Back from Snorkeling Trip (the facts)

Ryan and I just got back from snorkeling in Goza Shirahama. We camped there for two nights.
When we arrived, the weather was perfect, the water was fine, and we rightly scorned all those warnings about it being too late in the year to swim. Indeed, this must be the opinion across the entire country because Ryan and I were the only two people on the entire beach. We were more concerned about jellyfish.
Fri: Upon entering the water for the first time, we promptly swam almost head-on into a big red jellyfish, but we later learned that the red ones aren't dangerous. That night, we tried to find a place to eat in the nearby fishing village, but all the businesses were closed. Just then, the owner of the campground we were staying at found us and invited us to dinner at his house. So we followed him to where his mother was cooking yaki-niku. We ate with him, his mother, and his father. We talked about our hobbies, Iraq, and goals. His mother's dream is to finish her business in Goza, say goodbye to everyone and everything, and then sail around the world and never come back.
Sat: We woke up to rain, but we swam anyway, and had our best swims. First, from the beach, we swam east through rocky underwater terrain, where fish like to hang out. Saw lots of interesting fish and underwater terrain. Then we hiked to the top of the highest mountain in the area, got a good 360-degree view of the peninsula, then hiked down the other side to the Pacific Ocean. There we swam in a sheltered cove with many fish, crabs, starfish, and I think I saw a pufferfish. We swam out to the tiny island that sheltered the cove, and climbed on its sharp, rocky shore. Once on the island, we could see the raging Pacific Ocean on the other side. But between the cove and the ocean was a small pool, teeming with fish of all kinds. We enjoyed a long swim here, too. On the way across the peninsula, back to the bay, we had a difficult time keeping our stuff dry in the rain.
Sun: More rain. We tried a swim, but after 2 days of not much sun, the water had gotten too cold, so we cut our trip short and returned to Yokkaichi.
Snorkeling is great; here's why: (1) With a mask, snorkel, and fins, you can tread water indefinately, and you can swim anywhere you want pretty quickly. (2) You can swim with many kinds of fish. Sometimes it feels like they are welcoming you to their world (although in truth, they would probably rather not have you there). (3) When you look out at the sea, the surface seems to be a huge veil, covering a hidden world beautiful and often terrifying. Snorkeling allows you to venture into that hidden place, to see it for yourself. Then you can come back to dry land, look again over the surface of the sea, and say "I know what's under those waves, I know how deep it is over there, I know where the rocks and plants are, I know what kind of fish like to swim there". It's neat. Now all I need is a wet suit so cold water would no longer be an obstacle.

Click here to see pictures of the trip.