Rongerik Atoll
29 December 2011 | Marshall Islands
Three glass floats on this beach is a record find.
We snorkeled on the coral heads inside of the lagoon. The coral was plentiful but in some areas it was dusted with sand from the nearby barrier reef. The fish populations were not as abundant as we had hoped but the number of groupers were greater than anywhere else we have visited in the Marshalls. The water is so warm and clear there is not much plankton to support life inside the lagoon. On the outside of the windward side of the atolls, where the plankton nourishment is greater, the reefs are more vibrant. There is enough plankton to feed the giant clams. The largest of the giant clams in more than 3 feet across; nearly as big as the largest on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Still, the diving is better in the Bahmas and better at a few selected spots on a remote atoll in the South Pacific.