Sailing the Greek Cyclades: Ano Koufonisi

21 12 2024

Leaving Amorgos behind, we set sail for the “Small Cyclades” islands, specifically, Ano Koufonisi. These out-of-the-way islands offer a magical mix of quiet beaches, turquoise waters, delicious food, cultural authenticity, and completely laid-back vibe. None have more than 500 residents. OK back to sailing! With more wind, we could travel under sail only. George showed us a few things about skippering the boat, and Katherine, assisted by Sian, winched out the genoa.

George gives us a “how to” on some of the boat controls.

Grind Katherine! Grind!

It was a gentle breeze, very pleasant. It would bring us to a lunch spot / snorkeling cove. This particular one had totally clear turquoise / sapphire colored water! It was completely perfect for swimming and snorkeling.

It wasn’t long before we decided it was time to play some music. Ellie turned out to be a dancing queen! There wasn’t anything she turned down. We played B-52s, Trampled by Turtles, Shakira, oldies from Nu Shooz and Rod Stewart, Culture Club and more.

Once underwater, I was amazed how far I could see. The bottom was completely soft white sand.

There were a number of what at first looked like caterpiller tractor tracks in the sand. It wasn’t long before I realized each led to an anchor. So these “tracks” were left by the anchor chain moving back and forth across the sand! Changing my view from down to forward, I was rewarded by a school of 40+ fish lazily swimming by. Each was I guessed 8 inches long.

It was a warm day. When we reached our Koufonisi marina, I looked around and didn’t see much shade. Time for sun screen! The harbor and town are beautiful. The island only has about 450 residents.

George told about highlights. One suggestion was to walk the shoreline. Along the way there are secluded coves, beaches and a couple of cafes for a drink. Koufonisi is a very small island. No cars. Very laid back. One can walk around it in a day. I took my backpack and my book and headed out. Everywhere, purely clear waters. I passed by several isolated coves. And then, I spied something perfect! A tree shading a single beach chair by the pathway. So I sat down, relaxed, and read for a while. People strolled by, boats plied the waters. Some folks paused to test the waters. If you walk far enough, you may not have to share your beach with anyone! It was so beautiful!

ss

We all loved Ano Koufonisi. Toward the evening, we found a hillside restaurant with a harbor view, where we sat down and ate dinner as the sun set. Walking back, the moon had risen, bathing the village in silvery light.

I chose to visit Greece in late September, which turns out to be a terrific choice. The blistering summer heat is gone. So too are the throngs or tourists. Some of the hotels and restaurants are already closed for the off season, while others are uncrowded. It’s very nice.

It was hard to leave. Another day on this island would be great. But we had an agenda – Naxos was our next island. Here is myself, all morning grizzled pre-shave, as we depart the next morning! We’re gliding along a Mediterranean blue waters. Life on a sailboat is tough…


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sailing, Travel

Palawan’s Bacuit Archipelago: Pocket Beaches, Palm Trees, Clear Waters and Snorkeling

18 06 2024

El Nido‘s Bacuit Archipelago is full of mysterious, vertically cliffed limestone islands – much like Vietnam’s Halong Bay. The similarity stops there. Here, it’s not only more beautiful, but there is so much more to do! And it’s much less polluted. At Halong Bay, hundreds of smoke-belching multi-level hotel-ships take tourists out for views, a meal and an overnight. But other than look at the islands, there isn’t much else to do. There are one or two beaches and hikes, and some paddling. The Bacuit Archipelago has the same islands, but they have hidden white sand beaches, palm treed islands, crystal clear lagoons, darn good snorkeling, and some world class blue green water for swimming! There are no cruise ships here. Outrigger boats head out from El Nido town early in the morning and take guests on tours to the islands. A full day includes a seafood lunch.

Sailing through these islands definitely reminded me of Halong Bay!

These islands have heavily eroded limestone faces – many very vertical. They are tree-covered. Passing through, you suddenly come across hidden “pocket beaches” lined with to-die-for palm trees. Some have openings to hidden lagoons behind. We stopped at one of these and kayaked into the lagoon. In there, the water was crystal clear and warm.

We did some snorkeling. I know the Palawan region has some of the most beautiful scuba diving in the world, such as the World Heritage awarded Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Unfortunately the snorkeling I experienced was pretty disappointing – as I’m an experienced snorkeler. When I was snorkeling off Belize on Lighthouse Reef, it was spectacular. And one of my peers, a marine biologist, told me Pacific snorkeling is on a whole higher dimension than Belize. Well, that is not what I experienced. I was frustrated that there was such snorkeling in the area but not where I was. I guess I have to go back! Where we snorkeled, in two separate places, it was pretty deserted and there was a lot of bleached coral. Don’t get me wrong, I did see fish, but not what I was expecting! I did see sea turtles. One, which I didn’t photograph, was as big as a coffee table. I saw clown fish, parrot fish, angel fish, and a clown fish being cleaned at at a “cleaning station.”

For me, the most amazing lifetime memory was our lunch spot! We stopped at Paradise Beach, on Cadlao Island. This place was just like Gilligan’s Island! With only two other boats, we had it to ourselves. The water is like NONE other. Let me tell you Halong Bay in Vietnam has NO such place. It is worth coming back. It truly is the beach of dreams. In fact, one of our tourist-mates has lived in Hawaii and has sailed from New Zealand to Hawaii – he said that this beach was the most beautiful he’d ever experienced!

I have to say I had no idea until I jumped off the boat into the water. There, I suddenly realized I had just splashed into the REAL DEAL! This really was the waters / beach people dream about and I was experiencing it!

This is it. I know, some love Cancun whilst others crave the Mediterranean beaches of France. But for me, those places, with thousands of people lined up shoulder to shoulder don’t do it. For me, this, this quiet, palm treed beach with no hotels or cruise ships in sight is the place to be!!!

In summary, would I recommend heading to the Philippines for vacation? Definitely! Friendly, English speaking locals. Terrific, home cooked meals. Inexpensive. Would I return? Absolutely. One could spend months simply hopping ferries to far flung islands and discovering paradise! It’s still out there. The unspoiled is there, amongst the 7,000+ islands.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Green Planet, Travel

Snorkeling in Nha Trang, Vietnam

17 01 2017

Our destination after Saigon was the coastal town of Nha Trang. After the noise, congestion and pollution of chaotic Saigon everyone was looking forward to some quiet time by the sea. Well, we were completely unprepared for what a mega town it is. Nha Trang is far from a sleepy beach town! It’s got 35-story hotels and boasts a population of over 400,000! So much for the Margaritaville experience. More like Atlantic City New Jersey or something! Nevertheless, I was able to get some decent snorkeling in.

The week prior to our arrival it had rained hard. So hard that runoff turned the sea brown that week. I was concerned the water would be too cloudy for good snorkeling. More than water clarity, I’d heard that many reefs in Asia were damaged due to dynamite fishing. In some places, people are so poor they don’t use nets or lines. Instead they blow up everything and haul in whatever floats to the surface. By doing that, they destroy entire ecosystems. Years before I’d snorkeled in Bali and it was tragic. The coral was dead. Only a few fish to see. I feared the worst.

 

blog2018

Well, well! Took a chance and was rewarded!

 

Nonetheless, six of us booked a boat to go out beyond the bay to Moon Island. We all said to ourselves, “Even if the water’s cloudy, heck at least it’s a boat ride, right?” Well, much to our delight, the water was clear. And the reef? Healthy!

The boat, which was also equipped with scuba gear, took us to a secluded spot maybe 50 feet from shore. I donned the mask, snorkel, and did my customary snorkel/scuba back flip into the water. The water was beautiful. Warm. Pretty clear! And the corals were so close to the surface, one only needed to drift along to view.

I’d been to Belize in 2014 and learned how to free dive. That skill came in handy in Vietnam. You simply take a breath, turn completely vertical, and allow your weight to sink you down. Sometimes having a rock or two in hand takes you down faster. This way, when you arrive down some 15-20ft, you have not expended energy to get there. My tour-mates were all amazed to see me down that far. Once down, you have a maybe half a minute to swim amongst the wonder. I found I got so intrigued that, when I needed air, I was suddenly freaked that I had 20 ft to rise!

Christof and Jolanda relaxing after
Scuba gear at the ready
Kind of Margaritaville

It was a good day. We were all delighted we’d taken the risk because it paid off. Not only had we taken in some good snorkeling. But we’d escaped the busy hum drum of the Nha Trang waterfront!


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Travel

Snorkeling The Great Blue Hole – Lighthouse Reef Belize!

19 05 2014

snorkeling the great blue hole belize

A lush ecosystem just under the surface!

On my vacation with Island Expeditions to Half Moon Caye Belize, my favorite snorkeling spot by far was The Great Blue Hole. It is featured in Lonely Planet Publication’s recent book, “The World’s Great Wonders.”

Made famous by Jacques Cousteau, The Great Blue Hole lies in Lighthouse Reef, 55 miles off the Belize mainland. He said it’s one of his top 10 dive sites in the world. Physically it’s 1,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep – whereas the rest of Lighthouse Reef is 22 miles long and 8 – 10 feet deep. The outer ring of the blue hole is an amazing forest of coral just below the surface. Click here for a wonderful time snorkeling amongst the corals!

blue tang swim in the great blue hole belize

A school of blue tang

No diving gear is required to explore this lush paradise of fish and coral. Divers can descend to explore the many caverns below. Click here for blue tang synchronized swimming!

The Blue Hole wasn’t always a hole. Turning the pages of time way back to the Ice Age, Lighthouse Reef was an island several hundred feet above sea level. At that time, the Blue Hole was above sea level and it was a cave. It was a great cathedral with side caverns filled with growing stalactites and stalagmites.

stoplight parrotfish at great blue hole belize

A female Stoplight Parrotfish pauses at a “cleaning station”

Then the earth warmed, the Ice Age ended, and as glaciers melted, the sea level rose. The island was submerged under water and became Lighthouse Reef. The roof of the cave collapsed, and sea water entered, creating what we see today.

Our Island Expedition guides shuttled us out to the Blue Hole as it’s pretty far from Half Moon Caye.

shuttle to the blue hole belizeOnce there, we slip on our flippers, don the dive masks, and somersault into another world. Once I adjust my mask and focus, a wave of excitement washes over me! This spectacularly preserved ecosystem is but a few feet below the surface, and I can swim right through it.

This is the healthy reef system I was longing for – everything I wanted to see. It is the ultimate snorkeling experience. Snorkeling the ring surrounding the Great Blue Hole, you witness healthy brain coral, staghorn coral, sea fans, barrel sponges, great barracuda, reef sharks, midnight parrotfish, grunts, blue tang, hawksbill turtles, angelfish, fairy basslets, eagle rays, and much much more!

Wrasse living near a sea fan blue hole belize

Wrasse and a sea fan

We spent three hours at The Great Blue Hole, but I could have explored a full day there. I knew that down below snorkeling level, there are great predators. Great Hammerhead Sharks, Bull Sharks, Lemon Sharks, and more spend time at depths in the Blue Hole. But the examples of these species are juveniles – they come to this spot for protection from predation by the full grown members of their own kind out on the ocean side of the reef.

brain coral at the blue hole in belize

Brain Coral, on the right

For this snorkeling trip, I purchased an underwater camera capable of video. It is the Fujifilm XP60. Like most point and shoot cameras these days, it only has a video screen. I am far sighted. So it was difficult to know, looking at the blurry screen in front of me, if I was definitely in focus, or even had the subject correctly framed! Add to that my body bouncing on the surface, or down under, holding my breath. Further, fish don’t just pose for pictures. They are always moving. I learned to listen to the beeping sound for focus.

Another factor I learned about is that underwater, the further you are away from your subject, the more blue-tinged the photo shall be. The closer I took the photo, the more the real colors showed up. Andy, one of our group, knew how to free dive. He could go down 20 feet and just hang out down there and got the most incredible close up photos of fish.

colorful sea fans at the great blue holeAnother factor in getting good photos of fish is their behavior. Fish tend to retreat into their hideouts when you approach. But if you linger a bit, they come back out. Lingering underwater with lungs full of air is pretty hard because your body tries to float up. Andy’s trick is to hold onto something like a rock.

He gave me some tips on staying down longer. Instead of using your air/energy do go down by kicking hard with your flippers, get completely vertical with your head down and legs straight above and let the weight push you down. When you are feeling pressure, pinch your nose and blow out to equalize the pressure. Now that you are down, and equalized, you have more time to stay down…and you can grab a rock to keep you from floating up too fast.

I tried this and many times, I got so comfortable down there I lost track of how far I had to go up to catch a breath! It was fun, and a new thing for me.

The Blue Hole was certainly well worth visiting! But it’s far offshore. So I recommend spending a few nights on one of the islands out on the reef. You can always book with Island Expeditions! They’ll take good care of you.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Green Planet, Life Outside, Travel

Snorkeling around Half Moon Caye Belize!

8 05 2014

I chose this trip because I had learned Belize has some of the Atlantic’s only coral atolls – and that their reefs are super healthy. It was all true. Snorkeling just off Half Moon Caye Belize is super easy. Simply slip your mask, snorkel, and flippers on, and a mere 50 yards from shore amazing underwater wildlife thrives.

Queen Triggerfish at half moon caye

Queen Triggerfish

This blog post covers some simple snorkeling just off the island. On the west side of the island, Lighthouse Reef’s 8-10 foot lagoon sports countless coral heads, which are home to dozens of species of fish, turtles, lobster, and squid.

Blue Chromis on lighthouse reef belize

Blue Chromis

Yellow grunt at half moon caye

Yellow Grunt

On the east side of the island, it connects with the reef ringing 22-mile Lighthouse Reef. Our first snorkel took place out there. Right off, I was rewarded, witnessing so many brightly colored reef fish living out their lives in this protected reserve.

Grunts are very common on the reef!

Lots of grunts on the reef!

Some of the most common fish on the reef are grunts. There are different variants, but a frequently seen grunt is the Blue-Striped Grunt.

Blue Striped Grunt

Another fish I saw lots of is the Blue Tang.

A blue tang seen while snorkeling Belize

The Blue Tang – ubiquitous reef inhabitants

 

Spotfin butterflyfish snorkeling belize

A pair of Spotfin Butterflyfish

Rarely seen are the Spotfin Butterflylfish.

There were sharks, too. And rays. And Parrotfish, and Barracuda. And Squid.

Nurse shark seen while snorkeling lighthouse reef belize

I swam right over this Nurse Shark – I almost didn’t notice it!

I brought an underwater camera along for this trip. I was learning to use it as the trip progressed, and I was able to get some video of underwater wildlife.

In this video, I was shooting for images of parrotfish and blue tang on a coral head – but I did not know I was about to have my first shark encounter!

In this video, I simply swam 50 yard off the beach and saw parrotfish and trunk fish!

Here, you can see a beautiful Stingray I encountered just off the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Green Planet, Life Outside, Travel

Kayaking Lighthouse Reef and Half Moon Caye Belize

2 05 2014

wet exit lesson island expeditions half moon caye

Tisha gets a wet-exit lesson!

A week kayaking and snorkeling on Half-Moon Caye Belize guarantees a return to natural rhythms – awakening to the sunrise, sounds of gentle surf and rustling palm fronds, paddling sapphire clear waters, snorkeling amidst nature’s underwater splendor, and no hashtags. Plus, the 80+ degree water doesn’t hurt, either!

Lucy paddling out to the wreck on the reef lighthouse reef

Lucy paddling out to the wreck on the reef

Paddling Lighthouse Reef is definitely living a fantasy. The water is utterly sapphire clear and it’s warm. Inside the reef’s 22-mile long ring, the lagoon is only 8-10 feet deep. The protected waters are packed with an array of life. Our guides were of Garifuna, Mayan and Mestizo ethnicity – and they’d switch between English, Creole and Spanish at will.

Kayaks in the Island Expeditions fleet

Kayaks included Necky single or tandem polyethylene kayaks, Seaward tandem fiberglass kayaks and a few Boreal Design polyethylene single kayaks – and SUPs. The tandem kayaks were set up for sailing.

Island Expeditions paddling accessories

They also had a selection of Kokatat and Astral PFDs. A good portfolio of equipment for a tour operator, I thought.

Our agenda shifted each day depending on weather conditions. Sunrise was followed by 6:30 a.m. yoga with Tisha, from Vancouver BC. After breakfast, we would launch kayaks and paddle out to the reef, where we would snorkel.

Day one was mandatory snorkeling and kayaking introduction including wet exits and rescues.

DSCF1213One big question for me: Considering my back and hamstring injuries, which I’ve been working diligently to resolve, how will they handle trying to roll a kayak or do a rescue? The only way to know is to try. So upon launching, with the guides observing, I proceed to successfully roll my kayak five times! No back pain. Then, I try a re-enter and roll. A re-enter and roll is performed with the kayak upside down floating on the surface. I take a deep breath, get into the kayak upside down, and roll it up. Voila! I did it, no pain! Now to try an assisted rescue. In this case, with someone else stabilizing the boat, I pull myself onto the rear deck face down, inchworm my body/legs into the cockpit and then corkscrew right side up. OUCH! That was NOT GOOD! That exercise positively zonked my hamstring. But otherwise, paddling went well.

One afternoon we tried kayak sailing. We used ruddered tandem kayaks, and the sails were mounted in between the cockpits. I have to say it was fortunate I have a lot of sailing experience, because the guides pretty much said, “Here you go. Sail down to a big stick down the reef and then come back.” I steered and held the sail and my “crew” was Tisha. Remember that sailboats have keels or centerboards, which are like a fin in the middle of the boat. Kayaks don’t have them. So sailing a kayak is more an exercise in getting there without paddling, but not efficiently or in any way IMHO satisfyingly. We all arrived at the stick within one minute of each other…but that was the more downwind leg. On the way back, it was what we sailors would call a close reach – meaning we were more or less with the wind coming from the side. The return leg really “separated the men from the boys,” and I had to use every trick in my sailing skills base to get that kayak going straight instead of sideways, and to land on the island and not miss it entirely and wind up in the ocean. When we turned around at the stick, Half Moon Caye was almost invisible. I had to hold the sail as low and stiff as possible, using my outstretched arm, to spill air, whilst pushing the rudder with my feet so we had the correct angle. Lucky for me I was wearing my Astral Brewer shoes. Others got blisters! We learned to lean into the wind to keep the boat tilted right. Anyway we were so focused we simply doubled down on getting back to the island, and never looked back. When we landed, we were amazed that the others were dots on the horizon! We KILLED IT! We had 30 minutes of swim time before anyone else landed. After the experience, though, I say sailing is for sailboats!

Here’s a video of Tisha learning to wet exit her kayak!

Here’s a video of kayaking off Half Moon Caye…!

Next post – we’ll explore snorkeling Lighthouse Reef Belize!


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Life Outside, Paddling, Travel

« Previous Entries