Snorkeling With The Turtles

Mexico seemed to be in full bloom, even though it was November!! There was the most amazing smell that would drift our way at times and it smelled like vanilla!!  I'm not sure which flower it was but gosh, it sure did smell good!!

I love how this plant has climbed the tree and engulfed it!!

We got up early on Thursday - ate a quick bite and headed over to Yul Ha which was a 5 minute walk from the condo!!  It's a lagoon that does feed into the ocean at one end and you snorkel there!  The place was very jungle like on the paths and had the neatest sculptures - this is NOT one of them!!

Most of the sculptures looked like they were designed after the people in the movie Avatar!  Tall and thin and blue!!  And some were in very unique positions!!

We SO enjoyed snorkeling at the lagoon - we were there before all the "tourists" arrived and snorkeled for almost 2 hours - there were so many fish in such amazing colors - I can't decide if I liked the dark purple or the dark blue or the yellow ones!!  Our new snorkel gear worked great and with the tight seal I had on my face, I didn't have to worry about getting the water in my eyes!!  I didn't bring an underwater camera but Cindy did and I'm sure she got some great shots!

Tired but happy, we walked back to the condo and had a huge brunch before we drove to Akumal Bay - this is where the turtles hang out and we were hoping to see one!!

Our landlords had told us to snorkel out where the boats were as there was some grass in the water there and that's where they hang out!!  We snorkeled out and there were lots of fish but darn it, no turtles!  The current was pretty strong out by the reef and we soon tuckered out and headed back to shore, only to see Rene there shouting "Did you see the turtles?"    He told us exactly where to see them so Cindy and I headed back out and sure enough - WE FOUND THEM!!!  I saw 3 turtles - one huge one and 2 smaller ones - they were SO neat to see and you could swim right along side them!!  I felt like I was in the "Finding Nemo" movie!!!

Luckily Cindy had her underwater camera and took several pictures so at least I'll have one for my scrapbook!!!  What a neat experience!!

We were SO tired by the time we got back to shore and headed back to the condo for happy hour and showers before we headed back out for dinner at Esmeraldas - true Mayan food that was delicious!!

What a great day snorkeling!!!