Thunderball Grotto

2.1.11

Yesterday we went snorkeling with Mike at Thunderball Grotto – our first time, his second. He has an underwater camera, so he was able to get some great shots of us in the cave. At first it was kind of daunting – looking into a pitch black hole that has jagged rocks coming down from the ceiling, just waiting for unsuspecting snorkelers. But, once you dive underwater and go through the hole, the sun from above lights up the grotto in the most beautiful hues of blue imagineable. Fish are so used to snorkelers feeding them, they swarm around you hoping for a snack. They are not afraid of you at all and will bump up against you and ram your goggles if you don't fend them off! They are small and harmless and their attention span is short-lived. As soon as another diver joins you in the grotto, they are off to harass them as well.
There are multiple holes around the cave for snorkelers to come and go and the skylights above provide plenty of light to enjoy the brightly colored reef fish and coral. Outside the cave are some of the largest brain coral I have ever seen as well as a few fish who decided to make the surrounding coral home, since the grotto is already overcrowded.
Later that day we took Koa to the beach to run around and get some exercise and then we met back up with Mike for a bonfire on the beach. We had brats, dogs, beans and Kalik beer. We stayed for about 4 hours and had a blast. We were on our own beach, looking out on the 20-30 mast lights on all the boats in the anchorage. They look like twinkling stars just hovering over the water. Pictures don't do it justice.
The following day, we readied the boat for sailing, snorkeled the grotto once more and then headed over to Mike's. He made us homemade pizza and a loaf of homemade bread to take with us. We had a great time and the pizza was amazing – all fresh ingredients right from casa de mike!
Tomorrow we head down to Black Point to get some much needed laundry done!