Our full day at Cape Caulker was taken up with an optional 6.5 hour snorkeling trip $70 US / NZ $ 84 out to Hol-Chan Marine Reserve / Shark and Ray Alley where there not lots of colourful fish as claimed but had I suppose some interesting reef formations. Having snorkelled in New Zealand, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, off Ohau in Hawaii, off Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, in the Galapagos Island this was average.
 
We had 3 snorkels and the whole day was very much time structure. The first 45 min snorkel was merely to get us use to the water and snorkeling again or for the first timers an introduction. This was outside the reserve so the marine life was scare.
 
The second was with the nurse sharks and sting rays and literally we stayed with a few metres of the boat. This first Caribbean snorkeling trip will be memorable for swimming so close to the nurse sharks plus the majestic southern sting rays. Yes, I was a bit apprehensive at first seeing the nurse sharks so close to the boat plus so many of them. But this was soon put to rest.
 
For the final snorkel we had to stay in our 3 groups to see the fishes and just one turtle which I managed to get a few photos of. Not like the Galapagos where I was able to follow the turtles for quite a while by myself.
 
Wish Willy for an all you can eat buffet for US $20 / NZ$ 24. Lobster galore and you don’t want to know how many I ate!

The underwater photos taken with my Olympus are at the end of this entry.