Grand Cayman
There were taxis everywhere listing the various beaches and fares to get you there.
"Which one has snorkeling?" we asked, and she points to one on her sign. $5 each. "Fine, take us there."
She has a minivan full of customers and we're the first to get off.
"Here you are," she says as we exit and hand her the money. "Just swim out about 100 yards to the reef."
Oops.
It's a public beach and there is nothing here but sand and a few trees for shade. Specifically, there are no lounge chairs. We've become used to them but hey, it's no problem to spread one towel on the sand and use the other to dry off. We decide we should take turns swimming since there's no one else around that we know who can keep an eye on our things, so off I go.
I can see the darker area in the water where I'll find the reef and well, it looks a little further out than 100 yards. Oh. And because in some of the other areas where we snorkeled we found we didn't really need our fins, we didn't bring them to this beach. Too bad. This is the one place where we could really have used them.
I swim out for awhile and see nothing but sandy bottom. I take my bearings from shore so I know I'm heading in the right direction, but I can't see the darker reef from where I'm swimming. I also can't see Hans but that's because my swimming goggles, while they have some prescription in them, aren't nearly strong enough to focus that far away. I swim on a bit but I lose my nerve and decide to head back.
Hans heads out and I watch him carefully from shore. He's heading right for the reef and eventually, I see he's reached it. Since he stays there for awhile I figure there must be something worth seeing. A few other snorkellers head out his way and for awhile I see several bobbing heads in the distance. They are smarter - they have fins.
When he gets back I decide to try again, encouraged by the fact that there is actually a reef out there and that he saw some interesting fish.
I've swum much further doing laps in swimming pools, but it's different in the ocean where there's no real way to gauge your distance. Eventually I see the ocean bottom gradually change and I know I'm getting closer. It's funny, when I get there the water seems so shallow but it's not. It's way over my head but it's so clear it brings everything much closer. There was beautiful coral and colourful fish but in the end, the snorkelling was better in Bonaire.
"Which one has snorkeling?" we asked, and she points to one on her sign. $5 each. "Fine, take us there."
She has a minivan full of customers and we're the first to get off.
"Here you are," she says as we exit and hand her the money. "Just swim out about 100 yards to the reef."
Oops.
It's a public beach and there is nothing here but sand and a few trees for shade. Specifically, there are no lounge chairs. We've become used to them but hey, it's no problem to spread one towel on the sand and use the other to dry off. We decide we should take turns swimming since there's no one else around that we know who can keep an eye on our things, so off I go.
I can see the darker area in the water where I'll find the reef and well, it looks a little further out than 100 yards. Oh. And because in some of the other areas where we snorkeled we found we didn't really need our fins, we didn't bring them to this beach. Too bad. This is the one place where we could really have used them.
I swim out for awhile and see nothing but sandy bottom. I take my bearings from shore so I know I'm heading in the right direction, but I can't see the darker reef from where I'm swimming. I also can't see Hans but that's because my swimming goggles, while they have some prescription in them, aren't nearly strong enough to focus that far away. I swim on a bit but I lose my nerve and decide to head back.
Hans heads out and I watch him carefully from shore. He's heading right for the reef and eventually, I see he's reached it. Since he stays there for awhile I figure there must be something worth seeing. A few other snorkellers head out his way and for awhile I see several bobbing heads in the distance. They are smarter - they have fins.
When he gets back I decide to try again, encouraged by the fact that there is actually a reef out there and that he saw some interesting fish.
I've swum much further doing laps in swimming pools, but it's different in the ocean where there's no real way to gauge your distance. Eventually I see the ocean bottom gradually change and I know I'm getting closer. It's funny, when I get there the water seems so shallow but it's not. It's way over my head but it's so clear it brings everything much closer. There was beautiful coral and colourful fish but in the end, the snorkelling was better in Bonaire.
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Krista