St. Croix Summer Camp 2022—Day 2

Salt River, St. Croix USVI

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

By St. Croix Program Coordinator Sathi Bethelmy

Students arrived at Salt River Marina at 6:30 p.m. We then began to check in and then had a seat while we waited for the next group of people who were coming on the tour along with us. When everyone reached we then had a brief safety talk from one of the employees of Virgin Kayaks. After the safety talk we then proceeded in an orderly fashion to get our life jackets on to proceed in the kayaks. Everyone was paddling and steering the rudder so they can get accustomed to the kayak while everyone is getting settled in the water in their kayaks one at a time.

Once everyone was in the water we then proceeded to kayak through the red mangroves and had a history talk while we were kayaking and enjoying the scenery. When we got further out we then stood still in our kayaks to enjoy the bioluminescence. We had the catch to take the nets provided in our kayaks and wave it in the water to see all the living organisms just lighting up the water in an aquatic blue color. It was so amazing to experience the bioluminescence in the water. We also caught a jellyfish which was illuminated in a dark blue color because of the bioluminescence.

After enjoying the scenery for a little we then started to make our way back to shore. And we exited one by one until everyone was back on land safely. We then grabbed our belongings from the locker and proceeded to tip our guides and get snacks. We then escorted the children to their parents and made sure everyone was accounted for before departing to our separate homes.