Today will go down as one of the best of my life!
Didn't have the greatest sleep (combination of intense heat in our room as well as a delightful rooster crowing away all night and morning long) but got up to go have breakfast at the breakfast hot spot of the island called amor y cafe! Very cute little spot and very popular! We then smothered ourselves in sun cream in preparation for our snorkeling trip! We got geared up and walked along the dock just outside our hotel to get onto our simple little boat... There were 6 other people on our tour, 3 of which were highly highly annoying but anyways!
Our captain Shaun was a typical Caribbean Rusta dude... He started off by introducing us to his friend Viola- a seagull who literally comes to say hi to him (the fish bribe might be the reason haha) and then flies alongside his head as far as Viola can make it... So so cool!! We then quickly quickly made an unscheduled stop and jumped in the sea only to find ourselves with two sea turtles!!! I was swimming with sea turtles! So so unreal and amazing! Our tour was in what is called the Hol Chan Marine Reserve - which boasts this gigantic barrier reef - second largest in the world! We were on somewhat of a sea safari :) What a way to start the day! We then headed to the first zone we would be visiting- Zone A of the reef, where we would be guided by our captain to meet more sea turtles, sting rays, snappers, yellow fins amongst other wonders! We even got to touch a baracuda... Absolutely incredible!! This was the deepest part of our snorkeling tour... I felt like I was in Finding Nemo ;) We had moved away from the "drop off zone" and into the deep... It was so cool to have a snorkel guide... At one stage, he filled a shell with little fish and lured a green eel out from under a rock so we could see him! Have never snorkeled in this way before! After about 45 minutes, we made our way back to the boat... Onto zone B!
This is the shark zone- apparently back in the day, the fishermen would throw left over scraps of fish off their boats and that used to attract rays and sharks - so to this day, and since the reef has become protected, the sharks know that when a boat approaches it means fish! So as we arrived, Shaun dropped fish in the sea and we were surrounded by fish and nurse sharks! We were told to gently get into the water and there we were, swimming with sharks! I even got to hold one... Incredible! Held it like a baby :) It's skin was so rough and had such a cool texture! It's so unreal to take in what is actually happening... We swam around a bit with the sting rays... I even held one!! Full on held a sting ray! Mad... And then Shaun gave me some fish to hold tight in my hand and all the Dory's of the ocean came to eat off my fish! They're quite feisty little b*****s! So so cool!!!!
We still had Zone C to get to but I couldn't imagine anything really topping that... Haha... We had our lunch - chicken burgers- and then went onto Zone C! This was ssoooo cool! This is where we would see manatees (sea cows) if we were lucky... Shaun heard there was one in the area so he quickly dropped anchor and again told us to gently get into the water so as not to scare it away... And there it was! This gentle awkward creature just floating in the ocean right in front of us... Amazing!!!! Spotted him again a bit later on and swam right alongside and on top of him! So so cool... We were given some "free" time to go explore the coral reefs for ourselves where the smaller fish could be seen - so diverse and colourful... And then it was home time! What a day!! We chomped on some bananas and pineapples on our ride home and marveled in what we had just seen!
After a long day in the sun we didn't have much left in the reserves... I lay a bit under some trees by the dock outside our hotel, then we went to the split to have a cool Coke and watch the magnificent sunset... Then we walked to "Terry's Grill" where Scott and Amy were having the fish they had caught that day cleaned and cooked for them! We ended up ordering fish fillets ourselves and must give it to good old Terry, he cooks the fish brilliantly! It's one of the best fish dishes I've ever had! Am absolutely loving all this fresh seafood!! We have now packed and are ready for our travel day tomorrow! Hoping the snorkeling will have set me up for a solid night's sleep (Cinz last night I dreamt I was running your restaurant (?!) for a few hours and it stressed me out big time hahaha - a sign of things to come perhaps??)...
Lesson of the day: Don't forget your full water bottle on the boat!!!! Idiot Sim... Haha
Moment of the day: Swimming with the sea turtles and holding the nurse shark and the sting ray... <3