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In our last rounding of our favorite spots, we had to make a stop at 'The Bight' on Norman Island... also known as Treasure Island! It is one of the best places we've found for a lot of our favorite activities, including snorkeling! The water here is so clear, and there are so many different areas of the shore with great snorkeling, it's just impossible to get bored here! Top that off with being home to 'Pirate's Bight', one of our favorite beach bars, and you've got a place that never loses it's luster! 
The
spectacular early morning view looking out from Pirates Bight Beach
Bar...
Terri enjoying some shade as the sun comes up from behind the island
Ashley and I love to come to the beach in the early morning before the bar is open and the beach is crowded. We walk along the soft, tranquil sand and often see the huge Spotted Eagle Ray swooshing under the surface just off the beach. The birds are singing all around us and the pelicans dive bomb the water catching their breakfast. It is the best time of day as the bay itself seems to yawn and slowly wake up. Ashley launches herself across rocks and branches trying to capture the skittering geckos as we walk the length of the beach and rest in the shade.
The entrance to one of the caves at Treasure Point
Snorkeling in and around the caves is one of our favorite spots and always thrills us with hundreds of fish and the excitement of the caves. You can swim right inside them and each one is different in its mystery and beauty. One is very long and you inch your way through as the passage gets darker and narrower the further you venture. Another is high and wide with spectacular walls that seem spray painted with neon coral. Spanish moss drapes across the entrance to another and makes it look like something from Lord of the Rings. Each cave seems to have its own species of fish that inhabit it and there are huge steep under water cliffs between each cave.
A school of Blue Tangs cooling off in the shade under our dinghy
As soon as you jump off the dinghy into the water you are surrounded by fish. Large schools seem to be attracted to the commotion of dinghies and swimmers and come to check us out. As you swim towards them or reach out they seem to flow and ebb just out of reach and surround you with a flowing splash of color. You suddenly want to hold you breath forever just so you can swim along side them and see their world.
Rick diving to see the spectacular coral in the deeper water outside the entrance of one of the caves
We have both learned to hold our breath and dive down deep because as soon as you do a whole world opens up. There are colors, shapes and fish hiding that you can only see 10-20 feet down. Rick seems to be able to hold his breath forever and a day as he swims around on the bottom endlessly! As you dive down you have glimpses of magical places and creatures hard to describe.
Beautiful colors of coral lining the walls at the cave entrance
Inside the caves the colors of the coral are so brilliant and vibrant that you quickly forget you are in a deep, dark cave. Something about the shadows and dark seems to bring out the inner light and brilliance of nature.
A beautiful Queen Angel Fish
Some of the fish are very inquisitive about the snorkelers in the water and will swim right up to you and look you in right in the mask, lol. Others are not quite so eager. One of the most brilliantly colored fish in the area is the Queen Angel Fish but they are hard to find... once they see you they move away from you as fast as they can! This one was a rare find as they do not like to have their picture taken! Rick had to stay still underwater for quite a while until this one peeked out and he got the picture.
Hundreds of fish in their own little 'city' on top of one of the coral heads
It never ceases to amaze us... these beautiful little cities and communities that live in the shallows right off natures paradise. If there is one thing that we will really miss when we leave here, it will be the simple tranquility of watching these underwater creatures in their beautiful coral habitats.
Cheers,
Rick & Terri 'Sophisticated Lady' |
