Ile Fourche

Mooring field in the lee of the stark but pretty island

Interesting underwater topography

This juvenile trunkfish was less than two inches long - adorable!

Three miles north of the St. Bart main island is Ile Fourche, a small, privately owned island that, like Anse du Colombier, is part of the park system, and has free moorings. There were no moorings available, however, and we anchored in nice sand with good holding. We snorkeled from the boat over to the shore, and saw some cool stuff. I found my favorite coral head of all time (at least for today). It was only about a foot and a half across, but it was chockablock with interesting stuff. I approached it to take a picture of the long, yellow juvenile fish swimming atop, got pulled in by the absolutely adorable juvenile trunkfish, and finished off with a look at the spotted moray curled inside the hollowed top of the coral. Wonderful! Also lots of large fish—bar jacks, mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, Nassau grouper— that flaunted their prohibited (it’s a no-take park) tastiness by swimming back and forth in front of us.

Nassau grouper peeping out at me