Snorkelling Tent Reef

On the boat

Last  night we all went to a place called Scouts and got to mingle with most of the class who has now arrived as well as many upper semester students. It was a great time and I think our class is going to be a great one! I also tried the drink that the island is known for called Saba Spice which is rum based and it was delicious! Then we all walked back to the dorms and crashed because today we had a huge adventure!

Gorgeous schools of fish

Today we went to a place called tent reef and snorkelled with a dive company called Sea Saba. There were thirteen of us plus one diver who jumped onto the boat where we were briefed and set free. From the moment we jumped in we were surrounded by fish, this reef had one of the highest volumes of fish that i’ve ever seen. I was the first one in the water and my call of turtle quickly had everyone else jumping in as quickly as they could. This reef did not disappoint! We saw tons of fish including groupers, grey angelfish, barracuda, trumpetfish, tarpons, and many many other types of reef fish. We also saw about four turtles ranging from very tiny to adult, but megaturtle (a giant turtle that sometimes shows up) was elusive. We also saw tons of coral including my favourite (dendrogyra cylindrus) and it all looked very healthy which was great to see, the marine park is obviously working its magic. There was also a small caribbean stingray that cruised over the shallow sand beside the reef but the highlight of this snorkel for me was the Nurse Shark that I saw! This is the first shark I have ever seen on any of my dives/snorkels and it was awesome! It was just cruising along the bottom of the reef and then took a short detour up the reef closer to me before  heading back into the safety of the overhang. I got to follow it along the reef for about 5 minutes and I wish I could have seen more!

This was an amazing opportunity and I definitely recommend people at least try snorkeling here if not scuba diving and i’m pretty sure everyone had a great time! This was just a teaser and it is definitely time for me to strap on a tank and go deeper!

Grouper

R.

A.

Moi

Moon Jelly

Turtle

Can you see the shark?