Author: Bruce Morehouse (---.man.choiceone.net)
Date: 04-05-06 08:56
Elena,
In most cases it was going to the beach and just keep walking well past the sand to the rubble beaches. We'd then snorkel upwards of 2 hours at a time, which put even more territory before our eyes. Some of the most interesting fish were in the less obvious places, like the undercut part of the coral heads (where you have to stick your head into darkness to see anything) and in deeper water (slight negative bouyancy is a big help for these maneuvers).
We also went to Culebrita and snorkelled both on the beach where the boats land (W shore) and the beach to the NW. It was snorkelling in 20-30 feet of water that I saw the largest fish outside of the Luis Pena reserve (that Culebrita reef also had the most alive staghorn coral we saw). A big school of Spanish mackeral swam by. The big leatherback was on the NW beach of Culebrita (and one layed her eggs at night on Flamenco, though we missed that spectacle). I've never seen such a dense population of stoplight parrotfish as off the reef on the western side of the NW Culebrita beach. There were also a few large scrawled file fish. There were conch in the grass too. Otherwise, that beach wasn't strong for snorkelling novelty (but it was, to my opinion, the most beautiful I saw).
We picked our beaches based primarily on surf and wind direction [aiming for the lee], reputation, shade availability, and novelty, sand was not a criterium. I had a hooded 2mm neoprene vest that protected my bald head and back from the sun. With it, and a liberal dosing of SPF 50, I was able to stay in the water for hours without getting cold. It looks a bit goofy, but I sure wish I'd had it in my previous visits to tropical waters. Knowing that I could stay in the water forever, I would just float and watch one spot for extended periods. So much more became visible by just being in one spot. Fish behavior changed and I was able to notice more.
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