I duckdive and stick my head into a little cave. It’s covered in soft corals and weed and stinging hydroids. A flash of movement, and it seems to be a pair of claws waving about it, but it’s so well camouflaged it’s hard to tell. I get closer, and I recognise little eyes peering out at me.
Eyes and claws. Is it a crab or some kind of out-of-this-world alien? Am I snorkelling on a reef in Thailand, or floating in space?
I swim over to another coral bommie. Bright orange and pink polyps cling to their limestone skeleton, and I have a moment of déjà vu. Movement. Eyes. I’ve found another alien crustacean hiding in the coral crevices.
And so my morning goes. So many weird and wonderful sea-critters lurking amongst the rocks and coral.
(For more of our travels to Thailand and the cool stuff we’ve seen underwater, head over to our sailing blog, the Alpha Odyssey).
Inner Alpha 