Another Day Another Toe Injury

We went swimming with a couple of Manta Rays today!

 Actually we went on a tour on a charter boat which was lots of snorkeling over the coral reefs, swimming with the Manta Rays and as a bonus we found some humpback whales which included a calf.

We didn't have to be at the tour pick up spot in front of the caravan park until 9am so we had pancakes for brekky. At 9:15am we piled into the bus down to the boat ramp and boarded the boat. We went a couple of kilometres north along the coast but inside the reef and dropped anchor and went for our first snorkel. We had to follow behind one of the staff but it was still a good swim as we spread out a fair way. Once again lots of interesting fish and different coral formations.

We all piled back onto the boat and headed further north past the reef so the water was a bit rougher. Spent about 15 minutes looking for a manta ray to swim with but there was only one found and, at this stage, another boat had swimmers around it. We waited another 5 minutes and then they cleared the water and we jumped in and swam across to it. It was a bit of a free for all as people really do not listen to instructions but we did swim with it for a fair while and Larry took the Go Pro so some video was obtained of the manta ray. After a while we gathered in a group and the second lot jumped in for their turn and we got back onto the boat. But as we had drifted to shore there were 5 people still in the water when the boat had to go further out to be safe. This group included Larry who then had to swim out to get on board, he was the last one back on the boat until we picked up the second group. We had just all got on board when another manta ray swam near us so back in the water we went for another swim.  They really are majestic the way they glide through the water even with the sucker fish hanging off them.

When we had had enough of swimming with them we headed south to get behind the reef and not long after we got under way we spotted some humpback whales. There were two adults and a very young calf who looked only slightly larger than a dolphin.  According to the crew he was probably only a day or so old as his fins weren't properly uncurled yet.  The calf kept us entertained with its attempts at tail slaps which really didn't disturb too much water. We had our fill of whale watching and headed further south and parked up to have some lunch. After that was consumed volunteers were called for another snorkel and about two thirds of us jumped back in for another go. This group didn't included Jenny who was feeling comfortable at this stage on a chair after lunch and the choppy water in the afternoon sea breeze didn't appeal.  In addition, she had managed to find the only bit of metal sticking out of the deck to stub her toe on (yes, yet another toe injury!) so was loathe to try and squeeze her foot back into her flippers.  Larry jumped in and off he went with the group through a 2 metre gap in the reef to get to a spot they call the cleaning station. This is where the small fish called wrass clean reef sharks of any parasites or bits of growth on them. Quite interesting to watch but they were a bit deep for the go pro to get clear footage. Back through the gap in the reef and Larry had an explore as the coral was very different to what we had seen before.

Eventually Larry and the group got back on board and we headed back to the boat ramp and arrived back just after 3pm. A great day had by Jenny and Larry and now back in the van replacing the lost fluids and feeling the effects of a long day in the sun even with us being sun smart.