Havania

I'd been thinking about doing a night snorkel for some time and was usually way too tired, but managed it one early morning. I had woken up at about 3am, and couldn't get back to sleep because the toothbrush recharger was flashing (I 'suppose' I could have unplugged it). Anyway it occurred to me that it would be a good time for a swim, so I put on my boots and rash vest and the camera, torch, and knife went in the goody bag. I quietly left the hotel and headed down to the beach. At the top of the driveway I could see another night snorkeller or diver further out in the bay.

It felt a bit strange at first, and I was glad that I'd swum around here before and knew what to expect. There were lights on the shore and navigation wasn't going to be a problem. Visibility was good and my backup dive torch perfect for this sort of thing. The first fish I saw were small silver fish hanging, here and there, just below the surface. Then, very near me I noticed a needlefish. I swam on around the headland and, and on the rocks there were occasional sea cucumbers (cotton spinners). These ones were a bit different, brown and spiny (they were a bit like our nearly black ones) and had fairly evenly spaced white spots about some of the spines. I carried on, and very soon I found a moray (or 'the' moray, as it could have been the same one I saw last week).

Swimming around there were more of the small silver fish, then as it started to get light I saw others. A school of grey mullet in bit of feeding frenzy over some rocks in the shallows, saddled bream, decorated wrasse, more needlefish, and lots of blennies; perhaps some of these had been there all along.

I took a few pictures and on the way back and had a look in some of the hollows, where I found a nice red fan worm, and there were some nice plants. After a while I felt a bit cool. It wasn't cold but I was glad to have the rash vest, which during the day kept the sun off my back and saved me getting burnt. There was of course a wonderful sunrise, and a few early people arriving at the beach - the best time of day. I spoke to a few people as I cleaned off, and a friendly local suggested bread to attract lots of fish. It was a great swim and I was very pleased.