A tale of two reef (trips)

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We went on two reef trips, very different. The first was a small boat, a refurbished pearl-lugger built in 1954, with 13 passengers and a crew of 6. The second was a larger, faster boat built for reef trips, with 120 passengers and a crew of 6.

The first trip was on the 28th. The boat goes to the inner reef, where both coral and fish are not as impressive. Jershon and I signed up for the introductory scuba lesson. I don't know if lesson is really the right word -- mostly they hold your hand (1 dive master, 2 students) and don't bring you down much deeper than you could go in a swimming pool. However, it was surprising how nerve-racking it was at first -- during the first half of the swim, all I could think was "I'm never going to do this again." Partly that was because I couldn't get my ears to equalize, and partly because I couldn't relax my breathing. However. It did get better eventually (not my ears though) and we saw a giant clam, clownfish, a sea cucumber, a sea squirt, a sea star, and lots of fish.

Then it was over and I spent the rest of the time trying to convince Silmarien that I could keep her from going under and she should come in the water. I don't know why Silmarien wouldn't snorkel, seeing as she has done it in teh Mediterranean, but there you have it. After about an hour, we had lunch, then went to a second reef location. They brought us on a tiny inflatable motor boat out to a tiny island -- literally 20 feet across and 6 inches out of the water, all white sand (no palm tree though). We swam back to the boat and snorkelled along the way (Silmarien got a ride, then they took a glass-bottom bucket and gave her a private tour, which she loved!) I saw a sea-turtle! First it was just resting on the bottom. I came up to tell Silmarien how to find it. When I went back down, it was swimming up to breathe.

Jershon did a second intro dive (just him and the dive master) and they saw a manta ray and a shark in a cave.

Then we headed back in to land. They shut off the engines and hoisted the sails (Jershon got to help a bit) and we sailed part way back. So now we know why people use engines -- sailing is really slow!! However, while we sailed they told us the whole colorful history of the boat, arrrrrgh!

The second trip (which was just Art and Silmarien and me) was on a very fast boat, and it went farther out. The coral was much larger and more extensive, and maybe brighter. Art thought there were more fish. Karen thought there were more people (packed like sardines in the ocean). Silmarien consented to do a bit of actual snorkelling, and also got towed around a bit on a life preserver and looking through a mask, which she enjoyed alot. Also, they had a entertainer named Elvis (who'd a thunk it?) on the way back.

In conclusion ... both trips were fun in different ways. The reef really is beautiful and imposing, so go see it!

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