Reefs

Our second day at Lizard Island was beautiful – sunny, picture perfect. We immediately headed for the beach in front of our suite, and snorkeled around the point – amazing! Giant clams, 4-5 feet long, all living, as well as smaller burrowing clams, embedded in rock, with their bright teal and purple and blue mouths opening and closing. Fields of colorful coral, blue starfish, waving anemones. We took the waterproof camera to give it a “dry run” (pun intended) before we went on a full-day dive trip the next day. Later, we hiked to a ridge right above where we were snorkeling to see it from above.

The following day we were among a horde of folks going on the full-day trip to the Outer Reef, one of the reasons Lizard Island is so popular. Only an hour going out by boat (a rough hour, though, where I spent most of the time looking at the horizon from the back of the boat). We stopped at two sites that day – No Name Reef, and then Cod Hole. Apparently Lizard Island is allowed to go there twice a week, and live-aboards only once a week, so the sites are unspoiled. Ken and about 10 people went diving, and I and about a dozen people went snorkeling. Both were utterly amazing. The colors! The fish! The vegetation! Really, words cannot describe. Unfortunately, we learned that morning that our new camera bit the dust. Luckily, the resort was filming throughout, above and underwater so we will have some stills and video to share later.

If I could snorkel like this all the time, I wouldn’t ever have to learn how to dive.