Our first room was a beautiful suite in the historic hotel with a HUGE oceanfront veranda.
The view from our first room
The historic hotel at The Crane
The historic Crane Hotel and its grounds
The grounds, with Crane Beach on the left
The suite was beautiful, but lacked air conditioning - a sserious problem in the lower Caribbean in September
Looking out our back door
Looking out our front door
Crane Beach
A path on the rocks to a jump-off point
Looking back at Crane Beach
Situated on the Atlantic Ocean side of the island, Crane Beach is home to HUGE waves - great for bodysurfing and bodyboarding
Crane Beach and The Crane, on the hill
Cathy wades in the surf
Andy and Crane Beach
Cathy and Crane Beach
The Raineys on Crane Beach
Dancing a jig
Under the cliff
Cat on the rocks
Our view from our second room, a luxurious suite in the *new* (i.e. air conditioned) resort
Our own private dip pool on our balcony
Cathy enjoying a cup of hot tea and soaking in the view
The Crane
The Crane and the Atlantic
View from our pool
Zen and L'Azure restaurants, overlooking Crane Beach
Cathy overlooking Crane Beach
Andy overlooking Crane Beach
Cathy relaxing on Crane Beach
Rows of chairs on the beach
Cathy enjoying the view while awaiting lunch at the Carriage House
The grounds and pools of The Crane
Green
Lush and posh
The Carriage House
The Crane's beautiful grounds
The Crane's pools
Cacti and Crane
A pool with a view
Cathy overlooking the Atlantic
Cathy and the Atlantic
Rocks and water
Green waters on the east coast of Barbados
Andy and the Atlantic
The Raineys on Barbados
The water couldn't be any clearer
Shades of green
Rocky coast
Cathy on the coast
Cathy on the grounds
Interesting cacti
Close-up cacti
Zen and L'Azure, overlooking green water
Cathy gets herself psyched up to take the plunge
Cathy springs to action...
... off she goes ...
... on her way down ...
... almost there ...
... SPLASH!
Big fun!
Andy pushes off ...
... in the air ...
... suspended ...
... on the way down ...
... and SPLASH!
King of the World!
Lazy afternoon in Barbados
Late afternoon paradise
Precious shade and lots of sunscreen actually kept us from getting burned all week!
A wedding on Crane Beach
Late afternoon on Crane Beach
Crane
Sunset over The Crane
Cathy at dinner at Zen
Zen
Andy digging in a bento box at Zen
Happy camper
The Raineys enjoyed a lovely meal at Zen
Cathy makes a new friend
Look!
Fish!
What better way to spend a Tuesday than a catamaran snorkel cruise of the Caribbean?
The bay at Bridgetown
Bridgetown by water
Cathy on the cruise
Open waters of the Caribbean
In my happy place
The Raineys on the Caribbean
Boat and water
Beautiful property
Yes, the water is really this green. It's mind-blowing.
Western beaches
Green water and white sand
Quiet bay
Cat
Loving it
Arriving at our snorkel location
Here we snorkeled with stingrays, swam with sea turtles, and even saw an eel
The mast
Mast, sun and sky
Time to snorkel!
Our last stop of the trip, in a little bay
The bay
Beautiful houses on the water
Our final stop
Cathy gets ready to swim
Talk about a great front yard.
Greenest water I've ever seen.
Beautiful Caribbean houses
The water was amazing
Now THAT is green water
Breathtaking
Beautiful beach
Watersports in Barbados
Renovations on the beach
The beach and bay we spent an afternoon swimming
Looking out to sea
A secluded spot
We didn't want to leave
Us and the renovation - admittedly an odd choice of backdrops for a picture, given the other 270 degrees of this vista
Let's try this again
Beautiful. And the water's nice too.
The Raineys in PARADISE
Sail ahoy!
Sailing the Caribbean
Happy campers
Welcome to Bridgetown
Parliament Building
The Wharf
The Bridge House
Independence Arch
Independence Square
Broad Street
Bank of Butterfield
St. Mary's Church
Cathy at Pelican Craft Center
Walking north, just past the end of Crane Beach
Looking back at Crane Beach and The Crane
Andy and The Crane
Cathy and The Crane
The Raineys and The Crane
Just north of Crane Beach is a more secluded, isolated beach called Beachy Head
Exploring Beachy Head
Cat and cave
Beachy Head from the cave
Looking out of the cave
From the cave
Fossil records in the cave
Looking out
Rock, sand, and water
Cathy walking Beachy Head
Our new house
Beachy Head
Carved-out rocks on Beachy Head
Cliffs and water
Jagged rock
Overhang
Hmm... that looks like a great place to get out of the sun
Perfect!
My happy place
Cathy gets pounded by the surf
All smiles
A native
We shall call him Curtis
A statue of the namesake crane
L'Azure and Crane Beach
L'Azure has an amazing view
Crane Beach from above
Toward the end of the week, a huge seaweed & sand concentration clouded the water somewhat
Still beautiful
The outside of our historic original room, which we'll remember as beautiful misery
The Grand Jete Statue at The Crane
Our first room from the grounds
Our spot in the sand
Green and green
Looking back
Grand Jete
The Crane Village
Cave Shepherd at Crane Village
Beautiful Cathy at beautiful Cafe Luna, at the Little Arches Hotel in Oistins
Romantic Cafe Luna
Cafe Luna at the Little Arches Hotel on the south coast - one of the top five meals of my life
Andy at Cafe Luna
Cathy's crab cake
Andy's crab roll
Andy's surf and turf
Cathy's Mahi Mahi bow tie pasta
Pretty
Pink
The Raineys at Cafe Luna
The ambience of Cafe Luna
Pre-sunrise over The Crane
The sun begins to rise over The Crane
The sun breaks through
Sunrise on the Atlantic
Sunrise over The Crane
Beautiful
Sun and water
Sunrise
Sunrise and Crane Beach
The Atlantic Ocean
A pool at The Crane
Our living room
Our bedroom
Looking out to our patio
Our view of the grounds from our patio, with Crane Beach directly in front
Our patio
Our bedroom/bathroom
Relaxing
Cathy
Us on Crane Beach
Andy
Getting one last look
Departing Crane Beach
Saying goodbye to the best beach we've ever visited
Palms
Goodbye to Crane Beach
Our room - fourth floor, left corner
Through the thicket to our room one last time
