May 30, 2012
HAFA ADAI!

As most of you already know I finally got to do some serious snorkeling on Memorial Day.  The teachers at Audra's school went to Managaha Island, which is about a 10 minute boat ride from Saipan for a bar-b-que and day of fun.  Of course I was invited to go along.  Audra and I had to take a different boat from what the other teachers took because that one was full but we all met up on tiny Manangaha.  It is a little bit of land sticking out of the ocean just after the beginning of the reef that surrounds the island.  It has beautiful white sand beaches, lots of palm trees for shade and several veranda's with barbeque pits......true paradise.  And best of all the snorkeling is great!  The water is deep and there is even wave action since you are so close to the reef.  The fish are way tame because even though you aren't supposed to feed them all the Japanese tourist do (this place is a must for all the Japanese tourist that come to Saipan. They all hang out under the shade of the palm trees so the beaches are empty.  For us Caucasians who want to get tan the beaches are ours, for the Asians, however, the shade is theirs because they want to have white skin.

The coral isn't very pretty on Managaha either due to all the human traffic the island gets.  In fact the coral is the prettiest on the east side of Saipan where the currents are stronger and not many people get out past the reef to cause damage to it.  I got to do that last year when I was here and the coral was fabulous!

I spent around three hours floating around with all my fishie friends while Audra hung out with her friends.  I   even was challenged by a fish off and on.  It was a "trigger" fish and one of the teacher's told me I was probably getting too close to where it's babies were hiding.  She also informed me these fish bite and have sharp teeth.  Who knew....I just thought it was a silly fish playing around with me.

I used an old underwater camera we had from our trip to Hawaii years back.  It takes 35mm film and the actual camera is enclosed in a plastic case.  I wasn't sure it would still work but found three rolls of film we had laying around at home so brought it along to see how it worked.  Was I pleasantly surprised with the results!

 Can you see my little fishie friends (if you click on the pictures you should be able to make them bigger)?  It was hard taking pictures because the waves kept me bobbing up and down.  I didn't think any of them would turn out but low and behold there they are!  You can see most of the coral is damaged but there are still some pretty ones left.  My favorite though is the "brain" coral.  It's fun to look at!  I didn't see any sea snakes this time like I did last year but I did see a lot of pretty blue starfish.  I used up all my film before I ran across them though so you'll have to wait until next time to see how beautiful they are.

 

This is the boat that we went over and back on.  Normally we ride in a little motor boat and get all wet from the water that splashes up but this one was so big we didn't get wet at all.  We left for the island at 9AM..............yes, I even got up early for this outing!

                           We had a great day and I will always remember this Memorial Day!

I am now an official islander too!  I got the mayor's ID card so I can get to Managaha Island for free (I'm considered a local if I have the card).  Since this is probably the safest place for me to snorkel by myself  I figured I should get the card and save me some bucks getting to and from the island. The only problem with getting the card is I didn't know it was a picture ID.  I was on my way to the gym when I went to get the ID so threw on my visor hat and didn't do anything to my hair.  When the guy told me I had to take my hat off for the picture I freaked.  He told me to fluff up my hair and took my picture.  It turned out pretty rad!

I am still soaking up everything to do with my little slice of paradise and thanking the universe every day that I get to be back here!  I am sooooo loving my retirement!

Remember to be nice to each other and always pay it forward!

Peace out my friends