Later that same day we went snorkeling at an incredible site of cliff faces and sea caves. As we jumped in we had no choice but to gasp from the shock as we hit the freezing cold water – by far the coldest water we’d snorkeled in so far.
The west side of Isabela is well-known for its cold water, but it’s much better known for its incredible sea life. We saw turtles swimming all around us, as well as seals and penguins on the rocks. We also saw flightless cormorants swimming, but best of all were the sea lions. A couple of sea lions decided that they wanted to play with us, and the game consisted mainly of them zooming out of nowhere almost into our faces, then gliding past and disappearing into the murky depths only to appear once again, out of nowhere, about a foot from our face! This game went on and on, and it was amazing. In Vancouver we have a great aquarium and the kids love to go – but this was something from a different world – the sea lions were in their own habitat, and they were making the rules. Photography wasn’t easy – the sea lions moved so fast!
Eventually it began to be too cold as our wetsuits were too thin to keep us comfortable so we clambered up onto the zodiacs. Later we saw another boat’s passengers set off for their snorkeling, and we could only empathise with them, knowing fully well the initial freezing moments that they were about to experience!
