Conception Island National Park

We set off with the sails up and decided it was easier to sail to Conception Island, than Rum Cay which had been our initial plan and what a good decision that was. it was a lovely calm sail across, the island was a real gem. There is no habitation on the island, it is a protected marine reserve. So stunning and wonderful to have no fancy private homes. Full of birdlife too making lovely noises.

We got there midday with quite a difficult mooring through the shallow coral beds. Only two other boats moored which was rather nice. The first thing we did was take Jeldi Jeldi to the far northern headland which is where the best snorkelling was listed in our guide book. I had my fins and goggles on entered the water with Rowan and within 5 secs I spotted a big shark! That got me gasping on the surface, Rowan didn’t see it initially but did when we went under again. Poor Phoebs and Sam didn’t see it. I lost my nerve rather with the stiff current around the headland and opted to let the others have a good look before I ventured back in. We quite rightly swam against the current going out so it would be easier getting back. The coral and fish were lovely and in great sunlight it looked spectacular. We surfaced to hear Phoebs and Sam shouting at us saying a huge Barracuda was tailing us! Luckily it was time to get out.

After lunch Rowan wanted to go back with the Snuba, it is a little floating battery operated air machine that floats above you while you are diving, so no need for tanks. You can only go ten feet down but very nice not to have the weight of tanks on your back. We bought two in Fort Lauderdale. Han has also given him her go pro with it’s waterproof gear so he wanted to go and try it all out. I decided I wanted to walk over the bush to the next beach for a good long walk and Phoebs and Sam were enjoying relaxing on the boat. It was a gorgeous walk over to a beautiful crescent shaped white beach with a sand cliff at the end that they have put ropes on so you can climb to the top, to get stunning panoramic views.

I headed back and walked way back down the beach towards PolePole waiting for Rowan to pick me up. I could see Sam desperately trying to get a message to me. I finally picked up – shark fin and big, do not swim! Luckily I had the mobile vhf radio in my dry bag and was able to radio Phoebs and reassure her I was not going to go swimming with the shark! Rowan finally picked me up after a very successful snuba. We got back to the boat and found Phoebs and Sam in high excitement as Sam had dived in to swim off the back of the boat and luckily Phoebs was looking on, as within seconds this huge shark was coming towards him. Ok by huge I mean at least 7/8 foot long. When we got back on board Pole Pole another shark appeared swimming around the boat, Rowan put the go pro under the water and got a great shot of him. Most probably a Nurse shark, but seeing as Bull sharks are around we really did not want to take any chances. So with the other moored boat spotting a Lemon Shark earlier, it was 4 shark sightings for the day!

Go pro shot of the shark off the back of Pole Pole.

Phoebs and Sam went for a sunset walk to the beach I had been to and took some lovely pics, and spotted a huge ray swimming around.

Our Gin and tonics were very welcome tonight after all that excitement. We had some of our MahiMahi for supper which was delicious. We noticed a big fish swimming around the boat when we went to bed, no idea what it was. Lovely to see so much sealife about, the marine park must be a real sanctuary.