An extra-ordinary day! Turtling in Akumal!

Early, after morning duties and a lovely porridge breakfast, we all hopped into a Collectivo and went up to Akumal. We went to a beautiful beach where we could snorkel with the turtles that come towards the shore to feed on the see-grass.

The water was lovely and clear which meant that we could see the turtles even from a distance. I was lucky enough to see five green turtles, including a smaller baby turtle. Being a very dedicated turtle lover I was elated when I saw the first turtle swim right by me (so much so that I smiled so widely that my snorkel fell out my mouth!) We floated there for about five minutes and watched the turtle nibble at the sea grass just as we noticed another turtle swim by us.

After this we swam a little bit further onto the coral reef to test our knowledge of coral names and species. Because the water was so clear it was very easy to see the different types of coral and we were able to differentiate between them. We were even lucky enough to see a rare species of a blue porites which is very uncommon. It was a very helpful exercise as I was able to enjoy the view and practice my coral identification skills. 

While swimming back from the reef we swam right by a very large (although it was small for its type) Caribbean Ray. We also saw three more green turtles, one of which was a baby and one was being groomed by some fish. At the end of the session, just as we were coming out the water we swam into a cloud of squid which we all got very excited about!

It was a very enjoyable day and we were able to swim and enjoy the water and then dry off in the shade whilst indulging in some lovely ice-cream!

An extra-ordinary day! Turtling in Akumal!