Our second excursion of the morning was deep water snorkeling. Everyone wore wet suits as this was fairly cold water. When you first got in the water seemed very cold but the wet suits did the trick and made it comfortable. We saw cormorants diving and at least 10 sea turtles. The water had a bit of current but we were able to get close to the turtles. A few sea lions were swimming around very close to us as well. We saw a blue sea star and a chocolate chip sea star along with many fish. We were able to swim near the cormorant breeding area and see the nests up close.
After lunch we headed to Isabela. This took a few hours. With the weather still cloudy, it seemed prime time for a nap in our cabin. The afternoon excursion was a panga tour of Isabela.
The panga tour went through the mangroves of Isabela. The water on the way to and from the mangroves was very rough but not for that long. We saw a few penguins as soon as we entered the mangroves, but they kept going underwater and we couldn't get a good picture. Past the penguins, we saw a great blue heron on a branch. As we continued through, we saw a lot of sea turtles both swimming and resting on the bottom. We saw a yellow warbler and another type of heron. On the way out we saw more penguins. We also saw some blue-footed boobies diving.
When we retuned the chef greeted us with shredded coconut balls and plantains with cheese. (Each day we had a great snack and cold beverage when we returned from our afternoon excursion)
