Kayaking against waves, in salt water? Yeah, not a ton of fun. I really should have put on my snorkel mask. Thank goodness we were in a tandem kayak or I might not have been able to get anywhere (John has good muscles!!). I was in the front of the boat, which crashed against every wave, sending burning salt water straight into my eyes. I was kayaking blind for half the time.
We were kayaking out to Mexico Rocks, one section of Belize's Barrier Reef. It was about 2.5 miles out. Not too bad a trip, despite the hurdles. We found the buoy and tied up the boat. And I finally had a chance to stop all the tears (from the salt water!).
The point was to snorkel. Not my favorite idea, but when in Rome...The reef here is awesome, so I had to try it, right? I'm just not a huge fan of the ocean and not a super strong swimmer. So while I love going to the beach and doing some swimming, things that involve being underwater and near scary sea creatures are a little outside my comfort zone. So I let John jump in first and test out the waters.
Not long after he got in a giant sting ray decided it wanted to be friends. John was scrambling back into the boat quite quickly! Turns out the tour boats nearby were chumming. I HATE chumming. I think it's wrong to lure in animals for our own amusement. Also, when you don't know that's happening and just happen to swim through a cloud of fish? You become sting ray bate. Luckily John's momentary freak out didn't ruin his day and he was soon back in the water.
Then it was my turn. And I could not figure out how to breathe right with the snorkel. Neither did John, actually, he pretty much just held his breath the entire time. Anyway, it was hard. So I didn't last too long. But I did see coral and fishes. I didn't see a ray until I was back in the boat!
John needs a photography class so he gets shots of me actually swimming instead of looking like I'm dying.
So yeah, I may try snorkeling again some day, but it was a rough first time out. I can see the appeal, but man. Just an hour or so out there was plenty of time for us. So glad we opted for the cheap snorkel rental/kayak idea vs. going on the expensive tours.
The sun had actually come out as soon as we reached the reefs, so the rest of the day was more beach time. John went back out in the kayak solo after a few hours of swimming, hoping to see another part of the reef. He had to admit that I was actually a useful paddler because it was far more difficult without me. He was too tired to swim after the paddle so he didn't snorkel any more.
That evening we had every intention of heading into San Pedro town for some exploring and dinner. Then we took a little nap. Then it down poured for 45 minutes and we missed one of the boats. After that it didn't really seem worthwhile to spend the water taxi money. We probably should have, but we were lame. So it was more beach, more rum, and a little stroll on the other side of the island. Which might have been a bad idea seeing as there were no resorts and small areas that may not have been completely safe. But we survived.
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