Wow!

You know me, snorkeling in a pass where there have been sharks spotted is DEFINITELY NOT on my Bucket List. I am a big chicken when it comes to those nasty creatures.

But, friends on s/v Obsession and s/v Blinder were going out to snorkel the pass here in Fulaga and Doug really wanted to go. So, I thought I would just come along for the ride and take pictures. Why not?

The pass is about a 1.5 miles from the SE anchorage and you have to time your snorkel around the tides. You want to be there when the pass is calm, which means slack tide.

We timed it just right - the pass was perfectly calm. It looks so different compared to when we entered and the tide was flooding out at 4 knots and you felt like you were inside a washing machine!

Lisa and Lester (s/v Obsession) recommended the left side of the pass (approaching from the lagoon). They are definitely the experts. Everyone (except me) jumped in and all I heard was how beautiful, awesome, and fantastic it was. I had to get my courage up and get in. I was so happy that I did. The water was so clear, the coral spectacular, and so many fish to see as we slowly started drifting out the pass with our dinghies in tow.

But (you knew it was coming) one of those nasty shark creatures swam into my sites. A big white tip reef shark - maybe a 10 footer (at least to me) that looked like he had been well fed. Starting to panic a bit, Doug and Lisa came to my rescue and made sure I wasn't going catapult back into the dinghy. I didn't, but I was ready to get out of the water.

The rest of the gang continued on and saw a huge school of barracuda swarming around. They were so excited - I was sorry that I didn't stay in longer...

But, even with the shark sighting, I was so happy that I snorkeled the pass. What an amazing experience.

Will I do it again? Maybe!

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