Dennis Hollingsworth

Snorkel Report

AS I WAS SAYING...

Stephanie and I ended my recent wonderfully troglodytic experience with some snorkeling. The water was not that smooth, it was a little choppy. And it wasn't as warm as it was on the last perilous dive*. The chop increased the particles in the water, reducing visibility. Take that and a fogging mask too!

Here's a map:

You can see the deep gorge into the cliff face that extends into the sea. Very deep with lots of fish in close quarters. Few people make it here, even though it's not that far from the cove. Most snorkelers have enough on their hands inside the confines of the cove.

What we saw: as always, schools of fish from minnows to those the size of your hand. Lots of sea urchins, sea grasses and moss. Fish feed off the fauna in the flora of the underwater hillside. We have yet to see octopus in situ, I have to tune into ahere they like to hang out. Rocks form a wonderful three dimensional world underwater that continue down, out of sight into the abyss.

As you might imagine, the entire blazing gemlike blue depths of the Med to one side suspended so vulnerably in such immensities, so much so that when one is not astonished at the immense saturation of color, one is checking for any shifting shadows of the big fishes such as those who would find a snorkeler delicious.

The wave action was choppy so as to make a return require a little effort. The fins are long enough to make simple surface paddling selfconsciously ineffectual, and periodic shallow dives were necessary to use the full power stroke of propulsive force.

Yeah.

A note about my new and most favoritist fins in the world: Cressi! I remember my first fins. They were Cressi. They had an image of bird via a rubber welt on the full face of the fin, all black. I grew up in them, mostly in Panama. My dad was probably all heady in a Jacque Cousteau way back in the day. I'm glad he took my brother and I along for his ride. This image is of my new ones, very long and serious gonna go diving yellow. With the length, hey provide lots of power underwater, I'm traversing good distances in them.

I asked my friends (Joel and Tif) at that bar El Pirate: "Do I look like how I feel underwater? Am I zooming around like a rocket boy?" I ask, gesticulating over a beer. (Images of this Japanese animated cartoon circa 1960's play in my head... what's his name? That rocket boy with headgear and jet boots going 'round in circles, savin' the world?)

*news of this to come in our first guest blogpost by Tif Sigfrids!