Snorkel 'til you drop

We got up late and went to Glenda's for breakfast. The homemade cinnamon rolls were delicious and the coffee was pretty good, too. We had planned to get tours lined up and take it easy today. We started with the dive shop, where we signed up to dive the reef tomorrow. While we were there, they checked the weather and informed us that a cold front was moving in on Wednesday, so the best days would be today and tomorrow. Having gotten the weather forecast, we decided it might be a good idea to take the snorkeling trip we had planned sooner than later. We showed up at Raggamuffin Tours at 9:30am, and they were able to squeeze us on to the 10:30 tour today. We signed up and hustled back to our hotel to get changed, get our gear, and get money to pay for the trip.

We set sail around 10:45, after a quick lecture on the do's and don'ts of sailing. We boarded our sailboat and headed to our first stop, which was a coral garden just short of the barrier reef. The purpose of the stop was to check equipment and learn to snorkel, for those who had never done so. The coral was in great shape, and we floated around for about an hour.

The next stop was Stingray Alley and Shark somethin', where we saw stingrays and nurse sharks. This is part of Hol Chun Marine Park, which has been a protected area for over 22 years. I was able to dive down and pet the stingrays but made sure I stayed away from the tail so as not to end up like a barbed Aussie. We swam with the fish, sharks, and rays for about 45 minutes before heading to Hol Chun, which is the area in the reef where a channel feeds the shallow area from the Caribbean, outside the reef. In the 25 years I've been diving, this was the first time I have seen a spotted eagle ray. He (or she) was huge! The ray was cruising along the channel, up and down, in majestic fashion. It was really amazing, and I could have just stayed there and been happy. Instead, the guide moved us on, and we saw a tremendous number of fish: blue wrasse, sergeant majors, angel fish, snappers, hog fish, as well as eels and well-preserved corals. Swinging back toward the boat, we came across a green turtle. Very cool. Kim and I were hanging back from the group, so when they bothered him enough, he came right past us. He came right by us, floated carelessly to the surface, took a big gulp of air, and descended again. Amazing.

The sail back took a long time (or maybe it wasn't so long and my concept of time is distorted from the sunburn). The sun was setting as we pulled up to the dock. We felt very fortunate to have seen such beautiful creatures today and look forward to more of it tomorrow. Our first dive will be in Hol Chan Park, so we should be able to enjoy the wildlife and coral formations up close.Baca lagi