Tales from a 12-Year-Old: My Trip to Maldives Day 2

On my trip to Maldives Day 2, I woke up to the sound of the alarm ringing in my ears because it was time for our snorkelling trip to George In. I lazily changed into my swimsuit and after breakfast, I ran down the hot jetty planks to the boat. It was a sunny morning and the crystal clear water was glistening below us. I could see the little chunks of coral and the white sand that looked absolutely enchanting. While we waited for the boat, I listened to the instructor tell us what to do in Mandarin and English.

When we got on to the boat, I quickly sat right next to the entrance so that I could be the first one in the water. However, my plan failed…again! We had gone to the drop off area. On our left was the reef and on the right was the drop off. You could see the big Triggerfish and other huge fish in the distance and the small reef fish in the reef. I enjoyed swimming in the middle because you could see a combination of fish but I always wondered what other mysterious fish there was in the dark misty water beyond.

My favorite fish was the Black Pyramid Butterfly. I liked it because it was black with a thick white line going through it. This fish variety eats plankton and form great schools up above the reefs. They very common and just like the Blue Surgeonfish; I would see these quiet often. The only new fish that I saw was the Soap Fish. Like its name, the soap fish looks like a bar of soap but is called so because it is covered with slimy mucus to ward of predators.

On returning to the resort, we grabbed some lunch and an hour later, headed out for another snorkelling trip to a site called Astrophy. This time, the sun was shining even brighter thus the water was shimmering and looked even better so I could not wait to jump in The first fish I saw when I opened my eyes was the Piano Fang Blenny and the Royal Angelfish. My mom’s favorite was the Leopard Blenny. Did you know that the Piano Fang Blenny feeds off other fish’s scales and mucus? I tried to catch the fish flitting about but it was impossible. One of the tourists saw me struggling and gave me some bread. I sprinkled some breadcrumbs around and they came racing towards me.

On our way back to the resort, we spotted a pod of dolphins. They were swimming and playing around the boat. It was delightful. When we came back from snorkelling, I went to do Zumba on the beach. I enjoyed it because we danced to interesting beats and songs. My action-packed day in Maldives ended with a hearty dinner and a cup of hot chocolate.