At the end of the pier is the boat I went out on for the day.
Humpback whales.
Manta rays.
Reef shark in for a cleaning.
Lemon sharks in the shallows.
Tuesday 27th.
All 10 of us slept pretty well in the room. We had breakfast and got organized and then walked to the tour place so we could pay for our glass bottom boat tour (had Damien had recommended to us about yesterday and pre-booked for us). When we got there I asked Damien if it was too late to change my mind. I was thinking about the tour and decided I was more interested in the Eco Day Tour which offered the chance of swimming with manta rays (I really wanted to swim with whale sharks, but it was the wrong season). He told me to go for it.
All 10 of us slept pretty well in the room. We had breakfast and got organized and then walked to the tour place so we could pay for our glass bottom boat tour (had Damien had recommended to us about yesterday and pre-booked for us). When we got there I asked Damien if it was too late to change my mind. I was thinking about the tour and decided I was more interested in the Eco Day Tour which offered the chance of swimming with manta rays (I really wanted to swim with whale sharks, but it was the wrong season). He told me to go for it.
I
boarded the boat with 21 other people and four crew and we powered
out to the inner reef. They gave us all wetsuits and equipment and we
had a 40 minute snorkel around some excellent coral with lots of the
usual colourful reef fish. The water was cool but it was colder when
you got out and in the wind. We were told to take off the top part of
our suit and I put on my fleece which helped. Then they gave us a
snack while we sailed to the outer reef in search of manta rays. They
sent up a spotter plane to find them. As we were powering along we
came across three adult humpback whales and a calf, along with four
or five dolphins. We stayed and watched them for a while and then got
the call that they had located a couple of rays. We were divided into
two groups and told to suit up and get ready. The instructions were
to stay together, follow the leader and stay behind the ray. The
first group went and then my group. Both groups got two chances to
swim with them. The first time they were quite deep and swimming with
the current. The second time they were shallower and swimming against
the current. I found that hard to keep up with them as they moved
through the water. Great experience though! They are enormous and
incredibly graceful as they 'fly' through the water.
After
that we sailed through very rough water and the boat got soaked as we
sailed back to the inner reef. They took us to an area of sea grass
where dozens of green turtles were feeding.
Then
we had lunch before our third and final snorkel. This was at a large
'cabbage' coral where reef sharks come in to be cleaned by cleaner
wrasses. We saw two sharks laying there and being serviced with their
mouths open. We swam around for a half hour before boarding the boat
again. I was quite chilled by this point, but we were near to the
wharf.
When
we got back I walked around the beach in the sun warming up. Then I
went back and bought the USB key with today's photos. After that I
heard about a shark sanctuary where reef sharks bear their young. I
walked about two kilometres along the beach and saw about twenty of
them swimming in the shallows. They were about two metres long. I
also saw a couple of stingrays that were in the shallows too. They
were a tan colour with blue dots on them.
Then
I hiked back along the beach to the town where I watched the sun set
before heading back to the hostel. Damien made us a pasta dinner with
leftover sausage salami and bacon in the sauce. It was very good. We
sat around and swapped stories about our tours.
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