Snorkel anyone?

On Veteran's Day, Scott and Camille were off so we decided to go snorkeling. The only other snorkeling we've done was in Castaway Cay on our Disney Cruise. That was a little more of a controlled environment than this. I think they call this place "the fish bowl". As you can see, the beach is all rocks. It was a little unnerving thinking about putting on your gear, getting knocked around by waves. You couldn't really go out past the waves to gear up because it's all reef and you're not supposed to stand on the reef. There was, however, a section of rock that jutted into the water that was level and had a nice carpeting of moss (it really did feel like carpeting, it wasn't all slimy like I thought it would be) and the edge of it dropped off past the waves. This made a nice launching location. We still had to time it just right with the waves. Sometimes the waves weren't bad at all, then they would pick up a bit and you'd get tossed all over. Anyways, we sat on the edge of this reef and got geared up and slipped into the water. My heart was racing because I do have a fear of things in the water. And wouldn't you know it, the first thing that happened . . . I slice my hand on a piece of shell or something on that ledge. So now I'm paranoid that my blood is going to attract sharks! Go figure. I kept my fingers clamped down on the cut as much as possible to keep that from happening.

This is Camille before going out. She has the same apprehension I do about the ocean. But she was a trooper and made it in.

After Camille and I figured out how to get our masks from fogging up we saw lots of fish. We were hoping to see some turtles and octopus, but no such luck. Scott and I saw some really big blue fish (really big being about 2 ft. long and fat). We saw a lot of smaller fish like the bright yellow ones and some striped ones, lots of see urchins and coral. It was kind of windy so I think it was stirring it up a bit. It wasn't as clear as I thought it would be. But still clear enough to see the bottom. I wish I had a waterproof camera to show you what we saw but no such luck. Maybe Santa will get me the "Little Tykes" camera that is able to go under water! I better write him a letter and tell him before it's too late!

Here's Camille after snorkeling in her triumphant stance!