Tobago Cays, Grenadines
12.37.791N
61.21.393W

The highlight of today was our snorkeling trip to the reef. We began by touring through some of the reefs inspecting the new growth of elkhorn coral and watched as the little blennies, damselfish, butterfly fish, tang, parrotfish, and filefish went about their daily activities.
Eventually, we made our way out beyond the reef, following the sand ‘highways’ that marked the route. We came up over some elkhorn that looked like it had been shaped into a fence and there it was: The Wall.

You probably remember from the post regarding our last visit to the Tobago Cays, the sight of this is like being in an interactive movie. The coral is all about the same height with the depth of the water pretty constant at about 10’, then it falls away below you to about 40-50 feet. The water changes from being without color to a neon blue but is so clear, you can see the sand on the bottom. Below you lies the most spectacular vision.

The fish, even the small ones, are larger here. Schools of bright blue chromis rose up to meet us; probably looking for a handout. Other schools of reef fish floated by to welcome us to the neighborhood before moving on. We hovered there practically without breathing as two spotted eagle rays appeared to the left of us, flying parallel to the wall just below our level. They glided past in front of us, then continued on out of sight to our right. It was a magical moment, one I hope never to forget.

On our last visit, we had turned south to follow the wall and ended up getting struck in a spot where we couldn’t get back. Today we turned north to follow the wall, mesmerized by all we could see. Not too far into our adventure, we spotted a small nurse shark on the bottom headed south. Dale kept his eye on it so that we could positively identify it in our fish identification book later. By this time, we had been out for quite a while and you know how I feel about sharks, so slowly we made our way back to the cut and started to look for our dinghy. I was surprised at how far away we had gotten. Dale spotted a spotted snake eel on the way back and a couple of large queen conch.

Tomorrow, we’re going back but instead of poking around the shallow parts, we’re heading directly for the wall and spend our energies there.

On our way back to the Palace, we stopped by Rainbowrider and told them how to locate the cut. Unfortunately, when they went out a couple of hours later, the currents were stronger and they didn’t enjoy the trip as much as we had.

Dale spent more time trying to get our sat phone up and running and went through the same diagnostics as we did yesterday with another representative today but still no joy. He’ll try again on Monday.