Kiana - Day 1

I got up around 6:00 am to have breakfast, then it was off to the booking office to put my luggage into storage. They had given me a small cloth bag, this was all you are allowed to take on board. Not a problem though, everything I needed fit easily. Then a 10 minute walk down to the marina to meet the crew and get on the boat.
While still in the harbor we were assigned to bunks and given a brief introduction to the boat. Only major point was "don't touch any buttons". If you activate the emergency beacon when it is not required, the fine is $50 000. Apparently it used to be a $10 000 fine, but a few years ago some asshole activated one as a joke on another boat, and the rescue helicopter crashed on the way to the boat and the 4-man crew died. I do believe they put the joker in jail for a couple of years...

A nice snack was served once we were underway. Our first stop was Whitehaven beach. Or rather the other side of the island from the beach. We took the runabout to shore and walked over the island to the beach, where we spent about 3 hours. This is a pretty unique beach. The sand is almost pure silica - so pure NASA used some to make the mirror for the Hubble space telescope. Went swimming - I must say wearing a stinger suit and going swimming is weird. Beats getting killed by a jellyfish, I suppose.
A nice stack of passengers on the beach:

And me, riding a sand turtle:

After the beach, we returned to the ship and went to luncheon bay and moored there for the night. They have moorings at all the good spots in the park. Supper was made in a barrel on the back deck. It consisted of lamb, veggies, and potatoes, all steamed/cooked for three hours in this barrel. Very nice, lovely way to finish the day. Went to bed early since we planned to be under the water by 7:00 am the next morning for the first dive.