Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou
12.27.414N
61.29.228W

It’s been awhile since we’ve gone snorkeling, so we dug out our gear and headed around the bend to 3 different spots that looked promising. Two with wrecks on the beach and the third with lots of rocky areas.

Although the first had a few fish, it had more brown gunk than anything else, so we moved on.
The second was more promising with a good variety of coral and sponges. Still, after the Tobago Cays, it too was rather ho hum. That is until Dale spotted a flying gurnard. It was camouflaged in the grass it was lying on, but when we got closer and it moved, it fanned out its wings and the iridescent blue caught his attention. Once he pointed it out to me, we saw several in the same grassy area. Talk about ugly duckling to swan.

We moved on to a sandy area and searched for sand dollars before returning to the boat and
moving on.

Our last stop was much like the first but with less visibility. Still, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen an octopus in the ocean. He wasn’t hiding either; sort of hop - slithering from rock to rock.

Later in the afternoon, Rick & Carolyn and Mary & George invited us to play botchee ball on the beach. It’s a funky little game where you throw heavy metal balls about the size of a baseball as close as you can to a little plastic ball. The closest ball gets a point. The first one to 9, wins. With all of us chit chatting throughout the game, the hardest part is keeping score.

We played three games; stopping for sodas and a quick dip in the water between sets. It made for a nice Sunday afternoon with friends. I think they plan on staying here throughout the hurricane season so maybe we’ll se them again on our way back.