Buhairat Beach - a Wonderful Weekend Escapade

It's one of those very rare Friday mornings that I wake up as early as 6am. I usually leave my bed around noon. But yesterday, me and my friend/photography buddy, June, decided to spend our Friday morning in a public beach somewhere near Buhairat City .

We were actually there to snorkel as the reef abounds with beautiful and colorful corals and reef fishes. But as we arrived, we were surprised to see a group of egret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egret) skimming the shallow water of the Red Sea in low-tide. As is normal for a budding photographer, I immediately grabbed my camera. Thanks to Kuya June's 70-300mm Sigma lens, I was able to capture some shots from a distance without disturbing the birds.

Here are some of my captures:

After my fingers got tired maneuvering my camera and clicking my shutter, we got ready for snorkeling.

The weather was perfect. Sun was just warm enough; gentle breeze brushed against our sun-kissed skin; the waves were gentle. We didn't waste more time, off we put on our swim wear and goggles and waded on the shallow waters of Red Sea.

This is the third or fourth time I tried snorkeling, each time with June. He's my snorkeling/ swimming (not to mention photography) mentor. He taught me how to move my hands and kick my feet in a synchronized manner which I try to execute patiently. When I feel soreness on my scapula, I cheat and go back to my langoy-aso style in swimming harharhar.

Red Sea is so blessed with extraordinarily beautiful coral reef that is home to a lot of reef fishes I cannot even name. Too bad some of the corals near the surface appears bleached, probably because of the year-round scorching summer sun. But despite that, June spotted a sprouting moss green brain coral and another purple i-don't-know-what-type-of-coral. As we went deeper near the cliff, we saw clown fishes appearing and disappearing from their home - the anemone, as if playing hide and seek. A two-feet long puffer fish also came gliding beneath us. Angel fishes chase each other around. We also saw some parrotfish,  surgeonfish, sweetlips, fusiliers, striped emperors to name a few. Before we went ashore, we also spotted some small sword fishes about 3-feet long each. Some reef fishes are quite territorial, they nibble my lower leg and shoe strings.

It's a totally different world down there. The colors are so vibrant on the corals and fishes as if God painstakingly worked his magical brush on each creature you see around.

I'm definitely going back there next weekend, and this time I'll bring more friends to share the joy of seeing God's wonderful creation we don't get to see everyday. And hopefully this time I can bring an underwater camera so I can share some photos with you.

Ciao! Thanks for reading. Keep coming back ;)