Long is the finger; a turbulent, rocky, sandy, tapered finger it is. This finger of lava that the volcano spewed only a couple of hundred years ago is now the haunt of several cleaner fish that attract mantas. When the current flows, the mantas come, singly at first and then in pairs and groups as they meet their peers. Unlike bears, they seem to like each other. They dance in front of our eyes as they meet each other and then turn around and endlessly circle over the divers’ heads. Again and again they swim past divers, apparently enjoying the tickle of bubbles on their bellies, dragging the remoras and jacks behind them.
And then, the unexpected: dolphins swim through the crowd of divers, playful, happy, always smiling. The current reminds us that we need to do more aerobic exercise before we go on a diving trip, but the huge sand patches that sit at the bottom of imaginary pools provide much appreciated respite from the push of the current. And then, as we hover and pant in the lull by the rock, we see the groupers, flounders, blennies, hawkfish, butterfly fish, and other residents of this haunt, as they go about their daily life on the reef. Cabo Pearce also gives us the chance to kayak by its striped red cliff with clear waters, cave formations, and an inviting bay.
– Gabe, U.S.A.
The Finger of lava & the cleaner fish
