2009-12-28 San Pedro, Hol Chan

2009-12-28 San Pedro, Hol Chan
Today was our first day of snorkeling. The wind has pocked up do there was a bit of waves out there today. We snorkeled at Hol Chan Marine Reserve just a few minutes from the beach. We where both amazed at the amount of fish and live coral on the reef. Belize has one of the longest barrier reefs inthe world, with Austrailas being a bit longer. The density and variety of fish was amazing. We also saw 2 sea turtles and several rays at the first stop. The reef had brain coralnand several large elk coral. The small bright fish really liked to hide out in them. Saw several small black fish with flourecent blue spots, my favorite. The portion inthe reserve we explores had the included the channel out o the reef so we had a spectacular 30 ft drop off to observe lots of coral and fish. Several people on board dived instead of snorkeled. I think we actually saw more stuff than the divers. We got back into the boat and headed for Shark & Ray Alley. A place that the fisherman use to clean fish and now has a large population of nurse sharks and rays. We saw multiple sharks, the largest maybe 5-6 ft long. We also saw several more rays and plenty of other fish. All in all a good trip. To avoid sea sickness Wendi took 2 regular Dramamine which wiped her out for the rest of the day which was spent longing around.