pure joy on a reef

day three waking up on the island.  again i roll out of bed, into yoga clothes and head over to the bar to sign in for yoga.  i run into one of my neighbors and ask if she's interested in kayaking out to the reef.  she's in and we agree to meet after yoga.  Kirsten's back but to accommodate the yoga retreat group we have class on a smaller platform that crowds everyone but it's yoga and we make it work.  a guy from duluth, mn mentions after yoga he might kayak out to the reef and i invite him to join us.  safety in numbers.  

the three of us set out to get some kayaks and head out to the reef.  Andy at Maya House just down from Akbol has the right equipment for a trip out to the reef.  he gets us geared up and we drag the kayaks down to the water.  there is no request to leave a cc deposit, sign a waiver and no suggestion that we take pfds.  at the same time there is a dark cloud and rain heading right for us.  we step under a tree and the storm sweeps past in five minutes.  we can see more rain clouds heading our way but we decide to go out anyway and head in if it gets too rough.  

the paddle to the reef is magical, the water is so clear we can see the bottom, the silence is broken only by the sound of the water crashing against the reef and we feel the wind and some spray as the storms pass to the south of us.  then as if on que when we reach a buoy to tie up to the sky clears and the sun sparkles in the water.

the reef here is unspoiled and close to the surface so as we snorkel we are a part of the reef and not just hovering above.  there is no one else around and we snorkel, pull ourselves onto the kayaks for a rest, jump in when we get hot and repeat.  we'd left without a thought to sunscreen as it was overcast and i get pink quickly in the hot sun.  we reluctantly head back and find out we'd been gone for four hours.  total cost for this priceless experience was $10US.  it was my favorite time on the island and if i went back i would do this every day.

back at Akbol i get ready to head into San Pedro for laundry pick up but it's getting late so we decide to have dinner in town.  we eat at Elvi's or Elvis, i never figured out which it was, then head back to Akbol via the water taxi.