It was windy as usual at Caribbean Blue.  As much as we enjoyed the light breeze because it kept the insects at bay, we were ready for it to quit so we could spend a day at "home".   After our adventurous day with Eleuthera Tours and all the excitement of the two days prior we were not up for another big adventure kind of day.   But it was still too windy at Caribbean Blue for snorkeling and J really needed to get in the water to relive the pain of a fire coral rash he had acquired the day before.  We knew we would need to head to the ocean side of the island to beat the wind so we decided to see what Airport Beach had to offer on a calm day.  

It was beautiful!!!  Miles and miles of untouched sandy beach and not a soul in sight.  

We set up "camp" for the day and I lounged in the shade with my book while J, D & S grabbed their rods and went for a long stroll.   After about an hour or two people started arrive at our untouched little mecca.  Luckily there was so much space that we could spread out far enough from one another that it still felt like a deserted beach.   Some of the visitors were just cruising by on their daily beach stroll.  We soon realized that Airport Beach is a favorite beach walk for men who would prefer to go sans clothing.  Some were accompanied by wives or girlfriends but only the men chose to be completely liberated.  Most would quickly slip on their suits when they saw another person, but not all, we did not take offense either way.  We experienced this naked man phenomenon numerous times throughout the rest of the trip so we aptly nicknamed Airport Beach "Naked Man Beach".  

Well once we had warmed up enough in the sun we decided to see what snorkeling opportunities Airport Beach had to offer.   We could see a dark area off shore but we could not tell if it was sea grass or coral heads.   Typically we can tell the difference by color but this looked a reef shape with the darker sea grass color.  Once we made it out to the reef we discovered why.  It was not quite a completely dead reef, but close to it.  There were very few fish, mostly jacks, yellowtail snapper and French grunts, but not very many.   The reefs were devoid of the colorful sea fans and lively formations that we had seen in other areas.  Despite it looking dark from shore it was lighter in color, almost like it had a dusting of sand was covering the coral and very little was growing on it.  It was very sad and rather eerie.  That combined with the frigid water temperatures from the cold front that had started to move in made it a less than desirable place to be.   S and I decided that the warm sandy beach and a good book were preferential.   J & D decided to head out farther to see if the reefs were in any better shape, but they just found more of the same.  It seemed like it might be isolated to this one area because when we moved down the beach to DaVilla a few days later the reefs there were vibrant and healthy.

Well anyway after our frigid and troubling snorkel we enjoyed some quality beach time with our books and Sands light.  Eventually the boys joined us and after a few hours we headed home to get dinner preparations started.  

We spent the rest of the late afternoon lounging on the deck of Caribbean Blue and enjoying yet another spectacular sunset.  For dinner we made some BBQ pork chops (Burrows) that had been doused in a tasty Island Farms marinade and we polished off the rest of the Island farms veggies and salad dressing.   

J and I scheduled this day for an outing with Eleuthera Tours.  The plan was to do a half day of spearfishing (J’s choice) and a half day of hand lining (my choice). We touched base with Kristel a few times beforehand because the weather had been rather unpredictable. The morning of Kristel called her contacts at the harbor and they said they though the wind should die down by early afternoon so we decided to go for it.  There was a cold front that was supposed to arrive the next day and last most the week we figured this was our only window.

D & S decided not to join us and instead spent the day exploring some of the beaches down south just the two of them. We met up with Donald and Josh, his mate for the day, and off we went.  It was so nice just to get out on a boat, I really miss the open water.

Our first mission was conch and lobster.  Donald took us out a ways and Jeff and Josh jumped in.  I had planned to follow them around and GoPro their adventures but the water was still a little too rough for me. 

Donald explained to me that the current was going one way (I can’t remember if it was in or out) and when it switched the water would become calmer.  Normally that would have been the case, but on this particular day the wind decided to pick up instead.  At first it was a subtle increase and we did not really notice how rough it was getting until Donald and I had to start outrunning the waves with the boat.  He kept joking that it was “The Perfect Storm”.  Some of the waves almost felt that way except we were in a tiny boat and having much more fun.  I knew we were safe and in good hands so it was actually a tremendous amount of fun watching those waves creep up on us and watching the boys bob around out there.  After a few hours and 4-5 lobsters later we decided to it was time for lunch.  Jeff and Josh had been in the water almost the entire time so they did not realize how big the waves had actually gotten till they go back on the boat.  Donald decided we better head closer to shore where the water was calmer.  I was told hand lining was out of the question with the winds the way they were so it turned into J's spearfishing day.

On the wild ride back we had the best fish sandwiches I have ever tasted (thanks to Kristel) and tried not to chip our teeth as we attempted to chug a few beers while traveling over rough chop at high speed.  Luckily everyone’s teeth survived and very little beer was spilled, thanks to Donald's boating skills.  

We found a calmer spot close to shore and I decided to snorkel around with the boys and watch them spearfish.   Not long after entering the water we saw an eagle ray with a remora attached to it (pics did not turn out), and what I think was a cowfish, it looked a lot like a stouter, blue-green scrawled filefish.  This was the only bright blue/green one I saw the entire trip, all the others were purple.  J and Josh had a bit of a competition going so I just kept snorkeling around while they “hunted”.  While they were preoccupied with a lobster another eagle ray came by and I swam with it for a while.  I could not flag J and the GoPro down since he was so fixated on the lobster so I took a little video with my Pentax.  It did not turn out nearly as nice as it would have with the GoPro, but it still gives you an idea of how they look like they are flying underwater. 

I also found a nice conch, the only one of the trip.  We never seem to see live conch, only the shells of old ones.  I hauled it around to show off my prize to the boys and we gave it to Donald to take home.  After that we saw a big Green Moray Eel.  Josh had speared another lobster and kept waving it in front of the eel and it would come out of its hole and bite it rather viciously.  I tried to get some pictures but every time I tried it would duck back in it's hole.  Once Jeff had landed a grouper and Josh a lobster we hopped back in the boat and headed back toward where our friends were going to pick us up.  They were not supposed to come get us for another hour so we played around in a little cut by the Island School.  Josh jumped in and chased some more lobsters while J, Donald and I enjoyed some rum punch.  Another ray swam by, then a shark so Josh worked his way back to the boat.  We still had some time to kill so we decided to head up the beach to where Kristel was waiting and just texted our friends to tell them where to meet us when they arrived.  It turned out they were waiting at our original location the entire time and we just could not see them from the boat.  They had been yelling at us but we could not hear them so they figured it was someone else when we did not respond.  They had arrived early because everywhere they went was windy so they figured we would probably be done early.  Plus to top it all off they had accidentally given us all the beer, and it was Sunday and they could not find a place down south to get more.   It turned out their cell was not working that far south so they did not get my texts.  So they sat for an hour and a half while we goofed off and drank way too much rum punch.  After they were not at our new location about a half hour after our scheduled meeting time Kristel gave me a ride up to where we had originally planned to me and there we found them bored and sitting around with NO BEER.

Luckily we discovered that they sold beer at the little store down at Cape Eleuthera and remedied that situation immediately.   We had to be escorted to and from the gate to the little store by the guard at Cape Eleuthera but at least they got to have one ice cold beer after their long wait.   We returned and sat around and chatted it up with Donald, Kristel and Josh for a while.  Then we gave Josh a ride back to Rock Sound and headed home to cook up our catch.   Despite the rough weather to start we had a really great time and will definitely be booking another trip with them on our next trip. 

We had a such fabulous trip up to this point and we were feeling pretty darn lucky that we were only a third of the way through our vacation while most people would be heading home on Day 7.   We woke up feeling like life could not get any better, but then this day happened.  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. 

The morning started out pretty typical, we woke up just before sunrise, and sat on the deck sipping coffee & coconut rum.  D's whipped up some tasty bacon and eggs again, and we had some delicious raisin bread toast from Island Farms.  After breakfast we packed up the cooler and tried to decided on a destination for the day.   We were still recovering a little from the day before so we thought we should stay closer to home and show D & S Twin Cove.  We loaded up the kayak and headed on our way.   We arrived at the beach pretty early, but there was one other car already there.  We saw they were just taking a morning beach walk on the other end of the beach so we decided we would not be disturbing them if we stayed.  We hauled all our gear down to the beach and started getting ready to take the Kayak out and go for an early snorkel.  J had seen a huge grouper when we were there a few days before, just after he shot his not quite as huge grouper, so he was on a mission.   Just as the boys were about to get into the water the couple we had seen walking approached us to warn us about a 6' shark they saw off the point.  We talked about it's shape and movements for a little bit and then finally settled on it being a nurse shark.   

At some point during the conversation we looked out and saw two dolphins frolicking in the cove.  I instantly went for my gear and insisted I was going to swim with the dolphins, the shark long since forgotten.  J had that grouper on his mind and couldn't fathom that the dolphins would stick around so he refused to come with me.  After a just few minutes of pulling out the whiny wife card he realized they were still there so maybe we would be able to swim with them after all.   The four of us grabbed our gear and headed toward them.  J was the first in the water and the dolphin swam right up to him.  We were all amazed that they were so friendly and quickly followed suit. 

We swam out toward the center of the cove and the dolphins spent about 2 hours frolicking around us, taking turns swimming up to us and showing their belly's or weaving around us, and even over and under us.   We just treaded water, letting them play all around us until we were so exhausted we had to finally come in.   It is indescribable what an amazing experience this was and how at peace we felt with the world that day. 

I did my best to make a little video.  This was my first attempt at editing any of our GoPro footage so please forgive any flaws you may notice.  

This was D & S’s first full day back in 2 years and Eleuthera welcomed them "home" with open arms.  D was the first to wake, and as soon as he stepped out on the deck to enjoy his first cup of coffee he was bid good morning by two dolphins just passing by.  When I wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later he had a look of absolute joy on his face.  It was if Eleuthera was saying welcome home D, we love you.   We really could not have asked for a more amazing morning, the weather was absolutely perfect and it was also J and I’s 3rd anniversary.  We considered the entire trip as our anniversary so we did not focus too much on just the one day and instead celebrated it throughout our 3 weeks in paradise.

We started off with a great breakfast provided by D, the master of scrambled eggs and bacon.  After our belly's were full we decided it was just too beautiful a day not to go find a sandy Atlantic beach.    We decided to head back to Parrotfish Beach (nickname) since it had been so spectacular a few days earlier and D & S had been waiting to go back there for two years.  We initially discovered Parrotfish Beach on our first trip to Eleuthera but we never had a calm enough day to snorkel there.   We made it on our second trip but S and I were still a little skiddish in the water so we only checked out some of the closer reefs.  D and J had snorkeled out to the farther reefs and had been talking them up for the last two years so D & S's anticipation was high, just as mine had been a few days earlier when I saw them for the first time myself.   We packed up the cooler and were in the car and ready to roll by 9am.  On the way we made a quick stop at Island Farms since it was fresh bread day and stocked up on all sorts of delicious breads, dressings, sauces, salsa and fresh veggies.

We were at the beach by 10 am and after unloading the car we headed out for a “family snorkel”.   We saw eagle rays, tons of huge parrotfish, trunkfish, filefish, an eel, spectacular coral formations, and so much more.   It was really one of the most amazing snorkels of my life.  It was just a few amazing hours of peaceful tranquility exploring a beautiful undersea world.  The water was chilly but S and I stayed out longer than ever before and had an incredible time.  This was a new beginning of snorkeling for both of us, be had both had some some skittish moments in the past but after experiencing the tranquility of Parrotfish Beach we were new women. 

Eventually we had to come back, not from lack of excitement but because we were just getting too cold and physically could not take much more.  We enjoyed a tasty lunch of turkey and salami sandwiches with Island Farms olive and herb bread, tomatoes and lettuce and a few cerveza’s.  D, S and I were in blissed out relaxation mode at this point but I think J was so excited to have his dive buddy back that turned into a human hummingbird.  As soon as his sandwich was done he was ready to go back out.  D needed a little more sand and Kalik time so J took the kayak out by himself to do a little reef fishing.

He fished from the kayak for about 45 minutes then came back in and grabbed D for another epic snorkel.  S and I decided that books and beer sounded better to us so we stayed put.  I was equally glad to have S around so I could get in some lounge time with my tanning buddy while D kept the human hummingbird company.  The boys paddled the kayak out to a different area to check out some new reefs and wound up staying out there for HOURS! 

They eventually came back in with their catch, another schoolmaster and 2 large lobsters.   They then discovered that when sunblock says water resistant for 90 minutes they mean it and that they needed to come to shore and re-apply more than every couple hours.  They both completely scorched the back of their legs.  They were both confined to wearing pants in the water for a few days and wound up with dive knife tans that lasted the rest of the trip.   After immediately covering their legs we set to cleaning up the giant explosion of gear we had sprawled out on the beach, searched for the lost ring a little more, and then headed home to get cleaned up for the fish fry.

We were all pretty pooped after our big day so we really had to drag ourselves to the fish fry, but we made it just in time for the sunset.   It was the Eleuthera Jazz Festival so it was not the traditional fish fry that we were used to, but we really enjoyed the more casual atmosphere.  We all ordered chicken and coleslaw which was delicious as usual but I really miss the conch fritters from the pre-pavilion days.  D bought a round of rum bubbas, but thankfully spared me when I resisted, S's resistance on the other hand was ignored.  I ordered a vodka tonic instead, thinking it would be less toxic but that was not the case and one was all it took to do me in. 

Our first fish fry ever was in 2010 and the high school Junkanoo band had showed up.  We had such a fabulous time that every other fish fry has just not been the same.  They have all been fun but our first fish fry was such and amazing experience that it is hard to top.   We still had a great time and it was a prefect end to a really great day on Eleuthera. 

We woke up super excited because our very dear friends D and S were scheduled to fly in to GHB around 1pm and we could not wait to see them.  They came with us on out first trip in 2010, for our wedding and fell as in love with Eleuthera as we did.  They have been back with us every trip since.  They could not pull off an entire three week stay this time so we enjoyed a little "couple" time before they arrived but we were definitely ready for our partners in crime to come play.  Since they were arriving mid-day decided we better stay in the vicinity of Caribbean Blue and the Airport while we counted down till their arrival.  It was a pretty brisk stormy day so there was not much to do around the house since obviously we cant sit still for long.  We decided would at least try to find somewhere calm for a quick snorkel why we waited for the second half of out tribe to arrive.

We started at good ole faithful, Twin Cove but it was way too stormy for even an extreme snorkel.   After Twin we worked our way north toward the airport.  After a few wrong turns and dead ends we wound up at the old dock at the far end of Alabaster Beach.  J tossed about the spinning rod for a little while, until a torrential downpour forced him to hide in the car.  After that we decided we would try to find the cove at the tip of James Point again since we were unsuccessful a few days earlier and it was not far from the airport.   Our first attempt did not take us to the cove but it did take us to really nice spot to get view of the cliffs.  The water was raging and the waves put on a pretty spectacular show as they slammed against the rocks.  We moved on pretty quickly and after a little more wandering we finally found the cove.  It was still way too rough to snorkel but it looked like it might be a nice spot for a calm beach day.  We never did get an opportunity to come back again, maybe next year.  Just down the beach there were about 10 hard working men hauling buckets full of rocks. They were filling up the buckets with mid-size symmetrical rocks from all around the beach and then dumping them in a huge pile at the end of the road.  We guessed they were probably going to be used for home construction, and as we were leaving a big truck was coming up to collect them.

After James Point We still had about an hour to kill so we got “the book” out to see what else was close to the airport and decided on Sponge Cove.  Despite how sheltered the cove was, the wind was blowing directly into the mouth of the cove so again it was way to windy to do anything but take a beach walk.  Sponge Cove has a significant amount of beach grass so I doubt it would have been a good place to snorkel even on a calm day.  As usual J brought his spinning rod with him, he never leaves home without it as you never know what might be lurking out there.  Of course since he had it with him he spots a 4-5 ft shark really close to shore.  It went back into the shelter of the grass before I could see it so he cast toward it to draw it back out.   I don’t think he actually expected it to bite, since it looked like a nurse shark at first, but it hammered his lure.   That shark dragged his line out so fast, I thought he was going to lose it all.  Luckily it stopped just before it dragged all his line out and when he gave it a tug the shark finally bit off the lure.   He was not rigged up to land something that big so he was lucky all he lost was his lure.  It was his lucky lure he had been using on every trip since 2010, but it was getting pretty worn out and I think he had so much fun watching that shark go for it he did not care.

The shark fulfilled our excitement quota for the day so we decided to head to the airport bar and grab a beer while we waited for D & S.   Earlier in the day Stanton had seen us drive by with our wiper blade flapping around in the rain so as soon as we pulled up he tracked us down in the bar to fix our wiper blades.  We were just wondering where we would be able to find new blades so we were pretty happy that Stanton had found us and fixed them.   He really did good by us this trip and we could not have been more pleased with the Jeep. 

D & S arrived right on time and were ecstatic to be back "home" on Eleuthera.   They had a very very long series of flights.  They took the red-eye out of MT at 7pm the night before, had a few hour layover in FLL then directly on to the flight to GHB.  S thought that they be able to sleep better on the red-eye if they both had isle seats, but she accidentally picked the ones behind the exit rows not realizing they did not recline. I don’t think either of them had slept at all in about 30 hours.  To top it all off I had texted them to say they served cocktails on the flight and that it had a restroom, but it turned out that was only on the larger weekend flights, not the weekday ones, oops.   They were pretty darn happy when they walked out of the airport and we immediately took their bags and handed them ice cold Kaliks.

We headed straight back to Caribbean Blue and soon we had them settled on the porch with a couple of spunky monkeys and we worked on whipping up some salad and pork chops for lunch.  The rest of the afternoon consisted of lounging around and cocktails on the deck.  We had a wonderful sunset meal of fish tacos made with the schoolmaster J got the day before.

Here is the recipe.  We pretty much wing it when it comes to cooking so I am just estimating how much of each ingredient I use.  Feel free to modify to your own tastes, we like things hot.

1-2lbs Fresh fish fillets: (grouper, snapper, lionfish, etc) seasoned with lime juice, chili powder and old bay.
Let sit and marinade while you prepare the rest of the toppings.

White Sauce:
1 cup mayo
1/2 bird or goat pepper finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

Spiced Tomatoes:
Chop approx 5 large tomato's, about 4-5 cups
1/2 bird or goat pepper
Juice from 1/2 lime
1-2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1/8 tsp Cumin
Salt to taste.

grill or pan fry the fish until flaky and break into mid sized pieces.

Put a couple of pieced of fish in a tortilla shell and top with white sauce, spiced tomatoes, thinly sliced cabbage and avocado slices (if you can find them).

I found soft taco sized flour tortillas at Burrows in the standing freezer closest to the register.  The only place we saw avocado's was at the roadside fruit and vegetable stands. 

The power went out in the wee hours of the morning so we had a few hot restless hours without the ceiling fan.   The wind has also died down for the first time since we arrived so a few sneaky no-seeums made their way through the screens and into our bed sheets during the night.  My husband was generally spared but I made a tasty meal.  I was not in too bad of shape though, only about a half dozen bites, nothing a little salt water couldn't cure.

We were not too surprised about the power outage, there has always been at least one every trip, so it was expected.  Our main concern was NO COFFEE.  This constituted a major emergency in our household.  It is really not safe to speak to me until I have had at least one cup of coffee, and those who dare only get a one word answer.  But before we ran out in search of caffeine we needed a backup plan for all our perishables just in case the power did not come on.  The fridge and freezer were already warming up so we pulled all the ice from the freezer and put it in bowls in the fridge and placed anything important in the bowls of ice.  Then we packed what we needed for lunch in the cooler and we went in search of caffeine.  We passed the repair men fixing the source of the outage, a down power pole, on the way in to Governors. 

I convinced J to try coffee and breakfast at Da Perk this time.  He subsided after only minor mumblings about donuts.  Da Perk had great drip coffee (starbucks) and really tasty breakfast sandwiches.  I had the veggie and egg sandwich and J had the Ham and egg both on a croissant.   One bite and he completely forgot about donuts.

After we finished our breakfast and coffee we were back to our friendly human selves again and decided to hit the beach.  It was a spectacularly beautiful day, calm and in the low 80's, absolutely perfect.    We decided it was time to to hit our favorite (very secret) beach.  Sorry it is just to perfect to give the secret away.  If you want to go there you will have to find it on your own, it is more fun to discover these places by chance anyway. 

We arrived just after 10am and set up camp for the day.  We were in the water within about 30 min and had a fabulous 2 hour long snorkel.  It was our first good long snorkel of the trip and well worth the wait.  We saw two spotted eagle rays and tons of spectacular fish big and small.  If we had to name this beach I think we would call it parrotfish beach because of all of the huge parrotfish everywhere.  The reef is about 300 yards off shore and we did not feel like loading up the kayak so J made himself a little float to put fish in with a cooler strapped into the middle of an inner tube.  This is our usual beer receptacle when we float the rivers out in in Montana.  He was hoping if we had a sealed container to put fish in I would stop abandoning him as soon as he speared a fish, it worked!

J speared himself a nice sized schoolmaster snapper on the first trip out.  About an hour in we saw a small 4’ reef shark. It popped over the reef and took a peek at us then bolted the other way.  I made the “this snorkel is over” signal to J and tried to flee.  He was not going to put up with it this time so he made me stay.  I had about 15 minutes of uneasiness then I calmed down.  It was good for me to face my fear and it put me at ease the rest of the trip.

After a couple of hours we finally exhausted ourselves and had to come in for a break and to eat some lunch.  We were enjoying our sandwiches and Sands when J spotted a couple of bonefish.   He ran up to the car to get his bonefishing gear.  While he was up at the car a local woman and her visiting family arrived.  They had lots of little tots with them that hit the water immediately so by the time J got his rod rigged up the bonefish had been scared off.  Soon another nice couple of seasonal residents arrived.  They were amazed at how many people were there that day.  They said they had never seen anyone this beach before and we said the same.  I think all 3 groups had been waiting patiently for the wind to die down and we all jumped at the opportunity to go to our favorite spot when it finally did.

It’s so funny our perspective, we had gotten so used to never seeing anyone our previous trips that seeing two other groups on the beach felt like a crowded beach day.  We had to step back and go, come on 3 groups on a long stretch of beach we are still spoiled rotten!!

After the beach got busy and we had re-fueled we hit the water for another long snorkel.  We spent another couple hours in the water and J got another schoolmaster.  We thoroughly tuckered ourselves out and decided to call it a day.  Plus we needed to get some groceries and liquor store before they closed up for the day.  Our friends were arriving the next day and we wanted to make sure we had everything we needed for their arrival.

On our way back up to the car we chatted with the couple that had arrived at lunch.  They were snorkeling not far from us and said they saw 8 spotted eagle rays.   Just amazing, they are just such amazing graceful creatures, seeing two was a thrill,  I can’t imagine seeing eight at once.

After we loaded up we headed to our favorite little liquor store in RS, they said open but the door was locked so we decided they had just stepped out for a minute.  We drove down to the beach to gawk at all the sailboats and chatted with two young boys heading out to catch bait fish for a little while.

After snapping a few photos we got back into the car to check to see if the liquor store had opened back up yet.   J decided to drive at this point, he likes to roll the window down and tap his wedding ring on the side of the car when we are driving.  He started doing this and realized there was no tapping sound and discovered there was no longer a ring on his finger.  We pulled into the liquor store lot and scoured all his snorkel stuff and dive gloves, still no ring.  I went in got him some road beers, parked him in the passenger seat and drove him all the way back to the beach.  We searched and searched but never found it.  He was sure it came off when he took his dive gloves off and knew right where that was, but the sand is so soft and it was a heavy ring so I am sure it just sank into the sandy abyss.  He was pretty bummed, but I think mostly he was worried I would get upset.  I just told him he would have to buy himself a new one.  He kept joking that he was single now and was going to go marry a Bahamian woman so he never has to go home.  Obviously that plan did not work so well for him....

We headed back to Caribbean Blue after that, stopping in Governors Harbour to stock up on food and beer on the way.  He had a nice stiff cocktail when we got home and forgot all about the lost ring. We enjoyed our last evening of just the two of us and cooked up the snapper for dinner, with salad and baked potatoes.  It was still a fabulous day, despite a small loss.  At least it was not my ring that would have been a much more expensive setback.  A lost wedding ring is a small price to pay for a fabulous day in paradise.

Just a FYI on the grocery shopping.  I the past we have brought a cooler with coffee, frozen meat and trail mix.  It is a huge pain and this time we decided not to bother.  I am so glad we did, not only is that money going into the local economy, as it should, but we were never once lacking for food options.  I found gluten free tortillas and Starbucks coffee at the Market Place in Rock Sound.  They also have a few organic meat options, soymilk, etc.  We found plenty of lunch meat options in all the grocery stores, turkey, ham, roast beef, salami.  Island farms had the best salad dressings and fresh bread anywhere (on island or off), plus they have large 2-3lb bags of ground and whole bean coffee for a pretty decent price.   You may have to modify your eating habits to fit what is available, but we ate an incredibly delicious and balanced diet while we were there and never once wished we would have brought something from the states.