Love those turtles!

I got a late start and didn’t get down to the beach until about 9:00 a.m. and then there was no place to park…..not a good start to the day!  It was already getting windy and I ended up having to wait almost a half hour for someone to leave.  I was definitely annoyed…..but when I went to get my board,  I looked out at the ocean and the wind had completely backed off and the conditions were glassy and perfect!  What a stroke of luck!  Since it was late, I hustled down to the boat ramp.  I spotted a turtle in closer to shore and paddled in but two snorkelers popped up and scared it away.  Then I saw two more turtles farther north.  I paddled over to them (and away from the snorkelers….) and eased up right  between them.  It was a large turtle and a really small one.  Then I spotted another turtle farther north and paddled towards it, but when I arrived, four more turtles surfaced and I was sitting in a sea of turtles and was surrounded!  The turtles swam around, dove down and popped their heads up and down for a few minutes.  Then they caught the attention of the snorkelers and a kayak with a couple on it, so they joined us.  The turtles were just hanging around and the water was so clear that I could see some of them sitting on the bottom of the ocean!  The coral was beautiful too.  The day was so nice and the conditions so calm…..I hated to leave!  By the time I counted about fourteen turtles, I headed back.  Behind  me I could see the boats heading in too.  I paddled back in perfect conditions and spotted a turtle swimming under the water on my way in.  Just as I got closer to the shore, a tourist pointed out another turtle swimming right under me!  Two other tourists got nervous and moved quickly away from the turtle, I guess they were afraid of my buddy!  The conditions held nicely for my swim and the water was so clear.  I swam down to the reef and watched the fish for a while and then headed back.  It was so nice out in the water I wanted to just keep swimming!  I love days like that.  Before I left, the clouds blew in along with the wind and it got chilly like yesterday, so I went home.  I hope tomorrow is  as nice as today!!