Turtle Reef - No Luck With The Turtles @ Maldives [Part of Excursion Package]

When i decided on Maldives as a vacation, it was the limitless snorkeling that appealed to me and today, i am going to share with you the first snorkeling site i visited in Maldives; Turtle Reef

Seeing the choppy waves, i held on even tighter to the life jacket. Although i have been swimming since i was six, it is more the relaxed frog style; power swimming is totally not my forte!

The fear dissipated after my head, comfortably housed by the easybreath snorkeling mask, was in the water. Alright, i admit i wasn't blown away but this is something i expected after quite a number of snorkeling trips.

'Things' roughly looked similar on snorkeling expeditions; coral reefs of various shapes and sizes and it's really the type of marine creatures that make you look at things from a different perspective.

In this case, i was totally looking forward to sightings of turtle which gave the reef its name. Unless of course, we are taking about the shape of the reef.

I did see a number of marine fish species not commonly seen in other sites although there was not once that a turtle was in my view! On second thought, i should have followed the main guide who was swimming so fast ahead; i lost track of him after a few minutes. 

To be fair, i could not help being stopped by the marvels of the underwater world. Like a kid, i was ecstatic to find non-fish marine creature even if it has a fish in its name. 

Alex, as usual, was trying to lure the fishes with his bottle of bread; painstakingly imported from Singapore, tore into mini pieces and then squeezed into the tiny mouth of the recycled mineral water bottle.

Sadly for him, 'business' wasn't good. 

A puffer fish that was about the length of my arm! 

Still pretty near the speedboat even though most of my tour mates had already ventured far far away. It can be quite unnerving to be the only two persons in the water; what if a shark comes by and decides to have me for lunch!? 

Mostly small and cute fishes though. To be honest, the movie Jaws has a significant impact on my life; because of it, i am mildly afraid of the ocean, always wondering if a great white would suddenly appear and drag me down! 

Did you notice something unusual in this photo?

Two blue surgeon fishes were chasing each other in circles! They were just twirling and twirling around for the entire time i was there. 

Top of the reef with unexciting corals.

Edge of the reef is the place where you can chance upon spectacular coral structures teeming with marine life. The only problem is the big drop into the unknown great ocean where the bottom doesn't seem to exist. 

Those who have been following my snorkeling posts would have noticed the abundant existence of one marine fish species; sergeant major or píntano (Abudefduf saxatilis) fish. It was thankfully not the case in Maldives!

The first clam i chanced upon.

Finally caught up with our tour mates; as you can see, it was extremely deep and being the weak swimmer, i could only look with envy as they glided gracefully in the water. 

With the current against me, i was already facing fatigue despite the life jacket and was wondering if i could even make it to the speedboat alive!

Apparently i wasn't the only one; those without life jackets had it worse and this was only our first site! The speedboat eventually came over to where we were and picked us up! Heng ah! 

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Location Map

If it is of interest to you, GPS coordinates are 3.846787 73.416253.

For my six days, five nights 

Maldives itinerary, click here.