Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Reserve, Honduras
After a morning exploring the Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Reserve on the north coast of Honduras, we cruised northwest a short way to South Water Cay, an idyllic little island just south of Utila. Divers dived on a steep coral-covered slope, snorkelers snorked in a beautiful sand-bottomed channel where turquoise water cut through the reef at one end of the island, and beachers beached blissfully on the golden sand under the bright sun.
It was really one of those picture perfect tropical days. Fluffy cumulus clouds drifted slowly by, reflected in the azure sea. Brilliantly colored parrotfish and wrasse hovered around the small but healthy brain and antler corals fringing the snorkeling channel, along with a few oddities like a spotted trunkfish which slowly buzzed through the water like a miniature, triangular zeppelin. Just a bit deeper the SCUBA divers encountered exquisitely delicate bouquets of bluebell tunicates, a shy queen angelfish and this little arrow crab, huddled in the shelter of a small barrel sponge among the arms of a sponge brittle star.
By evening we were docked at Utila town, riding out a quiet and restful night. We were eager for the next day’s adventures on the reefs and rivers but content for the moment in peaceful dreams of the coral kingdom beneath the sea.
After a morning exploring the Cuero Y Salado Wildlife Reserve on the north coast of Honduras, we cruised northwest a short way to South Water Cay, an idyllic little island just south of Utila. Divers dived on a steep coral-covered slope, snorkelers snorked in a beautiful sand-bottomed channel where turquoise water cut through the reef at one end of the island, and beachers beached blissfully on the golden sand under the bright sun.
It was really one of those picture perfect tropical days. Fluffy cumulus clouds drifted slowly by, reflected in the azure sea. Brilliantly colored parrotfish and wrasse hovered around the small but healthy brain and antler corals fringing the snorkeling channel, along with a few oddities like a spotted trunkfish which slowly buzzed through the water like a miniature, triangular zeppelin. Just a bit deeper the SCUBA divers encountered exquisitely delicate bouquets of bluebell tunicates, a shy queen angelfish and this little arrow crab, huddled in the shelter of a small barrel sponge among the arms of a sponge brittle star.
By evening we were docked at Utila town, riding out a quiet and restful night. We were eager for the next day’s adventures on the reefs and rivers but content for the moment in peaceful dreams of the coral kingdom beneath the sea.
