Snorkeling the Indian Ocean

Last night we made arrangements to rent a traditional dhow here in Shimoni, Kenya to take us out to the Kisite Marine Park. Touted by the guide as the second best marine park in the world...I was pretty excited to see. And I was not disappointed!

The ride out took about an hour but we added some time to stop and watch some very playful, mating bottlenose dolphins. Other dhows packed with people on day trips sailed in to see what we were looking at. We negotiated a pretty sweet deal, getting our own boat for about half the cost of what those tourist were paying for a spot on a packed boat. So it was just Jim, Cheryl, Chris, and I and we could go and come as we pleased.

We made sure we were the first ones out to the marine park. I could see the waves breaking over the outer reef. The water was beautiful as you can see in some of the pictures. I lept into the water as soon as we were hooked up to the mooring. Right off the bat there were tons of fish, including a couple of yellow spotted stingrays hiding in the sand. The reef looked to be in great shape with a huge variety of corals. The colors were magnificent but paled in comparison to the colors of the fish. I love Indian Ocean fish. Angelfish, butterfly fish, free swimming moray eels, octopus, lobster, porcupine fish, and moorish idols filled your vision. Big schools of yellow grunts moved as one through the corals and giant clams closed up if you got too near.

The were a few exposed rocks marking the reserve and a beautiful sandbar is exposed during low tide. Chris and I had that all to ourselves for a while. We only needed a few Tuskers, the local beer, to make it perfect.