Spectacular Snorkeling

That's really the only way to describe it....spectacular. I so wish I had had an underwater camera on Saturday when we went to West Bay (Tabyana Beach) with friends Kristin, Debi, Bob and their daughter, Emily. We started out at Infinity Bay Resort and swam and snorkeled straight out over the reef. It was a beautiful, clear day, the best kind for seeing the most color. And boy! did we ever see a lot of colorful fish!! We also saw some of the largest parrotfish I've ever seen, up to 3 or 4 feet in length. I had never seen an adult Midnight parrotfish (navy blue, as you might imagine, with vivid blue streaks along its back), or an adult Rainbow parrotfish, who is a rather garishly painted creature with an orangey/gold head and front half of the body, back half green, orangey fins edged in green, greenish lips outlined with a darker gray or black, a bit of blue splashed over the eyes. (Think Andy Warhol.)

We also saw several large  black and yellow French Angel fish and the brilliant blue and yellow Queen Angel fish, just beautiful. There were lots of the blue and yellow striped grunts, yellowtail snappers, blue tangs, younger yellow tangs, dark blue damselfish with brilliant blue dots, many types of black and white  or black and yellow butterfly fish, a black and white spotted trunkfish, Sargent Majors with their black and white stripes and a smudge of yellow on their backs. silvery red squirrelfish. There were many, many small fish in blue, purple, yellow, and multi-colored hues. So much fun to just hover over the coral and watch the fish swim.

Another highlight of the day was the large sea turtle. Bob chased him and we chased Bob. After that, I headed back in. I happened to look down and realize the water was incredibly deep and dark blue and then up and back at the beach and could not believe how far out we were (read: how far out I was!!). My first thought: "uh, oh. I have a long swim back." But I made it without any problems. Thank goodness for fins, though, otherwise I might still be out there!