Snorkeling with Abel

We had booked a split-tour at Turneffe Flats, so we were going to do the Atoll Adventure package for the first few days and then fish for the latter half of the week. Today we were heading out with Abel, the atoll guide. We were with two other guests for the day, and headed out to our first snorkel spot. On the way, we came across a pod of dolphins playing in the wake from our boat. The water was a bit rough, but we snorkeled for nearly an hour, seeing more underwater wildlife than I had ever seen! There were several types of rays, fish, starfish, crabs, and beautiful corals of all kinds. We were all starting to get cold and so we got back in the boat, and headed across the entire atoll back to the west side to one of Abel's favorite snorkel spots. The reef here was INCREDIBLE! I cannot believe how much wildlife we saw. Really no way to describe it in words, but I could have snorkeled here for hours. The currents were a little stronger here and after an hour or so, we were all pretty cold so we went back in the boat and explored around through the mangroves on our way back to the lodge. We looking for manatee but no luck. Instead, we saw lots of birds. The mangroves were like a giant maze, and somehow Abel always knew exactly where we were. We got back to the lodge, had some sort of tropical drink and relaxed by the pool until dinner. The fisherman and divers all came back and we all shared our stories over dinner.