Here's the beach at Chance Bay. We immediately took the skiff onto the shore and waded into the water with our snorkels. We were by ourselves - the first arrivers of the day. Sunsail (our charter) gave us a big speech about tides because they're tricky here and can leave anchored boats on the sand. But during that speech we also picked up that the best time to snorkel is low tide - and we arrived at Chance Bay right at low tide.

We're between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn here - and January is the warmest month - so the ocean is more than 80 degrees. And where it's less than 2 or 3 feet deep, it's almost 90 degrees. It's crazy, I tell you. Crazy.

So we're in the water for less than 60 seconds and barely up to our waists, when three fish, each about 2 1/2 feet, dart past us in unison. I thought they were barracuda, but I looked them up in the book later on, and they were probably seapike. Seapike are similar to a barracuda, but more likely to swim into shore.

We also saw some white puffer fish, just like the ones in Sydney aquarium. They are almost transparent. I got within a couple feet of one and snapped his picture... I hope it comes out.

So then a little later on, this happens:

We're standing in the water, about up to our thighs. Then we both spot a manta ray, zipping from left to right, just an inch from the bottom. He's like lightning - zigging and zagging around us, and he's out of sight before you know it. He's sand colored, almost white with sand-colored spots, and maybe 1 1/2 feet across. Then another one, this one's a little bit darker brown. He flies past us to the right, makes a u-turn in the blink of an eye and flies past us again to the left. He follows the shoreline until he's out of sight.

Before I can catch my breath, a little tan-colored one about 8 inches wide comes streaking straight at me from out of the blue. Before I can even react, he speeds between my flippers and right through my legs. As I watch him, my head goes between my knees and I almost flip myself over. Whoa! I've seen the coyote do that when the roadrunner runs through his wickets.

A little later we were getting in the skiff to head back to the boat. And we saw a few of them to left... a few in front of us... and a few to the right. Yikes - they've got us circled!

They were all different shades of white to brown, none with a wingspan larger than 2 feet. Every few seconds, one would zip toward us, then speed back to the other side.

Creepy feeling #1: They're raptors ganging up on their prey. We're toast! Or, um, we're whatever manta rays eat!

Creepy feeling #2: They're Cherokees circling the wagons! No, worse - cats playing with their food before they eat it (i.e. mice)!

Reality: Apparently they're just playing! We are the featured attraction of a manta ray game of maypole. They're just messing with us! Little kids who just want to play.

The whole episode probably lasted all of 15 minutes. But I don't think we'll ever forget it!