time, it was after 3 pm and of course everyone was starving. No, Daryl did not eat the urchin!

This is a photo of our group with Elena, our guide, wearing the wet suit. Thank you, Elena, for a spectacular excursion!

 Elena and the other staff made these amazing subs for lunch with a choice of Spanish ham and other meat and cheese, condiments, and fresh toppings (lettuce, tomato, avocado). There was a bar right next door, where we were allowed to sit and have lunch and of course we also bought some yummy drinks there.

There's nothing like a berry smoothie or a fresh Mojito on the beach after swimming and kayaking for hours in the hot sun!

 After lunch we had an hour or so to relax on the beach. We wish we could have stayed longer! Ben's hair looked fantastic after being in the water, I love his curls!

 On the way home the kids fell asleep on the bus.
We drove back through the lovely Spanish countryside again. It was a really great day!

Once we got back to Barcelona, we took the subway home and had a nice supper at the apartment.

We discovered that we could access the roof of our building, so we took some photos. It was a nice view from up there! Some of the neighbors had nice patios up on their roof tops.