Ninja Snorkellers

Because snorkelers lie on the water with their arms and legs spread and their face just under the surface, it isn’t actually possible to tell which people are snorkelling and which are dead.  Those turquoise blobs you see are live snorkelers and one has hot pink fins. 

It’s hard to tell while underwater, but we were covered head to toe. There were racks of colourful lycra bodysuits in every size and we were required to pick one and squeeze into it before heading into the water.  Because, you know, there are stingers in the water.  That’s jellyfish, in case you’re wondering.  Most are harmless, however a sting from a jellyfish known as the Irukandji can require emergency medical treatment.  What they don’t tell you is that the emergency medical treatment may save your life, no guarantee, but you’ll certainly suffer unbelievable pain. For days.  And days. And you could still die.  So no one argued about putting on the stinger suit. 

The suit had a hood and idiot mittens with thumbs.  And they don’t come in black.  Our choices were various colours from pale pink to hot pink, turquoise or blue.  Hans and I each chose a turquoise one and let me just say, if you think pulling up your wet bathing suit is hard, try pulling up a skintight body suit that’s still slightly damp from the previous day.  We wrestled ourselves into our suits which is much like stuffing a sausage casing with ground meat,  pulled on our hoods, and then Hans and I decided to each don a lifejacket.  I was glad I did because occasionally, the water was quite cool and the jacket made a huge difference in keeping me warm.

I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a hand touches my foot.  I swallowed a lot of water.  But I did see some fabulous things, some I’ve never seen before and even those that I had, these were bigger.  Enormous.  For example, we saw huge clams the size of a small car, with fat indigo lips that pulsed open and shut.  Vast areas of blue-tipped staghorn coral, the tips as pale blue as a robin’s egg and coming to life under the sun’s rays.  Large mystery fish, striped lengthwise in many colours and being groomed by tinier fish.  And schools of pencil thin silver and blue fish that flashed in the sun and disappeared as they abruptly changed direction.  It was absolutely magical.

This is the pontoon against which we docked, and where we picked up our snorkelling gear.

There’s a semi submersible sub that will take you around another part of the reef so you can look at the fish without getting wet.  We did this after our snorkel and there was a tiny little black and white striped fish that fitted itself against our window and drafted in the sub’s wake.  It’s little tail was vibrating a mile a minute and I swear it was enjoying itself. 

Oh, and the gourmet tea that I referred to in an earlier post?  It wasn’t.  But we had a pretty decent lunch:  thinly sliced grilled steak, chicken skewers, sausages, caramelized onions, and several salads.  Later in the afternoon they served chocolate cake and cheese and crackers with tea.  So it was okay.

We had a great time.  The snorkelling was terrific!  If we come here again, we’d do it in June – their winter – when there’s no danger of stingers and we can snorkel without wearing those hideous Ninja suits.

George the Groper.  This fish is HUGE.  You can read how big they get and this was just a little fellow, probably the size and weight of a man.  Very impressive.