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TRAVEL
214
February15
The Marine Life
As animal lovers, one of our
favourite aspects of the trip was
getting up close and personal with
the marine life. Though we had
snorkelled before, we were a bit
apprehensive about taking to the
sea unsupervised from the get-go.
Luckily, the knowledgeable team at
Baros’s Marine Centre gave us a
private, guided refresher session to
familiarise us with the sea life and
the house reef.
Never in my life had I been so
close to sharks (don’t worry, these
ones are harmless) and such a
rainbow of brightly hued fish. There
is an amazing diversity of sea life
in the Maldives, with various corals,
stingrays and over 2,000 species
of exotic fish in all shapes and
sizes – from butterfly fish, angelfish
and clownfish to oriental sweetlips,
triggerfish and Moorish idols. The
best part is that we got to learn
about many of them beforehand
in a brief introductory session.
Once in the water, I was sure the
fish would swim away from me,
but, in fact, they didn’t even bat
an eye, letting us observe them
from less than an arm’s length; the
photos taken of us underwater by
the snorkelling guide were a real
bonus – we brought them home
on a thumb drive.
And those snorkellers who have
already explored all the nooks and
crannies of Baros’s house reef
can opt to join a snorkelling safari,
going out on a boat to explore at
least two other reefs in the area.
Another fun option for exploring
the house reef is taking one of the
resort’s see-through canoes for a
whirl. It’s a great way to familiarise
yourself with the island and reef
while seeing the colourful fish
below. We did this as our first
activity and loved every minute of it.
I’m awful at paddling a canoe, but it
sure made for a fun hour of taking
in the sights – and togetherness.
The Dark Side
At Baros, snorkelling and diving doesn’t have to end at dusk. In fact, creatures
like eels, octopuses, lobsters and shrimp are much more active at night. Night-
snorkellers and divers can watch parrotfish going to sleep, lionfish waking up,
lobsters running around the rocks – including the slipper lobster, a species not
seen during daylight – and corals come alive as they feed with their tentacles.
The “Diving on the Dark Side” adventure is open to all guests at Baros who
are experienced snorkellers and divers, and have been out on the house reef
during daytime.
There are currently 12 resident turtles who call Baros’s house reef their home:
Pana, Sandy, Goofy, Aya, Arnie, Bonthi, Dex, Parsley, Tiger, Sparky, Coco
and Schumi. While we saw almost every other creature there is to see during
daylight, we were bummed to miss the turtles during our snorkel outings.
Reason enough to get back to Baros!