Brian's travel adventures: Island hopping

What a beautiful morning. We woke to patches of blue sky and shadows on the ground as we walked down for breakfast. We had a little time to spare before we set of on our island hopping adventure so we popped into the games room above the souvenir store and library.

We had a 30 minute boat ride to one of the inhabited islands, but as we arrived there was no guide for us and the shops were closed. Under normal circumstances there would have been no tour on a Friday, but as ours was cancelled yesterday, we were there. We hopped back on the boat.

We headed off to one of the uninhabited islands where we had approximately 2 hours to ourselves. Magnificent! I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

From our island paradise we headed back to the inhabited island for a walking tour with our guide. The island was devastated in the 2004 tsunami and has been undergoing the rebuilding process. The 3 mosques on the island have obviously been a priority.

The coconuts were amazing. There were three different types. These orange ones are not eaten, they are used for drinking only.

Back onto the boat and we stopped for a half hour snorkel off one of the islands on our way back to the resort. The marine life was amazing. I have never seen so many different colored fish. It was an unbelievable sight and an awesome experience. A little bit of bread goes a long way and draws the fish in. We even saw an octopus times 2 (which could be octopuses or octopi). The fish were annoying them and they moved into the coral to hide from them. They were quite large with a head the size a football. I loved the snorkeling