Finally, a lazy day! After breakfast it's back to the villa for a damn good crack at the book. At least until noon, when we head over to the other side of the island ( a three minute bike ride) to check out the snorkelling at Bar(a)bara. This is a bar at the end of a jetty which extends to the edge of the reef wall and you can drop into the water at precisely the right spot to see the very best fish, then return for a drink and a snack. There was a very gentle current, so we slowly drifted along the reef edge looking at the vast array of brightly coloured and picturesque fish. Many are very graphic and my new favourite is the sweet-lipped snapper which is a profusion of horizontal yellow lines. After our dip and a bite to eat, it's back to the villa for a couple of hours before today's spa treatment.
And it's a special one. Watsu sounds like a kind of curry, but in fact it's everything a curry isn't. Cool, calm, relaxing and watery. Yes watery, because this treatment takes place in a pool. The practitioner here is a young man in a wetsuit who basically gently manhandles you whilst you float in a pool of water at almost body temperature with your eyes shut. It is very weird and in common with a lot of Ayurvedic treatments invades the personal space to a rather embarrassing degree, but once you get over that and realise you're not going to be molested, despite how close the handsome chap is holding you, you really do start to relax.
After the spa treatment, it's down to the bar for a lecture on reefs. How they come to be and what challenges they face. Tomorrow we're going out on a snorkelling trip with this evening's lecturer, Kate, the hotel's resident marine biologist.
Then yet another stunning meal. This is getting monotonous, but every single mouthful here is amazing.
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