Tuesday 8th January

We had to get up at 6am to prepare to walk to the Harbour to check in at 7.30am. It was still terrible weather with rain pouring down. We were afraid that we would not be able to see well in the sea. It wasn't how we picture to be snorkelling in the sea. We were hoping for the sun to be shining through to make the sea absolutely gorgeous and blue to swim in. The staff at the check in said that the trip was still going ahead, despite the weather! They gave us the medical forms to fill in for scuba diving.

So far so good, the staff were very welcoming and deaf aware which helped us alot to ensure to know what were going on, on the boat or in the sea for safely. They already provided morning tea with muffins which we didn't have as we already stopped by at the cafe before checking in! If we knew, we would have save ourselves money!

One of the staff checked through our medical forms and unfortnately Lisa was unable to do hers due to high risk from her medical condition. She was really dissapointed but she was expecting it. She was hoping that there would be a miracle that she could do it. Daniel decided to not to do it to avoid to injure his knee further so we were added for snorkelling.

The boat finally left at 8.15am and it was comfortable journey which was good for Daniel to avoid his seasickness. We sat outside on the decking at the front of the boat and suddenly the black clouds came over us and bang, rain came along heavily. We all rushed inside to avoid of our clothes getting wet! The rain didn't last very long and everyone went out again.

We saw that there were the underwater digital cameras available to hire so we decided to hire one to make the most of it underwater to show what it was like. We did buy underwater camera but we didn't want to risk incase the photos came out with nothing!
The journey took at least 2 hours and 30mins ride before we stopped to look at the island called Mickey Bay which was a nickname from the staff. It's the island where its very limited for the boats to have access and our boat was one of the luckiest to access.

Luckily for us, the weather was clearing up nicely with sun shining out. Before we reached to the first reef location, we had the demostration on how to snorkel. We also hired the wetsuit to protect ourselves from jellyfishes.

We then got ourselves ready to jump off the boat and went snorkelling. We weren't expecting to see the coral reef that close and it was amazing to see it. Lisa took many photos as she could on the digital camera, hoping to get few good photos! It was a bumpy swim as the waves were pushing us few times! We then swam out bit further and saw better views of the coral reef with plenty of small fishes.

We then were called back onto the boat for lunch break. Unfortunately for Daniel, his seasickness were taking over, causing him to not to be hungry. Lisa went ahead and made the most of the lovely buffet.

Another brief talk from the staff on safely before reaching to the 2nd reef location which was Mickey Bay. It was also a famous birds Santancy. There were plenty of birds flying around and we were only allowed to be on one part of the island, to avoid of interrupting the birds' homes.

While Lisa was being prepared, we spotted plenty of big fishes swimming near the boats. she persuaded Daniel to come out as she didn't want him to miss out the opportunity of swimming with fishes. He forced himself and got bit better.

We had a choice of jumping off the boat and snorkel nearby, or boarding onto small boat to ride to the island. We decided to do that, so we we jumped onto the boat and made our way to the island. There were plenty of birds flying around!

Lisa and Daniel swam and were trying to not to touch the coral reef as they were so close to our stomaches! There weren't much to see so Lisa swam out further and saw better views and encouraged Daniel to come out that far. He was struggling due to his seasickness. Luckily one of the staff offered to swim out with us. She had a safely ring where Daniel and other 2 people held on while snorkelling. Lisa just followed as well as taking pictures. She was dissapointed that we didn't see any sea turtles or at least big fishes.

We returned back to the island so Daniel could rest. Lisa was unsure if she could go back to the sea to do more snorkelling as the waves were getting bumpy with the rain pouring down again. We did have a choice of getting the small boat back or swim across. Lisa was tempted but she didn't want to risk in the bumpy waves as she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to fight!

We both jumped onto the boat and made our way. We were hoping that we can continue to snorkel and to swim with big fishes. We didn't have the opportunity as once we got aboard, we were told to take our suits off.

After we got changed, the staff fed the fishes and we saw them fighting over the food!

Time to return back to the harbour. We also had an afternoon tea with biscuits. Daniel was still not feeling very good which he didn't grab the opportunity to have the biscuits. Lisa obviously made the most of it!

We then returned our hired digital camera for the staff to upload the photos onto the dvd. Unfortunately by the time we returned back to the harbour which was around 5pm. We were the last ones to leave as we couldn't leave till our dvd was finished. The staff started to ask us on how to sign few words.

We felt that it had been a great and memorable day for us with the staff always being pleased to help us, no matter what!

It was pouring down with rain by the time we left the boat. We returned back to the hostel and viewed the photos to see if they were any good. We were impressed with couple of photos :)