This morning’s tour didn’t exactly start out on the right foot. Our boat was supposed to pick us up on the beach out front at 7:00 o’clock. We were there waiting until 7:10 when Carlos came down and told us we had to walk over to Aguilas because the tour guide didn’t want to land their boat at Jinetes. It’s not that far, but I got peeved stumbling barefoot over the gravelly path for a quarter mile to the dock. I am pretty sure it was the scuba guide who had to pick up her groups tanks across the rivermouth from Águila’s who made us walk. She was unpleasant from the start. We ended up going back to the beach anyway because they forgot flippers for us lowly snorkelers.

The crew had five scuba divers and seven of us snorkelers. It was clear from the start that the snorkelers were second class citizens just there to fill empty seats and earn some extra cash. The boat roared out to the island over much calmer waters than yesterday and the sun was even smiling upon us from a sky with just a small scattering of clouds. The anchor was dropped off the north side of Isla Cano and us snorkelers were directed to the bow where we geared up. I asked the scuba gal for a weight belt and she about bit my head off. I skulked back up to my place at the bow and we splashed into the warm tropical sea.

Daniel was our guide and he led us between three pinnacles of coral in about 30 feet of water. Visibility was okay, maybe 30 feet with a little cloudiness. He towed a bright colored noodle behind him so we could spot his whereabouts. Schools of fish swarmed around the rocky, coral topped peaks which reached to around six feet of the surface at the shallowest. No big aha sightings, but lots of cool fish – sergeant majors, moorish idols, parrot fish and more. After about an hour, some of the group were getting played out. But we had to wait for the scuba divers to finish their dive, get back to the boat and undress. We crawled up the back of the boat about an hour and half into the excursion.

We took a short break on the island, maybe 20 minutes before getting back on and dropping off at a second site. Two of the snorkelers and two of the divers bowed out and stayed ashore while we went for round two. One thing I noticed about both dive sites is that the underwater background terrain is monotone throughout. Mostly blues at the first site and a kind of Sandy color at the second. No variety of colorful corals and virtually no plant life.

The new spot had less visibility but more cool sightings. There were turtles, eels and a fiendish looking ray. Crown of thorns sea stars were bleaching some coral in the shallower water. Our guide, Daniel, was excellent at helping us spot things and keeping us all together. Things were cool for about an hour but then we were starting to tire. The German guy was flagging, trying to blow up his airplane style life vest to stay afloat. But we had to wait for the scuba group to finish before we could go back to the boat. Another hour and a half and we were back on the boat. After retrieving the four crew members on the island, we sped the forty five minutes back to Bahía Drake. My take, If you’re not a big time free diver and just want to cruise and see some beautiful sea life, book a trip with only snorkeling. Half our group was in over their heads doing three hours. It’s nicer when you can get off and on the boat as you please.

PJ and I jumped off at the dock we boarded at and walked back past the giant stands of bamboo to Jinetes where we climbed the hill and sat out in the gazebo hydrating until we cooled off. It was time for naps and showers until the sun was going down and the heat eased up just slightly. We walked into town to check out the vibe. Mar y Tierra Restaurant had landed a giant snapper today and the owner made a big batch of ceviche. I ordered that with patacones while PJ had a whole fish with veggies and patacones. Best ever. Nondescript restaurant with amazingly prepared fresh fish.