We snorkeled in the designated swim area in front of the hotel the day we arrived at we thought that was amazing.

Seeing angel fish come right up to and the colors were awesome, but there was no coral there. The bottom was sandy and someone (I assume it was the resort) had placed cement blocks to make ledges and caves for the fish. There was a resident barracuda that hung out in this area and I saw it up close and personal. We were snorkeling along looking down at the bottom and I happened to look up.

There was this extremely long mean looking fish pointed at me. I took a quick photo, popped my head up to look for John and looked again at the fish. John meanwhile had swum up behind the barracuda and startled it. It headed right for me. I screamed under water (which is a nasty thing to do) and started treading water. Kind of like running in place when I'm scared. Boy, that would have done a lot of good if it had decided to bite me. John said that he was even a little nervous for me. After spitting out a mouth full of salt water it took a little to calm my breathing down so that I wouldn't hyper ventilate. We thought that that snorkeling was cool but we hadn't experienced snorkeling on the reef yet.

We were able to go out the day before we left. I had no idea but snorkeling was something John had wanted to do before he died. He has an unofficial bucket list. This was a surprise to me. They told us that at least four people had to go in order to go on the tour but we had the boat to ourselves. This was amazing. The boat had a glass bottom and we were able to see the ocean floor as we motored out to our snorkeling spots. We went to two different reefs; the Columbia Reef and Palancar Gardens (part of Palancar Reef). I can see why people become addicted to diving. The quietness and beauty of it are overwhelming. All the while I was diving I was trying to remember a verse in the Bible that said something about creation declaring the works of the Lord but couldn't quite get it.

The Columbia Reef was shallow and there were so many fish. The current was strong and carried us from south to north. We didn't have to kick, just float. The rule was that we could dive down but no touching the coral and don't swim against the current.

We saw Sergeant major fish, Juvenile French Angel fish, trumpet fish, Ocean surgeon fish, Blue tang, Four-eye butterfly fish, Honeycomb cow fish, and a Spotted eagle ray. The ray was fluid and graceful, almost as if it was gliding along the bottom of the ocean. We saw brain coral, tube sponge, sea road and elkhorn coral. We drifted along for about 45 minutes and then motored to Palancar Gardens where we saw a sea turtle swimming.

Two more barracudas and they reminded me of deadly little submarines just parked in the water. I stayed well away from them. This area had mostly the same fish and little tiny jellyfish that sting. It was like a little bee sting. The amazing thing about this reef was the drop off into what looked like an abyss. We could see down 50 feet but the abyss went down so far that we couldn't see the bottom. It was freaky when we had to cross from one coral formation across a particularly deep area to another coral formation. We were blown away and now want to share this experience with our children. Five years and I think they'll be ready and strong enough swimmers. They did ask us if we wanted life jackets but I couldn't imagine needing any. The salt water makes me at least extremely buoyant. It was hard to swim down.

That night we were swimming around in the pool and the life guard was laughing at me because I had a hard time with my mask. He showed me how to put on my mask underwater and blowout the water so that the mask had an airtight seal and didn't fog up . I could have used that information earlier in the day, but even so it was almost beyond description.

Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Psalm 148:4

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature -have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

You are alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6