The amazing "other side"

Wow! It's windy! According to weather.com we've got 22mph winds gusting at 33mph. It's howling through the window of our room at the inn. We went to dinner tonight at fancy Italian restaurant for gringos that's on the 10th floor of some condominiums. It has an outdoor patio and after dinner we walked out on it to see just how hard the wind was blowing. Pretty hard.


Today was a cloudy, dreary morning and we just hung out in our room. Dave napped and I read. In the afternoon we decided to drive to the "other side" of the island. The other side (the east side) doesn't have electricity and, other than a couple beach bars, is completely undeveloped.

The other side is breathtakingly beautiful! I became quite giddy as I marveled at this natural beauty and Dave was fairly entertained by my giddiness. There's a paved road along the oceanfront nearly the entire length of the island. About half of the waterfront is sandy and the other half is dramatic stone that's been cut by the waves. You just drive until you see a spot that looks interesting, find a place to pull over, and then enjoy your own private beach.
The sand contained millions of pieces of dried coral.
And there were tide pools everywhere! I felt like a kid as I excitedly explored the contents of each one. This one had a bunch of snails in it.
In most places on the other side, you don't swim because the surf is too rough. Of course, I couldn't resist being right next to the ocean and not getting in.... despite warnings...
While I swam, Dave amused himself by writing in the sand and taking photos of the waves crashing into me.
Exploring the other side was a dream come true for me. I hope that it's left undeveloped for many, many more years. It was naturally charming. We might drive back over there again tomorrow. :)

Of course, I wouldn't be telling you the whole truth if the only photos I showed were the ones above. Mixed together with the natural beauty of the ocean and beaches was a ton of trash that had washed up on shore. Sigh.