Our last stop on my Holland America cruise trip was to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, a private island surrounded by crystal-clear water. While my excursion for this port was a kayaking trip, a bad storm was expected to come through by the end of the day, making the seas rather rough and the wind strong.

Since most of the excursions were canceled, I instead opted for a small tour of the island by truck to see the highlights. Because the island is so small, there’s no cruise dock; rather, we took a tender to shore, which was a nice way to approach the island.

Cabanas line the beach, and people were already donning their snorkeling gear to explore the waters and marine life, but my group hopped on the open-air cart and ventured through the winding paths of the island to see how it operates, as well as the main vistas.

We popped by the sting ray site where, if excursions hadn’t been canceled, some cruise-goers would have already been swimming amongst them. The waves were choppy but we spotted some sting rays gliding along the ocean floor.

Lush and vibrant plants are everywhere on this island, and you always hear the chirping of tropical birds. Most of the island, in fact, is protected for wildlife. We drove to a section of the island where the staff work and live, currently under construction and in the midst of receiving a big upgrade.

I also walked to one of the beaches and ventured into a bar shaped like a shipwreck, but it was still rather early in the morning, so I opted to not get a drink and rather sit and enjoy the views.

It was a great first half to my day on this cruise, and while I wish the weather hadn’t been poor to bar me from my kayaking trip, it was a gorgeous island.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor