Sun, 8 Jan
we decided to book a snorkel trip with Carlos Snorkel Tours today. after a bit of work in the early morning, we headed to Carlos' at 10am. Carlos, along with other local businesses in Caye Caulker were featured on a short segment on CNN last year. this was a great trip with several stops. first we snorkeled at Hol Chan, a Marine Reserve on the reef closer to San Pedro. i've snorkeled this sight several times before, and it never disappoints. it's truly a wonderful place to see a lot of large fish, since it is a reserve and there is no fishing allowed. it was Nicole's first snorkel experience; and she loved it.
me too ... i'm the one in the white shirt :)
first thing out of the boat we saw a Green Sea Turtle. i do love seeing the turtles :)
followed by this Spotted Eagle Ray. this was very special since you don't see these very often.
Carlos then coaxed the Green Moray Eel out from under his rock. you generally see just the tip of the eels nose. Carlos worked some 'magic' to get him to come all the way out and swim around the area. i was impressed !
those were definitely the highlights of my day. of course, we saw lots of other fishes as we snorkeled the area of Hol Chan. these big Black Groupers were particularly friendly, almost like a dog wanting to be petted. this one came right up to me.
a Hog Fish, identified by it's pointy dorsel fin. they are quite tasty to eat :)
an anemone
Nassau Grouper ... different from the Black Grouper
there were so many Rainbow Parrot Fish, even Carlos commented on it.
after this snorkel, we headed for San Pedro where we were able to walk around and have lunch. Nicole and i went to Fido's, where they had live music with plenty of warm sunshine.
we returned to the boat and headed out to Shark and Ray Alley. this is the place where you can get up close and personal with Nurse Sharks and Southern Stingrays. this site never disappoints either. as soon as they hear the boat motors, they are there.
Carlos was able to 'capture' a nurse shark and turn him on his back. this puts them into a trance-like state, so we could all feel the 'fine sand-paper' of it's skin.
Nurse Sharks do not have teeth as you can see. they are bottom feeders and have plates that crush their food. much like a Stingray. cute huh?
from here Carlos took us on an underwater tour that was very nice. then we got back in the boat and i thought we were headed for home; but we stopped once again at at Coral Gardens and snorkeled more. i forgot an extra camera battery so there are no more underwater photos for the day. :(
me too ... i'm the one in the white shirt :)
first thing out of the boat we saw a Green Sea Turtle. i do love seeing the turtles :)
followed by this Spotted Eagle Ray. this was very special since you don't see these very often.
Carlos then coaxed the Green Moray Eel out from under his rock. you generally see just the tip of the eels nose. Carlos worked some 'magic' to get him to come all the way out and swim around the area. i was impressed !
those were definitely the highlights of my day. of course, we saw lots of other fishes as we snorkeled the area of Hol Chan. these big Black Groupers were particularly friendly, almost like a dog wanting to be petted. this one came right up to me.
a Hog Fish, identified by it's pointy dorsel fin. they are quite tasty to eat :)
an anemone
Nassau Grouper ... different from the Black Grouper
there were so many Rainbow Parrot Fish, even Carlos commented on it.
after this snorkel, we headed for San Pedro where we were able to walk around and have lunch. Nicole and i went to Fido's, where they had live music with plenty of warm sunshine.
we returned to the boat and headed out to Shark and Ray Alley. this is the place where you can get up close and personal with Nurse Sharks and Southern Stingrays. this site never disappoints either. as soon as they hear the boat motors, they are there.
Carlos was able to 'capture' a nurse shark and turn him on his back. this puts them into a trance-like state, so we could all feel the 'fine sand-paper' of it's skin.
Nurse Sharks do not have teeth as you can see. they are bottom feeders and have plates that crush their food. much like a Stingray. cute huh?
from here Carlos took us on an underwater tour that was very nice. then we got back in the boat and i thought we were headed for home; but we stopped once again at at Coral Gardens and snorkeled more. i forgot an extra camera battery so there are no more underwater photos for the day. :(
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