I love starfishes!

Simmonds again was our wake up call this morning. We all got up earlier than normal so we could book island hopping for the day. It was pretty easy to book it as you get hassled so much about activities to do on the island as you walk down the road. We booked it with a man and then a lady came to walk us to a tricycle. Half way to the other side of the island the woman jumped off and switched with a different person. The other women then walked us to the boat on the beach. We had some mango for our breakfast. For our first snorkel stop we had to pay 20 pesos which annoyed us as we had already paid a lot for the day. The snorkel wasn't the best as the current dragged you away from the boat. Our next stop was on one of the islands. Again we had to pay to get 200 pesos if we wanted to cross to the other side and swim in the caves. Morag and I weren't going to but Simmonds was kind and paid for us both. The cave was really cool with crystal blue water. After we had our swim we watched a Chinese woman go in with the orange life ring attached to the side, it was pretty funny to watch. It was time for us to go back to the boat but it completely shucked it down on our way back. It was annoying as we could have spent a lot longer at the cave and could have gone to the other one. Instead we chatted to an Aus woman and a Canadian woman with her son. Her son is 8 years old and the coolest child I have met! Finally stopped raining so everyone got back onto the boat. We went to another island for lunch. On our way in we had to squeeze the boat we were on through all the others which proved to be a bit of a challenge. All the boats out here have big side bits that help the boat balance. It was a buffet lunch but not the nicest. The only good things were the pork on skewers. Watched a local boy do masses of back flips into the water. After lunch our next stop was a starfish snorkelling place. It was a lot of fun as there were so many starfish and you could snorkel down get them. The little boy and the Canadian mother and a couple of other people were shocked with how long I could hold my breath for. Didn't realise I had such a skill, haha. It was funny as the guy driving the boat took some pictures on his camera and Morags camera of us under the water. On Morags camera she is practically naked!!! So, he must have a couple of the same pictures on his camera. Next stop was a beach. We just swam in the sea. Got a couple of beached whale pictures before heading back to where we started. We had to pay 10 pesos to get a boat into shore. The water was shallowish Morag and I made a point and walked more than a 200 metres to get into shore. Luckily had a our flip flips as the ground was really gunky with masses of seaweed. Everyone on the boat were laughing at us. Some diving people asked if we wanted to be carried in by them! We made it back just before the boat which was funny. We watched a Chinese girl get out of the boat and she just fell into the water and lay there for 10 seconds before getting up. Morag and I couldn't hold our laughter in. We gave our email to the Canadian lady so she could get our pictures. Tuktuk to the other side of the island. Before going back to the hostel we stopped off a shake bar. The others had a coffee shake and I got a mango. Shower before heading out to get something to eat. We ate on the beach near the hostel. It was only us there. It was fun evening. Morag and I had our long dresses on and I somehow discovered that my dress was really springy. So Morag and I sprang my camera back and fourth. The people working there found it very funny. We are odd children!! We walked back to the hostel. Morag went for a wonder by herself because she wasn't tired. I tried catching up on my diary. Had an earlyish bed.