Honu

On Tuesday, we headed down to our favorite snorkeling spot. There is usually an abundance of fish and, if you're lucky, a sea turtle. Most of the time, you have to swim out pretty far and against the current to get to the spot where they like to hang out.

When we got to the beach, we noticed a turtle about 50 feet off shore. Other people had noticed too and a large groups of snorkelers had congregated above him. Mark took Ava out for a looky-loo while I prepped Mia for her snorkel adventure.

Ava and Mark came back and Mia and I went out for our turn. She was complaining and crying about the mask and the sea water and her life jacket (incidentally, she was coming down with the stomach flu at the time but that is for another post). I snapped the mask on her face, shoved the snorkel in her mouth and pulled her out into the water, directly above the turtle. All complaining and discomfort ceased when she saw the turtle so close. We circled him for a while, then decided to swim closer to the reef where we could see a few fish before going back in.

As we approached the rocks, we caught glimpse of a second turtle, eating the red moss off the rocks. It was so amazing to see them up close. They are just as curious about us as we are of them. Mark and Ava went in for another turn and Mia, Lay, and I hiked up on the rocks above the reef where we stood less that 3 feet from the turtles for an hour.