Kicker Rock

As a surprise, our directors took us out on a snorkel trip to “el Leon Dormido” aka Kicker Rock. We spent the entire day out on the boat, and god it was great. We first stopped at Isla de Lobos, which was another shoreline snorkel site. The sea lions were insanely friendly and seemed to enjoy making all of us scream by popping out right in front of us. There were lots of Bullseye Puffers everywhere, some turtles and we even got to find some sand dollars. There were not really any new fish as it was a typical rocky shoreline, simply a bit more isolated.
Leon Dormido, however, was completely different, which was really cool for me to see and especially to compare the fish I was seeing there with those I’d seen other places. Leon Dormido is formed by two giant rocks with a canal down the middle (DSCN6807, DSCN6816). In relatively deep, open water, Leon Dormido has a much colder temperature than on-shore sites, and thus we saw a lot of different things, such as the Kings Angelfish, which was everywhere. While swimming through the channel we also saw some sharks swimming deep underneath us, appearing only as distinct silhouettes below. The water was also full of jellies and other invertebrates. Luckily they didn’t sting much, though our wetsuits gave us some extra confidence in addition to keeping us warm in the cold water.
After exploring for a while, we headed to a calm lagoon for some lunch and relaxing time. We sat in the glassy shallows, watching pelicans kamikaze themselves into the water next to the boat. Every once in a while, we’d jump off the bow to escape the painful bites of horseflies and biting flies. Synchronized swimming and afternoon lounging was enjoyed by all.
Unfortunately, I got severely burned over the day, although if you ask me, it was totally worth it if it meant I could have an awesome day.