Once in the water, we see three of the turtles resting on the sandy bottom. They take periodic turns rising to the top and back again in liquid motion. After savoring this experience, we progress on to the reef and again are not disappointed. We pass through a vertical curtain of schooling tropical fish to view outcroppings of brain, finger, and rice corals. Butterfly fish are busily defending their territories while, christmas wrasses, parrot fish, moorish idols, yellow tangs, and a host of others bring a brilliance of color into this aquamarine world.
Tori swims off to a large sandy area nearby to look for manta rays.
Later, we all return to the boat, shower off and reapply sunscreen. It is later in the afternoon by now and our chances of seeing more dolphins are slim, so we head back into the harbor. We progress parallel to them, but they seem uninterested, so we leave them to their private activities. Severn and Janice get just as excited when a school of flying fish launch unexpectedly from the water on a 50 foot flight. Near Pokai Bay, another group is spotted.