Now we were headed to Sunset House. I had read good things about this place and knew it was a dive area...not to mention we were hungry at this point and wanted to get a bite to eat. 

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We arrived to find that there was a huge restaurant area with plenty of chairs at the bar or at the tables. The area was covered and then you could also sit outside under the umbrellas. It was really hot so we opted under the restaurant palapa.

I ordered a cheeseburger and salad ($12), the hubby a grilled chicken and salad ($14), and Sakari had a plate of fish taco's (which were cod: $15). Then we ordered a bowl of sweet potato fries ($6.50) to share (our new addiction). Yes, we were throwing caution to the wind and cheating today with REAL bread. 

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As we waited on our food, you know me, I had to go out to explore the snorkeling area and get some pictures.

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It was starting to get really cloudy and dark. I was sure it was about to rain on us. 

The dive shop here.

A picture of the reef and dive area

Over by the cruise ship=dark and gloomy. The other direction=sunny.

As I walked back to our table, divers had came up with their catch of the day. They were discussing what a great dinner they were going to be having tonight...lionfish.

Lunch had arrived and it was SO GOOD! 

It started thundering and then the rain gods let loose! It was pouring down now and I was so glad we decided to sit under the roof because people were scrambling that were out on the deck. 

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As we ate, we had visitors...of course. Sakari started making them do tricks for their food and it would jump high up in the air. She got such a kick out of it. 

Our total came to $68.29US (we drank water with our meal) and had a 15% gratuity added to the bill.  

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As we waited to see if the storms were going to pass, my stomach started turning and churning. Oh my! What have I just done to myself? Is this bread working this quick? I was sorta glad that it was raining so that we could continue to sit there for awhile. At this point we were not only waiting to see if the rain passed but waiting to see if my sudden onset of stomach cramps were going to subside as well. Ouch!

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I made a couple of trips to the restroom trying to flush out these devilish carbs I had consumed and found the sign on the wall quite funny telling me to flush the toilet paper please. 

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After awhile, the rain had come to a very light sprinkle and my stomach had went from severe pain to a light ache so we decided to grab our gear from the car and head down to the snorkeling area. There was no way I was 1) going to let a bit of rain keep me from experiencing the snorkeling here and 2) let a little carbs hold me down.

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We put our belongings next to the wall, like that was going to magically keep them dry from the sprinkle or something, and headed down the ladder. 

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It was pretty deep as soon as you hit the water. There were valleys on the ocean floor and it was pretty cool.  We headed off to the right to explore and Sakari was absolutely loving diving down and getting some video for me as she swam through them.

The only issue is...we would later discover she was on the wrong setting and a lot of it was unusable. Darnit!

Scrawled Filefish

A couple of different French Angelfish along the way

Parrotfish: The parrotfish has a diet that consist of algae that grows inside coral polyps. The parrotfish will rip chunks of coral from the reef with their teeth and grind it up to reach the algae inside. Studies have shown that they possibly help bleached dying coral recover by eating the algae so that their may be new growth. 

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Did you know that parrotfish sleep in a bag of their own mucus, which creates a cocoon around them, and keeps them safe from biting bugs and mask their smell from night-time predators like sharks and eels?

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Parrotfish have roughly 1000 teeth, that are harder than most metals, and you can hear them chomping the coral underwater if you listen closely. Their teeth are fused together as one and a single parrotfish can produce up to 450 kilograms of sand each year (That's 1,000 pounds of sand!) or more. It is thought that they contribute so much sand that they form reef islands and enough to produce beaches. They have 15 rows of teeth and when they wear out, those teeth fall to the ocean floor, but they have more rows to fall into place and continue chomping. 

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Parrotfish can also change their sex throughout their lives...from female to male and their color also changes drastically as well. 

A large group on tangs swimming by

Four Eyed Butterfly Fish

Squirrel Fish: These fish have large eyes which help them see at night to hunt for food. They usually hide most of the day and are pretty skittish around humans. They are usually found hiding in or under coral, which helps them blend in. Some varieties of Squirrelfish are venomous and have spines on their gills to protect them. 

We spotted several Smooth Trunkfish along the way. They are so cute! They have a box appearance with a cute little pucker. Their mouth helps them in locating small invertebrates, worms and small crustaceans. You will see them moving the sand around and digging for goodies in it. Their body shape and fins allow them to hover in the water and turn 180° instantly. They win my award for the cutest looking fish in the sea (along with the puffer fish).

We decided to turn around and head back in the other direction. Something really huge caught my eye and I started flailing around like I had lost all ability to swim at that point...hey, I needed to do something to attract attention right?

Trust me, it was a lot bigger than what the picture portrays. So what was it you ask? A large Tarpon! We started seeing a few here and there and I had read that you would find them in this area.

Then we spotted a Stingray down on the ocean floor. He had a friend hanging out with him. 

We made it back to the area we came in at and noticed there was now a boat unloading divers on the side we wanted to go over to. So, we just hung out at the ladder for awhile and I would take some over/under pictures...only at this point, I noticed that my camera was on the wrong setting and gave out a big sigh knowing that all the pictures I had taken before now would not be clear. Darnit! At least I would get some good ones here. 

Sakari was up near the ladder and checking out all the critters there as we waited on the boat to move. There were a lot of little Squirrelfish (a different variety than what we normally see). I believe these are called Dusky Squirrelfish

We watched a few very busy Red Lip Blenny's zooming in and out of the coral and Sakari had managed to find some red colored feather duster worms.

When the boat finally moved, I decided to head over in that direction. However, at that point, Sakari was distracted by running and jumping off the concrete dock and diving down to the deep bottom to see what she could find. It was nice and sunny out now so she was spotting sea glass and other goodies and decided not to go over with me. (She actually found a Flamingo Tongue Snail shell...which was super cool!)

At first, I thought she had made the right decision. I really wasn't seeing anything interesting other than more dips and valleys in the water. 

I decided to head out a little further (away from the wall)

THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN....

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Something REALLY HUGE caught my eye. I gasp and started flailing around again. I'm pretty sure I took in a gulp of water. Sakari noticed my movements and immediately dove in, frantically trying to get over to me to save me. Only by the time she made it over...it was too late. 

As quickly as it came, it was gone. We tried to swim in the direction it was headed, but never found it again. That'll teach her not to go out with me next time. hehe  Remember the dive we did in Cozumel and it was the worse experience I had ever had? I had decided not to go on the second dive with her and daddy and I missed out on seeing the shark then? Well, it was my time for sweet revenge I guess. 

There were some boats that sat out in the water and we headed over in that direction and was rewarded with a school of more Tarpon. They were hanging out in the shadow under the boat. Ahhh, that's where they were all at. 

Did you know that Tarpon can grow up to around 8 feet long and weigh 280 pounds? They can live to more than 50 years too! They are known to jump 10 feet out of the water and can swim up to 35 mph! They are considered a prehistoric fish and have been around for over 100 million years.

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We decided to call it quits on the snorkeling and on the way back we found a Caribbean Spotted Stingray hanging out. 

As we were getting out, I had to snap a picture of a crab under the stairs on the wall. 

A short video of our day snorkeling...and a SHARK!

We gathered our things and headed out...Mr Rooster escorted us to the car.