We went snorkeling on our first day and we were so impressed with the abundance and diversity of coral, sponges, anemones, fish and other sea creatures we decided to take out our tanks and diving gear and go SCUBA diving. I can't list all of the things we saw, but one thing that sticks in my mind is the octopus's garden. There was a hole in the sand bordered by shells- pretty pink scallop shells, tortoise pattern clan shells a conch shell that would fit in the palm of your hand and many other treasures and bits. This "common octopus" is reddish brown and has arms 3-4 times the length of his body.

When we returned to El Oculto we snorkeled again and this time Hunter brought his octopus lure. Using the shiny mylar from a discarded box wine (there is a bog inside of the box), he made a lure with eyes. The eyes were the little button like things that you put in the holes of Crocs. Write to me if you need more detail on that. The lure had a weight and a line. Hunter dropped the lure in front of the octopus's hole and jigged it. In short time the octopus could not resist and sent a few arms out to grab the shiny object. We could not draw the octopus entirely out of its hole, but we did see a few arms and the head and the octopus took the weight home.

One of the remarkable things about the underwater life was the number and colors of Christmas Tree Worms. These colorful tube worms live on coral and look like tiny bottle brushes or christmas trees. When they sense motion they close and retract in to their tubes.

Orange Spotted File fish is in the background of this photo.