Corals and fishes

Ship: Johann Smidt
Date: 29.01.2026
Position: Providencia
Nautical position: 13°23.0921′ N 081°24.1722′ W
Etmal: 0 nm
Total: 7196 nm

Our day started a bit earlier than usual. We had breakfast at 07:00 because we had to leave the ship at 08:00 to go snorkeling. Two guides came with their boat to bring us to the third-largest reef in the world. It was very difficult to get into the boat because we had waves that took the Johnny up and down. At last, everyone got safely into the boat.

Now the adventure was able to begin.

Not long after we left the Johnny behind, the water police stopped us. At first, we thought we were free to go after they knew how many people we were. But the police took us to the next docking point. They began to discuss with our guides. We didn’t understand much.

After 30 minutes, we knew what the problem was. The boat had places for 28 people, but we were 31. Helena and Josi left our boat and took seats in another. Up it goes.

The first stop was a little island, a national park. We climbed up the little island and had a wonderful view of the sea. After that, we all went into the water to see fish and corals.

The science and media pathways had some exercises to do. The media team had to film a report about the reef. The science team wanted to rate if the coral reefs are healthy. Therefore, they had to look at the corals and the fish. They also had to look out for trash and some other things that are not supposed to be in the reef.

The second stop was the large reef. It was very interesting to see all the different corals and fish. It was very colorful.

At 11:00, we were back at the Johnny. After some difficulties getting back on our ship, we had to start an all-hands. The captain wanted to do a fire practice and to learn how to reef sails for the upcoming storm in the next days.

After that, we left the anchorage and set sails. We all hope that the storm doesn’t get too hard.