Snorkeling with the gang

Today, I went snorkeling with Susan, Jan and Bruce and Sondra and Randy, all guests at Casa Deja Blue.  Only Chris, Susan's partner, couldn't come because she didn't feel well.  It was fun and sometimes very zen.

Our first stop was El Cielo.  A shallow area known for it's starfish.  When I was there 3 years ago, I  wondered if the starfish were fake, put there for the benefit of tourists.  But nope.  Today, I saw that they were for real.  Our guide put his snorkel in the sand so we had a point of reference.  You could clearly see that the starfish was "walking" on the sandy bottom.  He explained that they are vegetarian.  They move to areas with weed and sponges to eat, then to sandy areas to hide and mate.  Very cool!

Then we went over Columbia reef.  I was cold and intent on warming up.  So I didn't snorkel again.  Instead I looked through the glass bottom on the boat.  We saw more fish and some coral.  But the highlight was definitely two sea turtles!  The shell of the biggest looked about 3 feet long!  Apparently they come up for air about every 6 hours.  Wow!

Then we anchored in a very shallow area where we could walk in the warm water while our crew made guacamole, ceviche, and pico de gallo for us.  Yum!

The boat ride back was very cool too.  The light was a bit dramatic because there was some sun and some storm clouds. Wonderful!  Especially combined with wind!

Photos:
Top the gang at the dinner table on the boat
Middle: Susan and me hanging in the shallow water
Bottom: Angel, our guide, blowing a very neat bubble, seen through the gass bottom of the boat