Publish Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Location: O’Briens Cay, Exumas Land and Sea Park, Exumas, Bahamas
Coordinates: 24° 18.115′ N 76° 32.386′ W
Ayla’s first Bahamian snorkeling adventure was a big success, thanks in large part to our new friends Dennis and Lisa on s/v Lady Galadriel. Lisa and Dennis hail from the San Francisco Bay Area, but have been cruising full time for almost seven years now. Among their many other talents they are both scuba instructors.
Dave and I had wet suits, masks, fins, knives, flashlights etc. thanks to the incredibly generous, indefinite loan of equipment from my cousin Jennifer and her husband Mark. They were kind
enough to ship all their gear to us in Florida, just before we left for the Bahamas. But, Ayla only had fins and a mask. Lisa had an extra wet suit aboard and loaned it to Ayla, feeling sure she would be more comfortable in the water for a longer of period of time if she were in a wet suit.
Once suited up, we were off to the Sea Aquarium near O’Briens Cay via dingy. This snorkeling site is dubbed the Sea Aquarium because of the amazing variety of tropical fish you can see in a relatively small area. After all the sharks we had been seeing, it took all the courage Ayla could muster to get in 
the water. Fortunately she was immediately rewarded with one glimpse into this undersea world. We saw just about every variety of fish on our Reefcombers Card: from 4 different kids of Parrot fish, to a Nassau Grouper being cleaned by other smaller fish; we saw Lionfish, Fairy Baslets, Wrasses,
Hamlets, Triggerfish, Grunts, Chromis, Tangs and many more varieties along with Staghorn Coral, Sea fans, Brain coral and tube sponges. We had a great time, with Lisa sharing the names of all the fish and sea life, and Dennis helping to hone our snorkeling skills so we’d get the most out of the adventure.
In the end, Lisa gave Ayla her wetsuit so she could continue to enjoy the underwater world surrounding us. Thank you to Lisa and Dennis for everything, including teaching us how to play Mexican Train (a very fun Domino game).