During our recent trip to the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Brooke and I spent some time snorkeling the underwater ruins.
The two million gallon tank holds sharks, manta rays, eels, grouper and a variety of other sea life and can be seen through windows in the underwater walkway that meanders through the resort.
Man-made ruins recreate the Lost City of Atlantis.
We donned our snorkel kit and dove in - along with several others in our group, including a teenaged girl who screamed out loud whenever she saw anything that moved. Believe me, there was alot of moving sea life. Thus, a lot of screaming. Where were the sharks when we needed them?
It was pretty incredible to be swimming whilst surrounded by an array of sea life.
All was going along swimmingly (har, har) until I turned around and came face to face with a Manta ray that was literally about ten feet away. What to do? Do I swim up - or down? Who has the right of way? What is the proper underwater etiquette for situations like this?
Thankfully, the Ray solved the problem by diving beneath me and swimming away. He could have at least introduced himself . . . .
The rest of the dive was beautiful, if uneventful.
I swam by a resting Giant Grouper . . .
And took time out to wave to those looking into the tank through the windows.
This eel had the good grace to stay in his hidey-hole and not scare the life out of me.
So ended our snorkeling adventure. One of the women in our group approached me as I dried off and said, "Oh. My. God. I couldn't believe how close that Ray got to you!" I didn't think anyone else had noticed my close call, but apparently they had. Actually, the encounter with the Ray was nothing as compared to having to listen to that girl scream at the top of her lungs for an hour. My ears are still ringing. All of this begs the question, "If you're that scared of fish, why go snorkeling?"
Labels: Kristine Hughes
