The outside reef

Although it's been pretty choppy the last few days with with wind-driven swells, the ocean is pretty calm this time of year. We can usually get to the outside of the reef fairly often so we've been snorkeling and diving out there every chance we get. As amazing as it is on the inside reef, the outside reef is that much more amazing. There are caves and canyons through the reef. Swimming through them is like doing airplane fly-bys through canyons in the American Southwest. There are even areas that remind me of the desert Southwest: flat corals covered with brown sand, fan and finger corals sticking up like cacti from the desert. But this beautiful underwater-world is exactly the opposite of a desert, which is defined by a lack of water.

Colors seem sharper, more intense on the outside reef as well. I don't know why that is, but I see colors in fish that I don't see in the same fish on the inside.

And there are different fish on the outside. Almost immediately, we saw black durgon and huge adult French angelfish. We don't see them inside. We saw a couple of big yellowtail snapper and sea turtles and and and. We love it out there. I tried to go out today but it was too rough by the time I got out. Right now we have to get out early to beat the wind-swells. Maybe tomorrow.