Sandy Beach

Ryan is back!  That means weekends must now be divided between my birding pursuits and his "need" to get in the water.  As this was the first weekend together after a while, I let him pick the place and we westraight to the water.  The birds have had enough of my attention for a while.  We opted for an easy spot, a place we call "Sandy Beach."  Seems like a redundant name, but sandy beaches are indeed a rarity in Okinawa.  Most beaches consist of very sharp lava rock bluffs that descend into amazing reefs.  Sandy Beach offers an easy walk-in and equally beautiful reefs after a not-so-long swim.

The lionfish are native to this part of the world, so I don't view them with disgust when we encounter them. We've eaten one before, and the meat was very good despite the care that must be taken to remove the spines first.  This one was only captured by my camera today.

We found this Snowflake moray swimming out in the open, which was a rare treat for us! Usually we see them in holes or underneath rock ledges.  We followed this one for a while, always at a respectful distance so as not to frighten it.  Ryan tried to find a quick, easy reef fish to spear so we could feed this eel, but we were not able to give it a free lunch.  

Otherwise, it was a fun snorkel on a pleasant afternoon in Okinawa, which is saying a lot for late May.  No extreme heat and humidity to contend with once we left the water.  A good re-introduction to snorkeling and high hopes for lots of clear weekends for birding and swimming.