Puerto Rico: Day 4- Kayaking and Snorkeling with Turtles!

Day 4:

Today was going to be another exciting day, I could tell! We were going to ride a ferry to the island of Culebra, and kayak and snorkel. The ferry ride was… pretty awful. At first, I was reading, which was a huge mistake. I got seasick, and regretted reading. But at least I wasn’t as bad as my mom, who threw up in the end. Anyways, I got scared of the ferry ride, and was afraid to go back, but there was nothing I could do about that.

Once we got to the island, we were allowed 2 hours for relaxation on Flamenco Beach (one of the top 10 beaches in the world) and lunch. The beach was breathtakingly beautiful. The sand was white, really white. The water was completely clear. It was like swimming in drinking water, it was even clearer than pool water! I could see the bottom really clearly; I was so astonished that I forgot it was saltwater! Well, I was reminded after getting a mouthful of water… it’s not fun. It was so beautiful. No wonder it was top 10. No, it was really, really, really good. The water got bluer and bluer, but at the edge it was white, because you could see the sand! It was really pretty. I keep saying that, but… IT WAS REALLY BEAUTIFUL. GO THERE. Lunch was okay (meh). And finally, it was time to go on our tour!

It was with the same company at Bio Bay, and I had high expectations (commercializes company :D). We were going ocean kayaking. The kayaking was great as usual; my mom and I were subtly racing with my dad and sister, so we won (yay! Not really). And then, we were going to get directly in the water for snorkeling!

The snorkeling equipment was weird. The goggles look weird, feel weird, and smell weird. At first, it was kind of hard to breathe. But it got easier the more I tried. We also had flippers (yay) which made things a lot easier. That way I wouldn't drown and die (no life jacket). The coral reef was pretty cool, I saw some interesting coral. But, truthfully, I wasn't listening that much, I was mostly just looking. I didn't dive down that much, I was new to snorkeling. There were fishes swimming among the coral. After that, we got back into our kayaks. My mom had a really hard time getting back in, but it was hilarious. I won’t describe it for her privacy, but yeah…

We kayaked back to shore after I took a little break… And then I was ready to go chasing turtles! Just kidding, not chasing. We got into the water again, and I spotted a spotted eagle ray and two turtles. I found out that one of the turtles was 5-6 years old, and the other one was a female around 60. You could tell the gender, if the tail is longer, it’s a male. And if the paddles are longer, it’s a male also. It was pretty old, so therefore pretty big. We trailed after it, watching it come up for breath a couple times. It could hold its breath from 15 to 45 minutes in these waters, the best breath holding turtle, a green turtle. We also saw black sea urchins, and apparently the bottom of them aren't prickly, but the tops are really sharp. The guide in the front would help me take close up pictures, which was really nice. It was great fun to snorkel and kayak on the island of Culebra!

Oh, and just in case you were worried, the ferry ride back wasn't bad. Jasmine and I had a great time laughing at our sleeping dad and laughing at other… things… while I was trying not to fall asleep. And finally, when we got back, I didn't have to try not to fall asleep anymore, which was... relaxing.