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We had an incredible day snorkelling today despite the miserable weather! It started raining just at we got to the agency at 9.30 so we thought our day's snorkelling trip would be cancelled but one guide was still going ahead so we went with him, and we are so glad we did! It was a much smaller boat that yesterday with just 6 of us, one girl didn't want to go in though so there were just 5 of us in the water. It was a little wavier than yesterday but still quite calm and clear. There were 3/4 stops, the first being Shark and Ray Alley - as the name suggests we saw loads of nurse sharks and sting rays! We swam through the 'alley', over more incredible coral, sea grass and tropical fish. The next stop was Hol Chan, we saw more rays and sharks but also much bigger fish. To our horror someone had written their name on the back of one of the rays! The instructor we had disagreed with feeding or touching any of the marine life which makes sense, that's how I assumed it would be! He told a girl off from a different group who dived down to touch one of the rays. We also saw 3 or 4 sea turtles and swam alongside one which was incredible! Although we saw them at the Galapagos islands the water was much clearer here and we swam with them for longer. I watched him from less than a meter away as he came up to take a breath and then go back down to eat the sea grass! After this stop we had chicken sandwiches and fruit for lunch on the boat in the rain. It was so much warmer in the water than out so I was glad of my wetsuit for when we were sitting on the boat! At the third stop we were looking for manatees near Coral Garden, 7ft long creatures which look a bit like ugly seals and weigh a tonne! The guide spotted one when we were still on the boat so we quickly jumped in and swam after it! Nathan and I managed to catch up with it, we borrowed the digital camera again so managed to get some good snaps! The others didn't see it this time as it swam off before they had a chance to put their snorkels on so we got back on the boat and the guide went to where he said was its 'usual' place, we waited a while and right enough it was there! It swam away quickly though so we had to swim about 300meters quite fast to catch up, Nathan was swimming right alongside it for most of the way! I was a bit behind but it turned around so it was swimming towards me so I had a good view too. Overall it was a brilliant day and if anything the fact it was cloudy and rainy meant we didn't burn like yesterday! We went for a wander when we got back to the island and had some drinks on the bar by the sea, before going to a lively restaurant where Nathan had a whole snapper fish and I had a barracuda steak. By the time we got back to the hostel it had started to rain with loud rumbles of thunder and lightening!
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