This is a beautiful island, in the shape of a horse shoe. We are anchored inside the horse shoe and it is very protected from the strong winds and lumpy seas that are evident on the outside of the island. Nobody lives on the inside, but there is a resort on the other side of the island and they have a little "day stay" cabin on the inside. So every day, the resort boat comes at 9am and drops off a lady who prepares this little open cabin (open on 3 sides). Fresh hibiscus flowers are laid on the floor in the shape of a heart, fresh towels are arranged on the bed and on the sun loungers. The cabin is at the head of the bay and has its own white sand beach. There are kayaks and paddle boards for guests to use, plus good snorkelling in the protected bay.
At 10am, the resort boat comes back with guests. Always a couple. The resort is adults only and specialises in weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries etc. A romantic get-away for two! The boat drops off the couple and collects the lady who has been preparing the cabin. At 12 noon, the boat comes back again to deliver lunch and zips away again. There is a small table and chairs in the cabin. Then at 2pm, the resort boat comes back to collect the couple, refreshed from their day of peace and quiet on their own private beach.
By now we are quite used to this routine as we have been here for the past 5 days.
We usually go snorklelling at least once a day, and to give the young couples some privacy we often swim a long way from the boat, out towards the mouth of the bay or over the other side of the bay. We do not like to go closer in to where they have their own private beach! A couple of days ago, we had a bit of a surprise! We were snorkelling over on the other side of the bay, about 500m from the boat. We always look back at the boat now and then - and to our surprise, we saw a kayak complete with young couple, paddle over and tie up to Aradonna. We thought they might call out to see if someone was home and then be on their way - but, as we watched from across the bay - they boarded our boat!! We swam the fastest 500m we have ever managed, fins flying through the water, back to the boat. And here they were, this young asian couple had boarded our boat, and with sandy feet had tramped all around the boat and gone down below. They had taken off their life jackets and left them lying in the saloon. They left puddles of water and lumps of sand everywhere. The girl had even used my towel!!! I might have yelled a bit. I was angry. I could not believe that people would think it was OK just to wander through our home without being invited! I made them turn out their pockets so I could check they did not take anything and we sent them on their way. The only English they could produce to explain themselves was "Sorry, sorry, didn't know!" Now this resort they are staying at is quite an exclusive resort. You need to have $8300 to stay for a seven night deal and that does NOT include airfares or transfers. So we would have thought that these guests were familiar with common courtesy and polite etiquette - but not so in this case! Grrrr.
Another night, we had a work boat that delivers cement to building sites, they come in to shelter in the bay. One of the lads didn't tie the anchor rope on properly and their anchor came off. We were quite puzzled to see them tied up to the rocks at the side of the bay in the morning. Later in the day they came back and asked to borrow a mask and snorkel so they could look for the lost anchor. We watched as a very fit lad went snorkelling and free diving to more than 10m and amazingly he found the anchor! He also managed to free dive down and tie a rope onto it so the rest of the men could haul it back on board again. We had a spare mask and snorkel so we made this a gift to the young man who was grinning from ear to ear with delight! Today, one of the couples staying at the resort went water skiing in the bay. He was very good at it and kept us entertained for a while. So, although we are the only boat anchored in the bay, there is something to look at each day. While snorkelling we have enjoyed seeing a couple of sharks, a turtle, an eagle ray and a multitude of fish and coral - so pretty!