Today we're looking forward to an afternoon snorkeling adventure! Since we have to get tendered in to the dock by 12:30, we planned a late breakfast and will skip lunch. We met our friends Cheryl and Roy for breakfast and enjoyed another delightful conversation with them. They have two snorkeling vests they're loaning us for our afternoon boat trip -- very nifty inflatable vests that we'll definitely need to invest in once we get home!
After breakfast we relaxed for a while then made certain we had all our equipment packed up -- snorkels, vests, masks, sun screen, towels, sunglasses, visors, waterproof tote, coverups, and the list goes on. We're a bit concerned because our tour begins at 12:45, and we have to be back for the last tender to the ship before 3:30. (Fortunately we made it back by 3:15, so our worries were in vain.)
We met our tour at the dock as planned. It was composed of four other couples, us, and our tour guide and his son. We boarded our covered boat and headed into the open water beyond the barrier reef. Once past the reef the water was very choppy and deep. We tied up to another boat and started watching for sharks. The water was clear enough to really see them -- we first saw quite a few black-tipped sharks with their pilot fish swimming beneath them or attached to them. Then our guide moved the boat to another area and tied up again where we could see a couple of lemon sharks -- they were much bigger! Since neither of us is super comfortable in deep water, we opted out of going in with the sharks!
Bora Bora from a distance
Dock where we boarded the boat for our snorkeling adventure
View from the snorkeling boat
Black-tipped sharks
More black-tipped sharks!
The sky began getting darker with rain clouds, so we stored everything in the storage hatch and headed back inside the bay to snorkel with the stingrays. They were in much shallower water -- about 6 feet deep -- and were very friendly. Our guide started feeding them to lure them closer to the boat. Denny and I both went in to experience being with them -- he kept his snorkel on to watch them swim around under the water while I ditched mine after a few minutes and enjoyed staying close to our guide who led the rays right up to me to pet and talk to. They're very soft with slight bumps on their backs and whip-like tails. They came right up to me, sometimes more than one at a time, and practically kissed me -- what an awesome experience with wild creatures! For some reason we didn't take photos of the sting rays -- I guess we were too excited.
Our third stop of the afternoon, with several of us keeping an eye on the time, was a coal reef in fairly deep water. We got in the water again -- the water in both locations was delightfully warm -- and snorkeled while enjoying the multi-colored fish all around us. I just floated away -- literally! When I checked above the water I was much father away from the boat than I expected. Fortunately our guide had sent his son out with an orange life preserver ring attached to the boat by a long rope. I worked my way over to it and pulled myself hand over hand back closer to the boat. There were several people who did the same drifting I did, so the ring got a workout!
Denny after swimming with the rays
We said good-bye to the aquatic life and motored back to the dock. We were on a crowded tender back to the ship, but we made it on time! We enjoyed the room's shower and tub while we cleaned up from our exciting afternoon on the water before drinks and dinner.
Tonight our reservation is at the Italian restaurant, Toscana's. (A couple months prior to the cruise we were able to make dinner reservations at the four specialty restaurants onboard -- one reservation at each. Once onboard the ship it's almost impossible to get additional reservations, however we can order dinner from one of the restaurants and have it served in our room.) Our meal was delightful and filling. I had chocolate ravioli for dessert -- small but rich and wonderful!
After listening to some music we went to bed early after our busy day.
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