Snorkelling

Yesterday i went on an official snorkelling trip.  I was pretty excited because we were going to 3 of the most promising sites on the island, and the island is a great snorkelling destination!  And the company i went with came highly recommended, i think it's called mystic adventures.

There were some pretty cool parts! 
The boat ride was a very nice way to see the island differently.

We started snorkelling in an area called "sky" because of the colour of the water, a beautiful turquoise!  There, the highlights were the starfish.  They were in the sandy areas, about 15 in all.  The water was shallow enough that we could go to the bottom, and were allowed to pick them up, but not take them out of the water, they are alive. The one i had in my hand was a bright orange.  Very cool!

Then, we went to "Columbia shallow". The shallow part of a big reef that goes to 100' plus.  It was pretty neat.  The coral was varied and we saw a couple of turtles and sting rays, and several fish, including parrot fish, my favourite.  But by then end of that part, i was soooooo cold!  The reef has a strong current, so all you do is drift. No work required, no heat generated...

Then we went to "palancar" reef.  I was so cold, that i didn't go in the water.  Which is ok because visibility was poor and everyone got out after only about 5 minutes.  Because were were promised 3 snorkelling sites, we then stopped at "Casablanca".  Not much to see.  I swam against teh current to get/stay warm.

Unfortunately, i've been spoiled though.  I scuba dove here, in Cozumel about 20 years ago.  It was amazing!!!!!!The schools of colourful fish blew me away!  Unfortunately, fishing and several hurricanes have reduced their populations.  So although there are some fish, and they are very pretty.  It just isn't the same....

Photos (not mine, from Trip Advisor and google):
1) a stingray, much like the ones we saw.  about 3' wide.
2) a starfish just like the one i had in my hand
3)  a parrot fish, like the ones i saw