June 2^nd to 9^th 2018

<p value="<amp-fit-text layout="fixed-height" min-font-size="6" max-font-size="72" height="80">We were in San Salvador Bahamas <a href="https://goneguy.travel.blog/2016/07/09/columbus-islesan-salvador-2016/">two years ago</a> and liked the diving and Club Med so much that we decided to come back.We were in San Salvador Bahamas two years ago and liked the diving and Club Med so much that we decided to come back.

We had a 6 am flight out of Minneapolis which meant that we had to get up at 3 am. Luckily this year we did most of our packing a head of time so we were able to be in bed by 8 pm and got seven hours sleep by the time we woke up 3 am. This meant that we were not completely exhausted when we got to San Salvador, like last time, I was literally falling asleep at dinner because I only got three hours of sleep before our flight.

We flew from MSP to Miami where we caught our flight to San Salvador. We had a screaming baby in front of us for the flight to Miami. I feel sorry for the parents, they were more frustrated than the people sitting around them. The baby would not stop crying. Everyone was happy when we landed in Miami.

We met our friends Doug and Stephanie in Miami. We were on the same flight to San Salvador. They had a much more challenging flight to Miami that we did. They connected in Dallas and they missed the flight. They tried to rebook and all they could do was standby for a later flight. Luckily they got on and made it to Miami just in time to catch the flight.

Once we landed in San Salvador we had the distinct honor of having our bags being the last ones on the carousel. It took so long that Stephanie and Doug went to Club Med to check in.

We checked in, booked diving and met up with them.

We dove four days. The diving was as good as when we were here two years ago. We dove amazing canyons and swim throughs. We saw sharks on every dive.

My favorite dive was Amphitheater. It was a large sandy area that sloped down to over 100 feet and was surrounded by rocky formations. Shortly after we arrived four Caribbean  Reef sharks showed up and started swimming around and through our group of divers. They actually swam fairly close to us.

After a few minutes the dive master signaled that we should go. The other divers swam off and Karen was still looking at the sharks. At this point it was four sharks and two divers so I indicated to Karen that we should go she paused and I indicated again that we should go. She finally swam off. We had to go through a swim through to catch up with the rest of the divers. Karen went first and I followed her. As we were going through the swim through It occurred to me the sharks might be curious and could follow us. After we exited the swim through, I turned around and sure enough a sharks were following me.

I wasn’t worried…much. It would be odd for a shark to attack a diver. Especially, Caribbean Reef sharks, they are fairly docile. 

The other dive we did that got my pulse racing a bit was a swim though. Before we entered the water the divemaster told us we would be doing a swim through as some point during the dive.

Part way through the dive the divemaster had us stop at the base of a reef. He disappeared through what seemed to be a nonexistent opening. After a minute he indicated for us to follow him.

I was the last in line which was not good. The opening in the reef was covered with clumps of seaweed so it was hard to see entrance and the swim through was not very big. Since I was the last one in the swim through the sand and seaweed were stirred up and created blackout conditions. As fate would have it, I did not have my dive light with me so I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me.

I couldn’t see so I had to feel my way through the small tunnel in the reef. My tank clanged against the top of the swim through from time to time. I was moving slowly because I didn’t want to run into the fins of the person in front of me.

At one point I thought the tunnel might have veered to the right but I kept going straight and after a short while it occurred to me that I should start to see light. I began to wonder if I should turn around to see if I missed a turn off. At that point it occurred to me that I could be lost in a small tunnel in blackout conditions.

Luckily I saw a flashlight in the distance. It was the dive master signaling to me that I was going in the correct direction. Shorty after I exited the reef.

When we were here two years ago they were recovering from a hurricane and the restaurant above the dive shop was closed because it was still being repaired.

The two restaurants at Club Med are Christopher’s and La Pinta. Christopher’s is the main restaurant and it is the where the buffet is. La Pinta is located above the dive shop and reservations are required for dinner but not lunch. Both restaurants are very good. The resort has a wide variety of food and it is all very good especially considering it is an all-inclusive.

Two years ago we did the lobster cruise. It is an all day booze, lobster, swimming, hiking and boating adventure. It is literally the best tour I have ever taken. We tried to book it again this year but their boat was broken.  We skipped a day of diving hoping to take the cruise but they cancelled at the last moment.

We had no alternative but to spend the day on the beach enjoying the free drinks and actually one of my favorite things happened. We walked down the beach to a convenience store that is about one block off the beach. On the way back we heard a commotion in the water. We turned around and the Club Med GOs were pushing a boat through the water. They were handing out rum punch. It was a nice surprise and we had never seen anything like this at the other Club Meds.

We tried to book the lobster cruise on our second to the last day but their boat was still broken. Doug, Steph, Karen and I were talking about what to do on our last full day at the resort. Several days before someone recommended that we should go to the light house. We asked our waitress about the light house and how to get there. It turns out it is not walkable, it was too far but she recommended that we can rent scooters. I think she had a friend that worked there.

The scooter rental was at the airport which was a short four block walk from the resort. We rented two scooters with the plan to see the lighthouse and then circle the island.

My and Karen’s scooter made it to the lighthouse and then died on the hill going up to the lighthouse. After touring the lighthouse, we coasted down the hill and popped the clutch but the scooter would not run. I called the scooter company and they delivered another scooter to us.

On our way around the island we stopped at the Christopher Columbus memorial. We stopped at several beautiful beaches where our foot prints were the only sign of humans, at least that day. One stretch of road was infested with crabs. I am not sure why they were on the road but as Doug’s scooter approached the crabs swung around to face them with their pincers above their head. As he swerved the scooter to miss MOST of the crabs and sped past they swung around with pincers still raised to watch them drive off.

As our scooter approached the crabs turned around again to face us with pincers menacingly raised above their head. I managed to miss all of them and as we passed, they swung around again and watched us drive off. It as an odd experience.

There were only a couple of rough spots on the road where I had to be extra careful. There were several large pot holes that, if I would have hit them, I would have lost control of the bike. It was close but  I missed all of them. Touring the island on scooters was almost as fun as the lobster cruise.

All four of us decided to get nitrox certified on this trip. We had already done classroom and passed. After we finished our scooter tour we stopped for lunch at the restaurant above the dive shop. We had lunch and several beers.

Somehow the manager of the dive shop found us and told us we needed to pose for our pitchers for our nitrox dive card. We were salty from swimming, our hair was salty, and matted from the helmets and we were windblown. The several beers we had for lunch just added to the affect. We did everything we could to postpone the pictures but they would not let us. So we have some really scary looking nitrox ID cards.

Recap

All of us like Club Med San Salvador. The food is good, the diving is amazing and there is plenty to do when not diving. We will be back again.