09/26/09

This afternoon, I went snorkeling with Kyle, one of the missionaries here. We just went behind the new Soncenter building which is just down the street a little. I was excited because my brother bought a snorkel and goggles for me this year. I had told him how I liked going out last year and had to borrow some goggles. Unfortunately, we don't have the best coral behind the school, but it was still a lot of fun. The shore of the ocean is a made up of a few feet of exposed coral. It's a little like walking on uneven concrete. This portion doesn't have much growth as it gets exposed to the air when the tide is out. This crust around the edge doesn't go very far and then abruptly stops. When we went out yesterday, the tide was in, so there was about a foot of water over the coral. We walked out to the edge, and jumped in. The depth off of the ledge must be around 8 to ten feet. I couldn't touch, but when I look down, I can tell it wasn't too deep.

Looking into the water and seeing the fish was incredible. There were all sorts of tropical fish swimming around. Mostly little fish, but very colorful. Some were blue with orange tails. I had also seen a black fish with yellow stripes and a blue fin. There were a lot of beautiful fish and some strange plant life. I remember seeing something growing on the vertical edge of the reef which looked similar to an octopus/jellyfish. It was a lot of fun to just relax and float on the surface of the warm water and watch the marine life. It was strange how the water was incredibly warm on the surface, but about four feet down there was a threshold where the temperature was much cooler. Not cold by any means, but a significant change in such a short distance. I wish I had some pictures to share. I guess if you want to know...you'll just have to visit.