Friday, February 21:

The best fish picture of the trip

We hopped off the tour bus at Xel-Ha (pronounced Shell-Ha), and prepared for a snorkeling excursion. I had never really snorkeled before, so I was excited and a little nervous. Jason and I were armed with 2 disposable underwater cameras and our snorkeling equipment, so we set off to find some interesting fish. The yellow and black striped fish were the most friendly, and the schools would swim around us without being afraid. It was very strange do be swimming among groups of fish, but I really enjoyed it.

Jason took this rather amusing picture of me as I pointed out some fish to him. I was surprised at how well some of these pictures turned out. We weren't sure what we were going to get.

Snorkeling Chrystie

Snorkeling Jason

Jason had been snorkeling a few times before, so he didn't need the life jacket that I opted for. He had fun diving down to find more fish and see crabs walking along the sand. Xel-Ha is kind of a snorkeling resort. It's a natural lagoon that is being preserved, based on the entrance fee and rental of equipment. You aren't allowed to wear sunblock, unless it is biodegradable, and they give you small samples if you don't have any. For people who have never snorkeled before, this is a really good place to learn since the lagoon doesn't have big waves.

We saw a ton of different kinds of fish. Most of them hid near rocks, so it was a little bit of work hunting them down. There were many colorful ones that were to shy to have their pictures taken. I enjoyed spotting them though!

Hiding fish

I liked this fish duo. Very pretty colors! The blue fish were very vibrant in the light at times. The fins looked almost neon, although I couldn't really capture that on film.

We swam away from the rocks towards the deeper area where we heard there were larger fish. On our way over, we saw three stingrays, all of which were a few feet in diameter. This is the best picture we got, which I touched up in Photoshop to make it more apparent. They looked pretty cool gliding along the ocean floor. If you want good underwater pictures, you have to snorkel when it's sunny or have artificial light with you. I think that's why the stingray didn't turn out. He was too far below the water for the light to reach him.

Stingray

A school of big fish

Next we swam through a big school of large fish. You can't tell from the picture, but they were about 3 feet long. I liked how they just swam by us peacefully. They didn't seem to care that we were around. Jason felt nervous swimming next to some of the fish since they had some teeth, but it didn't bother me. I thought it seemed so amazing to be swimming with them that I didn't think to feel scared.

However, this large fish swam right by me and startled me a little bit. I have no idea what it is, but it is an odd looking thing. I think it was about 4 feet long, but it was hard to tell. It passed me rather quickly.

We headed away from the large fish, towards another outcropping of rocks and saw lots of blue fish hunting for food. Then a bunch of small fish swam out from an alcove, and this large fish came out behind them. Someone on the shore said it was a really big Grouper, so I'll take his word for it. I only got a picture of the back of him, but it was a big fish.

Pretty blue fish

4-5 foot Grouper

This is probably the worst scanned picture of the group, but I wanted to show the colorful parrot fish. It's much prettier in the water than in the picture. It was very elusive though, so I couldn't get a better picture of it. It's a magenta, orange, sea green, and blue fish. I only know it's a parrot fish from a sign we saw on the shore.

After not enough time snorkeling, we had to turn in our equipment and get back on the bus to Playa Del Carmen. We passed a bunch of very loud Macaws on our way out of the park. They were fighting and squawking. I think I like the quiet fish better. The birds were pretty though.

Macaws

Fighting Macaws

And as we left the reserve, we saw another of the iguanas sunning himself on a rock. I'll miss those crazy lizards! We got back on the bus to Playa Del Carmen for our last night in Mexico.

We ate dinner at a restaurant with a Mariachi band and an interesting atmosphere. The band was good, but the food wasn't, nor was the service. There was a funny woman in her 50s who was drunk and kept yelling about how she loved those Mariachi boys. It made for an interesting evening. We stayed out a bit in the center of town, knowing we'd be missing Playa Del Carmen after we went home.

Blurry Mariachi band

>>Next stop: Cancun and home again

>>Back to Map