Today is hopefully going to be an easy day. We're going to the marina to get a boat out to see dolphins and then do a spot of snorkelling. We leave the marina and pass a very neat dhow on the way out. We're the only people on the boat apart from our captain.

dhow in the harbour
baz on the boat
taeko on the dive boat

We head out into open water, the boat bounces a bit on the waves, but its nothing serious. We get splashed in the spray. We're almost out of sight of land, only the island offshore from Muscat is clearly visible. A few large tankers can be seen out in the Gulf. There's not much to see, apart from a few birds. I get up to five in my bird count. I don't know what they are, but at least its something interesting! After 90 minutes of this we give up hope of seeing any dolphins. Its not the dolphin season.

Then a shout from the Captain wakes us out of our semi-slumber! Dolphins! We jump up, grab our cameras and there they are, all round us, swimming, splashing, jinking back and forth around the prow of the boat. Sometime in this confusion I also see a flying fish heading rapidly away. I snap away with my camera on rapid shoot mode, but most of the pictures come out as grey blurs under water. But I don't care - seeing them is the important thing, and not something you can capture in a photograph. Here's the best of the batch anyway.

dolphin underwater
dolphin fin

So now its time to go snorkelling. Did I mention that I'm a feeble swimmer? I've snorkelled once before, in a tranquil bay in Australia, where you walk off the sand to the beach. Now we were on a bobbing boat just offshore. Taeko got her gear on and flipped over backwards straight into the water. She expected me to follow! I took the steps over the side and clung to the ladder on the side of the boat.

I tried to get used to the snorkel by sticking my face in the water and looking down. I could see fish and rocks underneath the boat. But the depth fazed me. The idea of letting go of the boat and swimming off above the deep water was terrifying me. By now the waves had bumped me against the boat a few times and scraped my leg. Taeko, who had been happily swimming with the fishes, came over and took my hand. Eventually I let go, and we swam off a short way from the boat. She had to switch hands, and I panicked a bit. I recovered, and swam back to the boat.

Taeko suggested the captain get a buoyancy aid jacket. It was strapped on and I felt much more comfortable, bobbing half-out of the water! There was no way I'd be able to dive underwater now, but I could at least swim around and check out the undersea life. If anyone can identify the fish, please send me an email!

some striped fish
electric blue and yellow fish
two sorts of fish

And then I saw the turtle. Not just a fleeting glimpse, but I circled with him below me. I saw Taeko dive down and take some pictures. Then the turtle drifted off into the deep blue.

turtle!
turtle!

Happy now, we swam for a bit more and then got out and thanked Captain Ahmed for his persistence in dolphin-hunting!

sea monsters!
taeko getting out
captain

Back at the marina we both have Greek salad, and then some tasty dessert. I couldn't resist taking photographs. And if you are ever having Greek salad with Taeko, keep your eyes on your olives, and don't be distracted if she says there's a turtle in the harbour!

dessert at the marina
yum

We called the Tomie Taxi and went home with our stories of dolphins and turtles. After a bit of shopping for postcards we went back home to get ready for the next day's adventures.