7000 Miles: A cycling tour from Alaska to Panama: Day 125: Snorkeling in La Paz

October 25, 2014
0 Miles

Snorkeling has been at the top of my to do list for La Paz, and we were extremely fortunate to have our hosts set us up with two amazing guides who created an unforgettable day on the ocean. This was truly a highlight of the trip. Throughout the day I reminded myself, this is happening, this is real life.

First we went to a place where whale sharks gather to eat krill and plankton and whatever else it is that they eat. We were unlucky and after 20 minutes of put putting around we gave up and headed for Isla de Isantu and to swim with sea lions. They sound really funny, like they are all belching at each other. They are also very graceful and friendly in the water. We got within a meter of some of them as they played with each other around the rocky island.

This is a small rocky island off the tip of Isantu.

Note the gap in the island. We were able to snorkel underneath it and so were the sea lions. That's where you could get really close to them.

Next we went to a beautiful beach on Isla Isantu and swam in the shallows. No stingrays stings this time!

The boat we road. Our guide Leo at at the bow and Israel at the stern.

And after the shallow beach we went to another unique beach that has a pool of freshwater flowing into the ocean. The guide said he had never seen so much water pooled up there. There were also many little crabs scurrying around the sand.

Then we went to a coral reef where I found interesting shells and a starfish on the bottom. And we did some more playing around with the shoals of fish. Finally, we went back to the spot where there were supposed to be whale sharks. We stopped there on the way out and there were no whale sharks, but on our way back we saw the fins of a whale shark poking above the water, and a group of snorkelers swimming alongside it. We were not as successful as the other group, but most of us were able to get a glimpse of it while snorkeling. I got a good view of its back and tail fin as it swam underneath me. It was so big I wasn't able to see the whole thing at once! And then it dove deep and we did not see any more.

Menno and Spencer had GoPro cameras that could go underwater. Here is the link to Spencer's blog that hopefully will feature some of those underwater photos. He hasn't updated it yet. I will put some of Menno's pictures up on a separate post after I look at them and organize them.

When we weren't swimming in the water we enjoyed each other's company on the boat. This truly is a great group to travel with, I feel very fortunate to have met every one of them.