Finally, after 3 full days of steady breeze at DaVilla, we got a nice calm day and it was perfect. I had my typical zen morning sipping coffee and watching the sunrise. If you have not figured it out yet, this is my favorite pastime.
As soon as it started to warm up the boys headed out to the outer reef with the kayak and their spears. S went on her daily trek to the far end of Airport beach and back and I lounged on the beach reading my book.
J and D returned a few hours later with a strawberry grouper and right about the same time S returned from her lengthy beach walk. We all lounged around for a while, then J and I decided to head out for another snorkel.
Earlier D had been going on about these huge parrotfish he had been seeing. We were all thinking they were probably the same size as the parrotfish we had been seeing at parrotfish beach, maybe around 2-3 ft tops. After about an hour or so of snorkeling around I spotted a nice sized lobster. We were seeing them quite frequently now that lobster season had ended. They seemed like they somehow knew that they could safely roam once again, without the constant fear of spear-fishermen. I pointed it out to J, chuckling at him how he could not shoot it. Suddenly I saw these giant blue lips poke out of the reef going straight for the lobster. It was one of the parrotfish D had seen earlier, and it was HUGE. I had grossly underestimated D's description. This fish was definitely closer to 4 feet long. It popped out of the reef just for a second, looking like it was going to have a nice lobster lunch, then it spotted J and I and darted back into the reef. I managed to snap one picture, and J got a choppy little video, but neither gives you a really clear estimate of size. For scale the lobster was a good sized one, from tail to the tip of it's antenna was surely longer than my arm. The parrotfish is on the left, and you can see it start to come out of the reef about 6 seconds into the video. I would estimate it's length to be at least twice that of the lobster. J says it was big enough to eat me, ha ha, probably not THAT big.
Earlier D had been going on about these huge parrotfish he had been seeing. We were all thinking they were probably the same size as the parrotfish we had been seeing at parrotfish beach, maybe around 2-3 ft tops. After about an hour or so of snorkeling around I spotted a nice sized lobster. We were seeing them quite frequently now that lobster season had ended. They seemed like they somehow knew that they could safely roam once again, without the constant fear of spear-fishermen. I pointed it out to J, chuckling at him how he could not shoot it. Suddenly I saw these giant blue lips poke out of the reef going straight for the lobster. It was one of the parrotfish D had seen earlier, and it was HUGE. I had grossly underestimated D's description. This fish was definitely closer to 4 feet long. It popped out of the reef just for a second, looking like it was going to have a nice lobster lunch, then it spotted J and I and darted back into the reef. I managed to snap one picture, and J got a choppy little video, but neither gives you a really clear estimate of size. For scale the lobster was a good sized one, from tail to the tip of it's antenna was surely longer than my arm. The parrotfish is on the left, and you can see it start to come out of the reef about 6 seconds into the video. I would estimate it's length to be at least twice that of the lobster. J says it was big enough to eat me, ha ha, probably not THAT big.
We snorkeled around for a while longer, hoping to see the parrotfish again but never did. Finally we gave up and slowly worked our way back to shore. After enjoying a little afternoon snack D and J headed back out for the 3rd snorkel of the day and S and I chilled in the cabana with our books.
D sautéed up the grouper for dinner, will salad and yellow rice on the side. After dinner we lounged on the deck, sipping vino and watching the stars, soaking in the last of another perfect day.
D sautéed up the grouper for dinner, will salad and yellow rice on the side. After dinner we lounged on the deck, sipping vino and watching the stars, soaking in the last of another perfect day.
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