What a great time! Doug and Caroline (sv Viento) asked if we were interested in taking a dinghy trip up the river located on the SE side of the island. We packed our snorkel gear and the two dinghies planed the few miles to the river mouth. It's better to enter at high tide as the entrance is quite shallow. We didn't time it exactly, but had enough water to enter on a high-speed plane, followed by a sharp turn to port about 100 yards in. Keep your kick-up gear to rise if you hit; we only bumped a few times, and that after we were in. The river is a miles long mangrove estuary, with abundant underwater critters around. At high tide, the water is crystal clear, and we saw numerous turtles, fish, stingrays, and one nurse shark. We snorkeled the small blue hole and explored the mangrove branches where all the fish hide out. We also dinghied to a beach further in and walked over to the water, finding some beautiful small shells and enjoying the many hues of color. When it was finally time to go, we steeled ourselves and revved up. Unfortunately, the outboard died a few hundred yards before the exit. Actually, that was a good thing, as it would have been perilous to stall out right in the cut. Cause of stall - probably water or dirty fuel. Well, we got out OK and got back to Infini with smiles on our faces. We highly recommend this dinghy river tour, but leave a few hours to explore, snorkel and enjoy the solitude.
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