Snorkeling and Nature Walk Weekend

The joys of simple life..... slowing down to enjoy nature's relaxing gifts.

Weekend started after work Friday. I asked hubby for a Fri-date. My idea of a Friday date or "Fri-date" is not about fancy dining out nor watching a movie, but swimming together with the fishes. It was low tide, and I had a hunch the harmless leopard sharks would be around following their food chain.

Not all sharks are born equal, unlike the other sharks, leopard sharks are harmless to humans. 

First, they have very small mouth that could only feed on very tiny sea creatures such as crabs, clams, shrimps, and fish eggs.  

Second, they do not bite nor chew their food because they have very small teeth, instead they swallow their foods without chewing at all.

Third, they pretty much are bottom feeders and not interested at all of big fish. The seals and the sea lions are safe with them, as much as humans are also safe with them.

Wonderful Fri-date with the Leopard Sharks at La Jolla Shores

Being surrounded by so many leopard sharks while swimming was one of my best underwater experiences so far. It's just so amazing to be so close to them, almost inch away from them. I actually would have to move away from them since my underwater point and shoot camera ( Panasonic Lumix DMC TS25 ) is not wide angle enough to be able to take them picture when very close. Despite its limitations though, I really love my underwater camera for a cost of $116. I chose Panasonic Lumix DMC TS25 because to get an underwater casing for my dslr would cost me more than $1000, and I am not at that level of taking very serious photography underwater to be swimming with that weight, and oh oh, money! :(  I will have more detailed review probably later.   

If our Fri-date was snorkeling with the leopard sharks, our Satur-date was snorkeling with other fishes at La Jolla Cove. 

Snorkeling Satur-date at La Jolla Cove ( that's me above, and hubby below )

La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove actually are very near each other, you could swim from La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove about 1 mile ( 2 miles round trip). A lot of swimmers do that, but I don't! I am afraid to pass the canyon which takes a sudden 500 ft plunge, reaching depths of up to 600 ft. This abrupt drop in depth and rich marine life is the reason why migrating gray whales can be spotted very close to the shore.

Here's a video I made from Fri-date's and Satur-date's snorkeling. Hope you enjoy it!

Sun-date, we had a very relaxing nature walk at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve in Solana Beach. 

Nature Sights @ San Elijo Lagoon ( with kestrel, osprey in flight and dragonfly )

The lagoon above is actually a marsh water lagoon, right next to the beach. It is one of the popular bird watching spots in San Diego. However, there was nothing much going for bird watching, I think Mission Bay bird watching has a lot more bird actions and variety. But, I was so happy to see an osprey dive and caught a fish, but too far from me to take a decent picture. 

Osprey With Caught Big Fish and Egret ( what was the egret trying to do?)

Oh, how I wish they were closer to me so I could have taken a clearer picture, since I wanted to see the face of egret greeting the osprey.

I believe we burned a lot of calories from our cold water swimming and hiking, that we did treat ourselves to some desserts, haha! 

Sample snacks: chicken curry croissant, smoked salmon panini with avocado and salad, napoleon and chocolate chips meringue cookie

That's a peek to The Joys of Simple Life's idea of  exciting and fun-filled weekend "dates", slowing down to spend time with nature and being thankful for all the wonderful blessings around. It sure was another weekend spent like a vacation, well, a staycation. We did not have to pay for hotel since our hotel is our home, and the places we explore are everything local. Monday, started the week's reality again, :) , but I have no complains, I love my week always at work. 

♥♥