We pretty much ended up as far as we could go (since Sandy Point National Park was closed until September) and that would be the area of West End Bay Beach, Sand Castle Beach and Dorsch Beach area. I had read prior to coming this was a great place to snorkel. Let's see what their definition of "great" was compared to mine.

Here's the location:

We found a place to pull off on the side of the road (it reminded me of places in Aruba where you just pull off anywhere along the beach and there's trees to park under) and we unloaded our necessities for snorkeling. (Although I did pull up just a little too much and got myself stuck...for a minute at least). There were sandy area's to walk in and also area's with flatter rocks and still easy access to the water. There wasn't very many people here today...again, where are all the people???

Karl went right to it and was doing awesome. I believe he is actually getting the hang of it!

We snorkeled up and down the area pretty far. There was actually a lot to see with plenty of rocks and fish in the area. I was quite pleased with the area actually.

Smooth Trunkfish in different areas.

Then we spotted a group of SQUID

Sakari motioned me over and said she had found a Lion Fish.

Banded Butterfly Fish

I spotted an Oyster

A bunch of Christmas Tree Worms were all over the place. They are so pretty and come in so many different colors.

A cute little Gobie Fish working on getting all the sand back out of his home as the waves pushes it back in...all...day...long.

I have read and seen all the pictures of the starfish here on the island...well, this would be the one and only starfish we seen while there. Yea, it was dead and other fish were eating it.

Sakari was swimming along the bottom and waved her hand across the sand because she spotted something with a greenish color to it. At she continued to wave the sand away, she came up with a new critter for Karl to see for the first time.

It was a sand dollar. I don't think I've ever seen one that had green markings to it before.

Then she came up with a Tiger Spotted Conch Shell. It was so beautiful and I don't think we have ever seen one of these before either. Since I was floating at the top, I was moving back and forth and didn't manage to get a good picture darn it (but it is in the video).

A school of Blue Striped Grunts

More Christmas Tree Worms.

Flounder

This is a really big, extra large, extra fat, Sergeant Major Damselfish. I only seen them this size when we were in the Mexican Riviera.

We had made it pretty far down the beach and the hubby and I decided to get out when we seen a sandy area. Once we entered the beach, we noticed a bird by a rock where the waves were coming in. It was a Tern Chick (a type of sea bird).

It was just laying there by the rock. We didn't understand why it wasn't flying away or moving.

As we walked by, we could tell it must have been hurt the way it was flapping around. I felt so bad for it.

I think Karl was having too much fun snorkeling. Him and Sakari refused to get out of the water and wanted to snorkel back. The hubby and I walked back down the beach to where our things were. See them out there still going strong?

Once we returned I decided I wanted to go back out and try some over under pictures before leaving. I thought this would be the perfect place since there was rocks and fish in the water to make the "under" part look good. Here's what I came up with...enjoy!

When Sakari came out of the water I told her about the bird and she had to go rescue it. She's not afraid of anything I swear and she's a bird lover (she has a parrot) and couldn't stand the thought of it possibly drowning with the water rushing in.

We stayed until around 1:15pm and then decided to pack up and head out to our next stop.

Here's a short video of our time there (best viewed in full screen to see the fish):