We Were Up Early Again,

after a quick early breakfast,

 we were making our way back down to Bang Boa pier, passing the local equivalent to Pattaya's Walking Street on the way,

 as usual the journey makes for an exciting time in itself,

 with hills, dales and hairpin bends,

 we soon arrived at the car park and bought some extra bread to feed to the fish,

 then to the pier,

 a quick family picture,

today we were going on one of the bigger boats, the smaller of these two,

 with like it's sister boat an elephant on the front of it,

 a look at some of the waterfront properties,

 and we are on our way,

past some of the other moored boats,

and light house,

and a few of the 'pirate' boats we saw on our last visit here,

we all watched the ocean slip away,

as some of the crew started preparing some of our food for later in the day,

we pasted many islands on the way,

but this was the first that we stopped at,

so gear on and in we went,

time to get sorted out, 

then under we went,

there were fish everywhere,

and we had not even got the bread out,

to feed them with,

soon the rest of the family had jumped in,

except Daisy May who understandably was a little scared of the deep water, of course for mother Lyn it was her first time into the deep ocean too,

as soon as the bread was produced,

fish of every shape and colour arrived,

all so tame,

sometimes you could not see the diver for the fish!

it was all so much great fun,

one of the crew took the family with him to show them around the island,

whilst I followed behind them taking pictures as I went,

a couple of small Christmas tree worms, (Spirobranchus giganteus), we will be seeing more of these later,

there were also so many corals to look at, also an anemone or two,

I then found another colony of  Christmas tree worms with even more inhabitants than before,

and a few more corals,

meanwhile above me the family were making their way around the island,

I looked at a few more corals,

it may seem all sweetness and light down here, but be careful of these sea urchins, on one of the later dives a tourist stood on one and ended with 20 or so spines in his foot,

but on with our dive,

no problems for us as we left this island and made a move for the next one,

and here it is,

one of the crew jumped in, 

and tied us to a permanent anchor, this means that as every boat arrives there is no damage made by each boat stopping to visit the island,

some of the people on the boat took a trip ashore instead of diving,

like Mum and Daisy may,

but for us,

 we were in with the fish,

they were everywhere,

which was great for us,

a quick look up top,

then I was back under,

looking at the corals,

in every shape,

complexity,

and colour,

I then arrived at another,

Christmas tree worm colony,

and a coral surrounded by electric blue damsel fish,

one of the guides free dived,

to pick up a clam to show it to our group,

which was nice for everyone to see close up,

then what appeared to be single Christmas tree worm,

but there was another one in the rock next door,

some more worms,

then a blue clam,

I also looked at this strange looking coral,

I was then in Christmas tree worm heaven,

the whole side of this rock face,

was literally covered in them,

next a cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), tried to get my attention,

then there was two of them,

one approached me as if it was looking to clean my camera,

deeper a huge sea sponge,

and then here we were on the surface,

so time for a few family pictures,

then our guide free dived,

for a star fish,

for us all to have a look at,

dive over,

our boat anchored in the distance,

we made our way to shore,

and waited to be picked up by the boats tender,

then it was picture time,

as we made our way back to the boat, 

pictures all round,

here is our next island,

and pretty it looks too,

we are looking forward to our next dip in the sea,

we parked next to another day trip boat,

and as you might expect the sea was soon alive with fish,

 a happy Diana takes a selfie,

and then a picture of me entering the water, or I should say me falling off the back of the boat!

all was OK,

so let the fun commence,

it may be me imagining it,

but there seemed to be a lot more fish here,

not only in numbers,

but in species,

than there was here just a year,

or 6 months ago,

not that we were complaining,

it was just an observation that I made and Diana confirmed,

a quick look at the boat to see where we are,

and we were off again,

the family were having so much fun,

so I left them to it,

I continued around the island,

and found a garden of anemones,

I made my through some of them,

taking a few pictures of corals as I went, 

when I was stopped in my tracks,

or I should say in my fins,

by this little chap,

he darted out at me with no fear considering to him my size, I gave way and moved on, the thought of having to admit I was mugged by a 2" clown fish in this post was too much to bare,

I joined an 8 banded butterfly fish (Chaetodon octofasciatus) looking for food,

we finished our snorkeling, where Daisy May was also looking at some one looking for food,

and quite good luck a member of the crew was having as well,

I should have watched this, how to light a bar-b-q on a boat without burning most of the street out and smoking all of the neighbours to death, 

and this is our barby this afternoon,

I have to admire this young mans trust, as I was taking pictures he stood up and said giving me his place, 'Papa you do', me? cooking? are you mad? I can imagine the headlines in tomorrows newspapers, 'mass food poisoning on snorkeling cruise!'

we pasted a few more islands,

meanwhile the barby as being prepared,

as we passed what appeared to be an abandoned jetty,

we then approached a place we had visited before,

so it was time to wake Sandio up,

as we pulled in,

but Dad had been awake the whole trip looking at the ocean,

unlike most of us,

who had caught a few ZZZZZ's or two,

a look around the boat,

and Diana took one of me,

Dioshane,

Lyn,

Mum and Dad,

cute little Daisy May,

and a still tired Sandio,

then on to the jetty and ashore,

where the fish mobbed anyone with bread to spare,

we have been here a few times, but are still not sure what this place is, other than there are signs saying private as you approach it,

ours is the boat sandwiched in the middle,

we made our way along the jetty,

blue skies,what could be better?

a panorama from the jetty,

and a pose from Diana,

and Daisy May,

at the end of the jetty there are some rocks,

where Diana noticed this little chap, 

who had a friend,

with a beautifully designed and coloured carapace,

we made our way to the restaurant on the island,

and admired the view, the good news, they had fresh coconuts, the bad news, they had no ice cream,

but that did not stop Daisy may from having a swim,

so back to the boat and our last view of the last island on this days boat trip,

where the bar-b-q was served,

we all enjoyed the food,

swimming builds up such an appetite,

then back in the truck,

I know they do not change,

but the roads seem so much steeper than the last time we were here,

but I guess it is all in the mind,

walk this way, and what is the famous or infamous response? 'if I could walk that way I would not need the talcum powder!'

and back home to the ever welcoming Paddy's Palms,

 where after a wash, shower, brush up and liberal application of aloe vera to my burnt head,

 we had our evening meal, I should mention that due to lack of hair and being in the sun all of the time I was snorkeling, the top of my head was getting more sun than was good for it, so I now have a badly sun-burnt head, hence the aloe vera,

 we were all worn out after the day,

 but all so happy,

 especially as ice cream was in stock here,

  and Diana's favourite,

 sticky toffee pudding,

and for me wine in stereo! and an apple crumble, with all of that we chatted the night away, we have another full day tomorrow, so first I had to write the post and then I like everyone else was off to bed.