Snorkel, snorkel, snorkel

Our first venture into the water did not have a promising beginning. The water was cooler than expected and there was a lot of garbage. We went to the left of the buoy to check out the drop-off area. We finally got out far enough to see some nice coral. Not a whole lot of fish but some interesting species. Saw (and avoided) only one jellyfish. Lasted less than an hour before the cold seeped in and we started back. On the way in I spotted a nice peacock flounder and then a moray eel. Yes!! Doreen was annoyed that she’d missed them.
It was quite cool when we exited the water. The facilities for rinsing gear/bodies was woefully inadequate so we headed back to the room to use the shower to rinse off and warm up. (The hot water here is really hot.) Later we did some beachcombing before enjoying the outdoor barbeque. Tried to get some sun by the pool after lunch but the wind picked up and the sun disappeared. No second snorkel this afternoon.
We got our second snorkel in on Friday morning (joined by Sandy and Laurie) and it was even better. We did the same area but there was a lot less garbage in the water. But the wind changed and, by afternoon, the beach was red-flagged because of the jellyfish–several people had been stung earlier. It’s warmed up nicely so I sunned by the pool while Doreen and Sandy went beach combing.
The beach was still red-flagged on Saturday morning so we walked around the corner to the next cove and snorkeled there. No problem with jellyfish but hardly worth the effort. In the afternoon we snorkeled the area in front of the pool and found a great patch of coral and some interesting fish. Much better than the morning snorkel.
On Sunday morning we decided to try the area to the right of the buoy. On the way out, Doreen spotted a fairly large octopus and we watched it for awhile. Once we got across the boat channel, the visibility cleared up. The coral was great and, as the guy in the dive shop had said, there were lots of big fish. Then, to top things off, I drifted over the edge of the coral and there were two lionfish–the first time we’ve seen lionfish outside an aquarium. What a thrill!!