We had to get up early for our morning jaunt. Quoth Jessie: “Whose idea was it to wake up this early and go snorkeling?” We ordered some room service for breakfast, which did show up late, but there was smoked salmon with bagles, so I forgave them. Delish.
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| From Caribbean Trip |
We did snorkeling at two places. The first was about thirty feet deep, a coral bed with lots of fish and neat looking underwater plant life to look at. And then right over to our right, directly to the side, was a 7000 foot drop. No exaggeration. And it was a sheer drop, too. A couple of coral clinking to the cliff face, and then *nothing*. It was a good thing we float, or we might have fallen over. The guide there brought some food for the fish, and so there was plenty of life to be seen. Jess and I, more experienced snorkelers, jumped right in first and swam around mostly on our own. We used the buddy system, though, so we were safe. As we came back to the boat, I got followed by a tiny, tiny little yellowtail fish. I think he thought I was some sort of manta ray or other massive fish he could take refuge beside. Either that or my sunscreen tasted good.
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| From Caribbean Trip |
The second location was more shallow, only about 14 feet deep, and so it was much easier to see there, and boy was there a lot to see. There were more crags and crevices to look around in, which was nice for exploring, but a little intimidating, as far as hidden sea life goes. For example, Jess found a shark.
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| From Caribbean Trip |
See that fin in the middle underneath the rock? Yeah, that's Jessie's shark.
It was sleeping, just lying there under an outcropping of coral. Jess told the guide and he brought everyone over to take a look. Meanwhile, Jess and I zipped around to see tons of urchins, fish, and other creatures that may or may not have been poisonous. I’m just saying I was the nervous one, that’s all. On the way back into the boat, we saw some jellyfish. Very small, and almost transparent in the water.
After a quick lunch break, we did some SNUBA. Now snuba is like scuba, in that you breathe air from a tank, but whereas scuba requires some training and you strap the tank to your back, in snuba the tank floats at the surface of the water, so you can only go down about 15 feet, the length of the tube. At that distance, decompression and the bends aren’t a consideration at all, so you don’t need to be certified to do it.
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| From Caribbean Trip |
Anyway, we went out to the location, got all suited up, and then got to swimming around underwater. Having been scuba certified was definitely helpful, and Jess and I felt really comfortable in the water. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. Being able to swim around wherever you want is a very nice sensation. You do tend to keep it slow, though. Nice and relaxed. There were fish and shells and coral and other strange sights to see, and all too soon it was over and time to head back to the boat.
After that, we came back, had some food, and relaxed away the evening. Jess found the new Star Trek movie on TV, and we watched it 1.5 times while I goofed off, read a book, and jotted down some notes about our trip. So that I could write this, as it turns out.
And then, once again to the rocking of the cruise ship, we fell asleep.
-N
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