June 24, 2000
view from our cabana
After Noga had french toast and I had fruit which we brought from San Ignacio, we got ready to go snorkeling. A quick stop at the gift shop to pick up a disposable underwater camera, and it was off to the dock. We met George at the dock and headed out to Hol Chan (Little Channel) Marine Preserve. Here, nobody is allowed to do anything but swim around and look, so the marine life is both beautiful and abundant. George was excellent in pointing out the wildlife and later explaining what we saw. We saw all types of fish and coral - even barracuda and permit. After about an hour at Hol Chan, we pulled anchor and went a bit further South to Shark-Ray Alley. Another channel, this site has stingrays and nurse sharks swimming around, waiting for a hand-out. The stingrays were definitely not shy. It took some time for Noga to get used to the idea of swimming with them, but once she warmed up to the idea, we had a blast. George fed them little sardines and they would circle us and rub up against us. At one point, I was sandwiched between two stingrays looking for food. A nurse shark joined us, then. They have more coarsely-textured skin than the soft stingrays, but George cradled the nurse shark like a little baby while holding sardines by it's nose. Then we toured around the coral reef for a bit before heading to San Pedro. We ate lunch at Lilly's (recommended by Gonzo from Che Chem Hah) and popped into a couple shops before meeting George for the ride back to Captain Morgan's. For the next couple hours, we didn't do much of anything on the beach. Around 4:30 pm, we caught a ride into town and walked around. We ate dinner at Elvi's (recommended by 'Uncle Bob'): Mango smoothies, shrimp cocktail, conch chowder, crab claws, and the island sampler (grilled conch, shrimp, lobster, and snapper). Elvi's has an interesting look - beautiful wood and decorations, with a sand floor. We missed the island ferry back North, so we walked around for 45 minutes until the next one showed up.
nurse sharks
Noga at Lilly's
us at Lilly's