Not sure if we've mentioned it, but we've been carting snorkeling gear with us since we left Canada. The last five days we've been able to give it a good workout in the ocean on the west coast of Phuket in Thailand.
On our first day here we trekked down to Nai Yang beach with snorkles and fins in hand. Excitedly we dove into the pristine blue water, only to see...nothing. It was super cloudy. Not giving up, we eyed what looked to be a reef a little further up the beach. Masks on, head in. Boom. Coral and colorful fish just 10 m off the beach. Here are some of the beauties we found. Persistance pays off.
We returned to the same location the next day. Interestingly, we saw several different species.
Switching things up, we rented bikes from where we were staying and rode a very hot and sweaty 5 km to Banana Beach. Upon our arrival, we noticed several snorkles in the water. Yahoo! But wait, we didn't pack our snorkles or the GoPro. Dang it. But a little shack at the beach rented masks. Yahoo! But it was pretty expensive. Double dang it.
We decided to go for a dip, and contemplate our situation. With a smile and a question about the snorkling sightings, a generous Russian couple offered up their mask to take a quick peak underwater. That peak sealed the deal and we rented gear.
We saw gorgeous parrott fish, a school of cuttlefish fish, and many unique species that we didn’t see at the other beach
On our final day in Phuket we went looking for a new snorkling spot, but struck out because of low tide. Rather than give up, we returned to our original reef. This time, due to low tide, we were VERY close to the fish and coral. It was exciting to be fully immersed in their underwater world, but a little too exciting to have a jellyfish in your face.
