Okinawa: Mermaid's Grotto

One of the places that was top on my list to visit was called Apogama, but it is commonly referred to as Mermaid's Grotto.  I wanted to go snorkeling here, because a lot of people told me the snorkeling is amazing.  We had our snorkel gear in the car and was ready to try it out.

When we got to Mermaid's Grotto, there was a gigantic sign saying US Forces and Japanese Forces restrict any water activities in the area.  If it was just Kevin and I, I probably would have brought the snorkel gear anyways and tried it out, but since we had the kids, we didn't even bring it out of the car. To get to the Grotto, you first walk down this tunnel of trees!  We couldn't see the ocean, but we knew we were close because there were so many hermit crabs scuttling around.  

Once we got out of the tree tunnel, we were greeted by some gorgeously huge rock formations and caves.

We ended up coming at low tide, so the cave was open for exploring!  There were pockets in the cave that had small crystal clear pools.  There were brightly colored fish swimming around.  We also saw huge crabs and a big slimy looking sea slug.

We all explored around the big cave!  It was so neat to see how the fish would get caught in the little tide pools when it was low tide.

We loved searching for different fish and sea creatures!  If someone found something, they would call out and we would all gather around and "ohhhh" and "ahhhh".

After we saw all the crevices in the cave, we went out to the ocean's edge.  There were so many sea creatures all over the rocky ground.  We saw starfish, anemone and crabs.  There were many things we saw that we didn't know what they were called.  This would be a neat place to go when it is low tide and high tide!  I can see why people would like snorkeling here during high tide!  We saw so much at low tide, I can just imagine how much more there would be to see when covered by water.

By this point, Little Monster wasn't being a monster, but a scary cat.  All the crabs scurrying at his feet made made him nervous, so he cried and asked to be held.  Even with him in my arms, he was gripping so very tight.  Since we got our fill of sea creatures, especially Monster, we headed back up the tree tunnel to the car.