Hippity, Hop, Hop Around the Islands

After a day on the beach, we decided to do something active on Tuesday so we booked a little island hopping excursion.  We started the trip out in a long tail boat and first went into a lagoon (seen above).  It was blocked off from the ocean except for that tiny area you can see so the water was beautiful.  Little did we know, we'd stop back there later.

Danielle, Kat, Caitlin and I

Our next stop was a small beach area perfect for snorkeling.  I've always been afraid of being in water that I can't see my feet in and if I can't step down (due to coral) I freak out.  Pools are great... no problems there.  Lakes, rivers and oceans are another story.  I have my reasoning why this is a fear of mine, but I won't go into those details now.  I did however, chicken out and headed back to the beach when Danielle (a certified scuba diver and whos been in Thailand for a long time now) came back, grabbed my arm and said "lets go".  I felt like such a little kid, but got the hang of it!  I think I was on my way to hyperventilating a bit, but I stayed with the girls and I was fine.  I'm such a baby.....  but it was an awesome feeling to say that I did it!

Underwater, we saw a few different types of fish and could even hear them nipping at the coral.  There were very small jelly fish floating around too because we were all getting stung.  They were so small we couldn't see them and the stings went away within a few minutes.

Longtail boats

After snorkeling, we made our way by boat to another island of an unknown name.  There's too many to remember, forgive me.  After lunch we went sea kayaking around the island.  Danielle and I were in one kayak together for the first part of it and were kayaking against the current.  Our arms got a nice workout!  It was really cool to be able to see the jellyfish just below the surface.  Thankfully, we did not flip so we did not get stung and have to pee on each other, although Danielle said she would if she really had to.   (I'm not gross.... if you don't know, you get rid a jelly fish sting with urine)    

We took a break from kayaking in the lagoon that we had visited earlier in the day.  If you notice from the first picture on this blog entry, the tide was a lot higher in the morning and by the time we got there after lunch, it was so low we could walk all around it.  There were plenty of starfish just laying around waiting for us to bug them, pick them up and pose for the camera.  In the picture, you can even see the small tentacles on their underside that were small and slimy.  One of the starfish we saw was in the process of regrowing one of its' legs.  After we hung out there for a bit, we continued kayaking around the rest of the island. 

The girls and I finished off the day with a seafood dinner by the water at sunset.  Sounds romantic, doesn't it?

Thanks to Danielle for letting me use her pictures for this blog.  All of them (except the last one) were taken with her camera.  She didn't actually give me permission... but I'm sure she wouldn't mind!   Thanks for the great pictures Danielle!  : )