 Muiron Islands
Category: Divesite (By Admin on Wednesday, October 20, 2004)
Was there: Jan 2003
Normally you expect divers to see more underwater than snorklers, because you're "in" the action instead of "above" it. After having done our first dive, we all had a break and a bite on the boat, just off one of the Muiron Islands, where turtles come to lay their eggs. We could see the trails in the sand where the turtles had been the night before, and we were peering into the water, to try and find turtles under the surface. We had had a nice dive and had seen some nice stuff, but apart from the beautiful corals, we didn't see anything spectacular. So after the snack we jumped in the water to fill the break with some snorkelling, before we would go out for our second dive.
We drifted off a little bit, just floating two metres above the reef, when all of a sudden Gwen spotted two whitetips in the sand. All exited she tried to signal me, but I was looking the other way to a blue spotted stingray. When she tried to call me she disturbed the whitetips who took off in my direction. I turned around and came eye to eye with the sharks. The sped off. All exited we snorkelled back to the boat, when all of a sudden two blacktips came from the opposite direction, gently gliding by us. Wow! Already we had seen more in 10 minutes, just floating under the surface than we had seen on a 45 minute dive! The guys on the boat weren't going to believe us! We came back to the boat, and just when we tried to get onboard, I saw fins skimming the surface! I shouted "Gwen! dolphins!!" and we both put our heads just in time under water to see a pod swim by. Some people onboard hadn't even seen the dolphins go by.
Nothing could ruin the day for us anymore. The fact that, besides some very nice corals and a big potato cod, we didn't see the big stuff anymore, didn't care. It made us realise that despite the fact that we always try to find locations where we can go diving, we should not underestimate the snorkelling one can do in some places. Always keep your mask handy! |