One of the best days of my vaction was the one in which I went "Swimming with Sharks and Rays". I have a love/hate relationship with sharks...any large fish really. I love "Jaws", but I dont want to be eaten by one...or even slightly damaged. Anyway, I could not imagine my ever willingly entering water in which Sharks were swimming. But I did.
We signed up for an all day snorkeling trip with Salvadore. We would stop at three sites as well as San Pedro for lunch. Our first stop of the day was Shark and Ray Alley. Salvo and his mate threw some fish (shark) food into the water to bring the sharks up to the boat. Now, these are nurse sharks and they tend to be pretty docile, but they are still sharks. Most of the sharks were of a pretty good size and looked pretty menacing.
Anyway, after a few minutes, Salvo tells us to get our gear on and "slip gently into the water". And I'm thinking, "Slip gently into the water...is he crazy"? Anyway, I got my snorkel gear and carefully entered the water...I did not want to land on (or touch) anything with fins and large teeth.
I have to tell you, it really was the most amazing experience. The Sharks stayed close, but not so close as to be intimidating. And the Rays seem to be as curious about us are we are about them. They swoop by as if playing a game of tag and when you reach out to caress them they roll away. It is almost as if they want you to chase them. I tell you, this one snorkeling adventure was well worth the sunburn.
After Shark and Ray Alley we headed to Hol Chan marine preserve. In the native Mayan language Hol Chan means "deep channel". We saw numerous fishes and corals. It was really beautiful. We did not see any sea turtles on this trip.
We then headed to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye for lunch. San Pedro is a larger city with numerous resorts and more people. San Pedro is just as run down and tired looking as Caye Caulker, but with none of the charm. I'm glad that we did not spend the money to go over on the water taxi. We were not impressed. And very happy to get back to our quiet, relaxing caye.
On our return trip, we stopped at the Coral Garden in the hope of seeing some manatee. We were in luck and one large one was resting on the sandy bottom. As I mentioned previously, there are rules and regulations regarding the observation of the manatee. We kept our distance and after a little while the gentle giant slowly ambled (if a manatee can amble) away.
Tomorrow: Into the Rainforest
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Day in the Water
One of the best days of my vaction was the one in which I went "Swimming with Sharks and Rays". I have a love/hate relationship with sharks...any large fish really. I love "Jaws", but I dont want to be eaten by one...or even slightly damaged. Anyway, I could not imagine my ever willingly entering water in which Sharks were swimming. But I did.
We signed up for an all day snorkeling trip with Salvadore. We would stop at three sites as well as San Pedro for lunch. Our first stop of the day was Shark and Ray Alley. Salvo and his mate threw some fish (shark) food into the water to bring the sharks up to the boat. Now, these are nurse sharks and they tend to be pretty docile, but they are still sharks. Most of the sharks were of a pretty good size and looked pretty menacing.
Anyway, after a few minutes, Salvo tells us to get our gear on and "slip gently into the water". And I'm thinking, "Slip gently into the water...is he crazy"? Anyway, I got my snorkel gear and carefully entered the water...I did not want to land on (or touch) anything with fins and large teeth.
I have to tell you, it really was the most amazing experience. The Sharks stayed close, but not so close as to be intimidating. And the Rays seem to be as curious about us are we are about them. They swoop by as if playing a game of tag and when you reach out to caress them they roll away. It is almost as if they want you to chase them. I tell you, this one snorkeling adventure was well worth the sunburn.
After Shark and Ray Alley we headed to Hol Chan marine preserve. In the native Mayan language Hol Chan means "deep channel". We saw numerous fishes and corals. It was really beautiful. We did not see any sea turtles on this trip.
We then headed to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye for lunch. San Pedro is a larger city with numerous resorts and more people. San Pedro is just as run down and tired looking as Caye Caulker, but with none of the charm. I'm glad that we did not spend the money to go over on the water taxi. We were not impressed. And very happy to get back to our quiet, relaxing caye.
On our return trip, we stopped at the Coral Garden in the hope of seeing some manatee. We were in luck and one large one was resting on the sandy bottom. As I mentioned previously, there are rules and regulations regarding the observation of the manatee. We kept our distance and after a little while the gentle giant slowly ambled (if a manatee can amble) away.
Tomorrow: Into the Rainforest
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment