For my fiftieth birthday, I literally caught the first boat to Hol Chan Marine Reserve. When we went into the water there were no other boats in sight. After snorkeling the cut through the reef (which is little more than 75 feet wide and just 30 feet deep) for a little over 45 minutes, 19 other boats had arrived. I have been fortunate to swim with sea turtles before, but seeing these green sea turtles up close was as wonderful as ever. I saw at least three different types of rays: southern stingrays, spotted eagle rays, and roughtail stingrays. Five spotted eagle rays cruised back and forth dozens of times in search of food. The roughtail stingrays were huge - perhaps 7 feet wide and 600 pounds! Jacks, groupers, and barracuda are all common at Hol Chan. There are apparently many types of grunts, snappers. puffers, squirrelfish, damselfish, parrotfish, and angelfish. None of those mean anything to me, but I know I saw yellow ones, blue ones... Our other stop was just one mile south of the Hol Chan cut and is listed as “Zone D” of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Once a place where fishermen would clean their catches, this 1,280-acre protected region, has evolved into a top snorkeling location known as Shark Ray Alley because it offers the rare opportunity to snorkel beside stingrays and nurse sharks in just eight feet deep water. What a memorable start to my birthday; the others aboard the boat sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and the marine life was spectacular.
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