Snorkeling

Snorkeling

We have our good friends Wayne and Carol Flora from Arkansas visiting for a couple weeks.  We took them  snorkeling with some other folks from the complex the other day.  (It is not possible to take many pictures since we do not have a camera that works in the water so this entry will be somewhat limited.)

We went to a place called Hol Chan which is a Belize National Reserve.  You pay the guide $30US to take you out to the reserve.  You then pay the park an additional $10US to snorkel or dive there.  The rangers are in boats waiting to welcome you to the site.

Our guide was amazing.  He has been diving professionally since he was twelve years old.  He knew the names of all of the fish as well as their habits and how they change colors and characteristics to protect themselves. 

We saw hundreds of different species of fish as well as a lot of conch.

We threw chum in the water to attract the sharks.

These sharks are familiar with people being in the water and are friendly.  All of us got to hold a shark in our arms.  The one that I was holding was about ten feet long.  All of a sudden he decided he wanted to be some place else.  He rolled over 360 degrees and flipped his tail--he was off and swimming away.  There was no way I could hold on to him.  He was way too strong.

We also got to swim with, hold, and pet the rays.  These are what they call “Southern” rays and apparently not dangerous—hopefully.

It was a real "WOW" day with hundreds of species of fish, beautiful coral, and playing with the sharks and rays.