Day 10 - Mexico Rocks!!!

Olivia getting close with a nurse shark. Whoa!!

Check out the fish on the back.

The day started with tapping clatter on the roof. Rain..rain..rain. Looked like our cave tubing adventure day today was to be cancelled.  I went down to the lobby at 6am and inquired to see if the caving tour was still on. The answer was” No.” It had been raining heavily on the mainland and with those types of rain it floods the caves. Not a great tourist experience, so we rescheduled for Monday.

Nurse Shark about 5 ft in length.

Beautiful Coral at Mexico Rocks

Everyone was up due to the trip preparations, so we ended up doing breakfast instead. At 7am it down poured and down poured!!! Thomas ended up fishing down at the dock during the rain and managed to snag it a Barracuda (had it for lunch). It was still raining until 9:30am at which time I ended up going to Action Divers and convinced them to take us to Mexico Rocks for a snorkel. We were either going to be wet on land or in the water, so why not in the water looking at some local wildlife.

 

Olivia, Anna and I ended up going. Thomas decided to stay with the local dive and fishing staff and troll for sardines, hang at the shack and chat with the locals. Clinton took us out to the local dive site, Mexico Rocks. The three of us hopped in the water once we got to the dive site and Clinton started chumming the waters. Game on!!!!

Southern Stingray at Mexico Rocks, Ambergris Caye

Within a matter of moments there were several nurse sharks devouring the sardines. Seeing creatures your size or larger swim around you is a bit nerving. Although nurse sharks are relatively harmless and want nothing to do with use land dwellers, it is still an unpredictable animal. Both Olivia and I had a couple of encounters that grabbed our attention when we went either head to head or turned to see one of these beautiful creatures head towards us. The nurse shark is such a sleek and magnificent creature. To see it in such numbers in nature on a private snorkel excursion is beyond excitement. At the end I counted over 8 different nurse sharks.

We also were greeted by two southern stingrays and of course our little buddy – Tequila. The stingrays came and went throughout the dive, but Tequila hung around mainly by the boat hoping for some handouts. Anna pointed out a huge Moray Eel about halfway through our dive. He had a muted green coloration and seemed to be quite healthy. And by healthy I mean “fat”. This bad boy was definitely not taking any Slim Fast.

We ended up snorkeling for a little over an hour before heading back to the resort. I would have to say this dive has to be one of my favorite dives I have ever done. Just in seeing all the different biodiversity we saw in the short hour was superb.

Immediately on our return, we all grabbed a bite to eat except for Thomas who had already managed to have some barracuda for lunch. He had caught it prior in the morning and had the kitchen staff prepare it for. What a life, huh? That poor barracuda was apparently not part of the catch & release program.

Weather was still good so I planned a fishing trip out to the inside the reef with D. I arranged for the ladies to get a massage since they had no intention of fishing. I figured that seemed like to be a fair trade. One of the guys we had met earlier in the week, Justin was going to join us. He had never been out fishing and I told him on our next little boat ride he should join us. We packed out poles and tackle and off we raced to the first site.

Soon to be cooked!

Freshly made with conch!

Wouldn’t you know it, first two casts and our new young friend Justin snagged a Snapper and a Grunt. It was a great way to start the casting. We ended up reeling in quite a bit of fish. Most we threw back due to their size. Several though were some really nice catches. Anthony, the boat assistant, went diving for both conch and lobsters while we fished. He brought up three massive conchs and managed to catch three Spiny Lobsters.

Justin pulling out all the monster fishes. Putting the Schiffers to shame.

Back to the dock and it was cleaning time. Fortunately, it was all to be done by the boat captain, D. He did have a little help from Thomas who is becoming quite a fish-prepper. 

His shirt says it all!! From left to right - Thomas, Anthony & D. Getting ready to empty the live well.