I started the day with yoga on the beach with Andrea. It really is a good way to loosen things up for the day.
After yet another great breakfast we got ready for the snorkeling trip to the Blue Hole of Cousteau fame. It is about eight miles north of the island. It seems that Cousteau, back in the fifties, couldn’t get his dive boat into the hole so he dynamited a section of the coral. Nowadays that’s a definite no-no but back then nobody saw the irony. Or at least they didn’t point it out. The hole is extremely deep and very popular for divers. Ninety-five feet below the surface is a cave-like ring full of stalagmites and stalactites. The surface ring has a diameter of thirty to forty feet and it is around the rim that we spent the day snorkeling. It is an incredible place to dive and has been designated a World Heritage site. So I guess that will protect it from any further dynamiting. I found this great picture of the hole on the web.
It took about an hour to circle the hole. We saw many of the fish that we had seen closer to the island but in greater numbers. There were a number of groups of small squid and feathery cone-shaped Christmas tree worms. There were a few fishing boats outside the rim (not allowed inside) indicating it is a popular spot to fish though some appeared to be within the “not allowed” range. By the end of the circuit I was feeling cold and was glad to climb back into the boat.
Back on the island we had a fish salad and chicken salad for lunch to satisfy the cravings.
Later that afternoon we went for a kayak and snorkel with Tzak. This time I took a single kayak and headed out towards the western end of the island. I saw a barracuda, lovely school of little squid, many varieties of coral and lionfish (that Tzak hunts down and kills because they are non-native predators). We got back from our snorkel around the same time as the afternoon Blue Holers.
After a quick wash-down in the outside beach shower we settled into happy hour with gin and tonics.
Supper tonight was curried chicken with rice and zucchini. Dessert was a delicious home-made cheesecake.
Spent the evening chatting with the Oregon ladies and skipped the night snorkel. I was sorry I did when I heard they saw a turtle (with a missing foot).