Snorkelling

We enjoyed ‘out of this world’ snorkelling off an Angel Fish Ltd. Laguna catamaran, at Anse Coco, La Digue (the rocks on both sides of the beach), Ave Maria (which is small enough to swim right around), and Round island (the southern side).

You don mask and flippers, splash into the crystal clear turquoise sea. Cool water laps at your skin. You taste salt in your snorkel. You're looking straight ahead at a very ordinary scene. You put your face under and everything becomes extraordinary; the underwater world is totally magical. Schools of mullet shimmer just beneath the surface.

Looking like miniature Dumbos, a squadron of small squid line up their defence.

Way down in the murky blue, a school of the huge, very strange Napoleon fish suddenly appear, and swim sedately by.

You lift your head out of the water to see where you are. You've reached the rocks, poking up out of the water; no surprises. You put your face into the water again and thrill at the sight. The rocks' hidden parts plunge dizzyingly down into the depths below. They’re split, cracked, tumbled or stacked, smooth or gritty, furry or spiky with algae or coral. Fish teem around them, chomping, or shelter in their crevasses and caves. In the sand at their feet, you see rays and turtles.

You see the very common, but exquisitely beautiful blue-striped surgeon fish everywhere. Also prolific are the gorgeous powder blue surgeons, with their bright blue bodies, yellow dorsal fin and black and white heads.

Only one pair of the magnificent palette surgeon fish, electric blue with bold black patterns, shows up at Ave Maria. (Ile de Coco teems with these gorgeous fish.)

You see the Oriental sweet-lips – as someone remarked; “Who said spots and stripes don’t go?” They do in this striking looking fish. And there are plenty of beautiful parrot fish too, in a huge variety of colours and sizes.

You're followed by the inquisitive spade fish.

Appropriately, you also see plenty of angel fish, two in particular; emperor and semi-circle - adults - the juveniles are far less common. Semi-circular white and blue stripes on the black body of the juvenile give the fish its name. The adult is completely different; its body pale brown, speckled with black and outlined in the same powder blue as their fetching eye shadow. The juvenile emperor is similar in shape and colouring, but is patterned with concentric circles. The adult has striking yellow and purple stripes and a yellow tail.

Wherever you look you see schools of fish....

......and so you wallow in a watery wonderland.

Photos courtesy of Rob and Sal.

The hot sky whispers summer dreams....

“The hot sky whispers summer dreams and the sweet feet go out to sea together.” Sal’s beautifully expressed sentence sums up the ‘once in a lifetime’ sail we, five Feete, had here in the Seychelles.
We ‘shop around’ but Angel Fish Ltd. are the most helpful. The price has us gasping, but once taken to see the Laguna, it is all over – we’re sold... simply can’t say no.
Skipper Ronnie and chef Danny welcome us aboard. One deluxe and two other double cabins (decorated with hibiscus in typically Seychellois fashion), all en suite, comfortably accommodate us. The wobbling turquoise water beckons, through ‘windows’ in the floor.
Ronnie suggests mooring overnight at Anse Coco, La Digue, to be sheltered from the NW wind. We set sail and choose our spots to tan, relax, read, snooze. We all shift around, but none of us is surprised to see Captain D at the wheel before long! Danny produces an excellent lunch of red snapper and salads, followed by fresh fruit.
Late in the afternoon we anchor in the beautiful cove. We have a fantastic snorkel around the rocks on one side. (The snorkelling needs to tell its own fishy tale.) We also swim to the beach for a walk. Ronnie kindly takes us quite close inshore with the rubber duck. By evening we have the whole gorgeous spot all to ourselves.
The full moon comes up over the sea. Patchily tanned but feeling good after a day in the sun, we sit down to a delicious dinner. Quite early the next morning, soon after the moon sets and the sun rises, we snorkel amongst the rocks on the opposite side.
Sailing around the northern end of La Digue, Ronnie anchors quite near the jetty, so that Danny can go by rubber duck to get milk for our breakfast! Next stop is Ave Maria. The dive boat soon leaves and again, what a pleasure it is to be the only people there.
Our last anchorage is off Round island.
We enjoy Danny’s superbly cooked carangue while sailing back home to Mahe. Ronnie docks expertly at 5 pm. Back in their beds on terre firma, five Feete, still rocking, sleep soundly, under the nearly full moon, dreaming sweet sea dreams.