Northwest Day Five: Coral Bay

The day at Coral Bay was the most exciting part of the trip for me because it was so much different than any experience I've ever had before. I splurged and went on a 5 hour Marine Ecotour and I'm so happy I did!

We got on the boat at 8am and they took us out to the first snorkel drop. I'm really not a water person and I've never snorkeled before so I pretty nervous, but I didn't want my fear to hold me back from the experience of a lifetime. Regardless, the first time in the water I started hyperventilating. But the more time I was in the water, I started to relax and really enjoy it. But then, they pulled us out of the water suddenly and I learned there had been a 3.5 meter tiger shark that swam right between us and the boat. And to think I was just swimming leisurely back!

Then it came to our highlight for the tour: swimming with manta rays. The first one was incredibly fast and people were sprinting through the water to try to keep up. But then it slowed down to feed and I got three really great runs of snorkeling above it. So fascinating! They reckon it was a male with a 3m wingspan, which is huge for a male! Watching him, I totally forgot about being afraid and I just swam!

Next we went into the turtle sanctuary and watched them pop their heads out of the water. From the top level of the boat we also saw a humpback dolphin and some other people saw a dugong. On our way to our next snorkeling site we had a really great lunch. The last snorkel was amazing! There was so much to see for marine life and the coral was really varied and colorful. So many different beautiful and intriguing fish. There were quite a few turtles and I literally could have spent hours watching them, especially feeding. They're just fascinating!

After the tour and a quick rest, we wanted to snorkel some more. The tour shop was out of adult snorkels so I used a kids' baby pink one. So cute! :) We swam out a couple hundred yards from the beach and let the current carry us along a reef. Then we joined everyone else and relaxed at the beach for the rest of the afternoon. We had a fun night making the meal and eating around on camp stools at our campsite, hanging out at the pub, and looking at the beautiful moon and stars while walking along the beach. Overall, it was a fantastic day!