Blue Bay is arguably the best place to snorkel in Mauritius. The sea life in this shallow lagoon is nothing short of spectacular!
The cartoon-character Nemo is a clownfish. Clownfishes live in symbiosis with sea-anemones. Follow the links to read up on these creatures, it is fascinating! You will find a sea-anemone with resident clownfishes at the last clue.
If you are physically fit, have fins, snorkel and possibly a wetsuit, I recommend swimming to the clues. From the main parking area, walk along the beach until the sand ends and the rocks begin, at the given reference point. Enter the water here and soon you will be surrounded by fish and coral.
If you do not fancy swimming that far, hire one of the glass-bottom boats near the parking area, and have them drive you to the clues. I still recommend jumping over board with a snorkel occasionally, at least to find Nemo at the last clue!
The clues to finding the cache:
1. Green Buoys. From the reference point on the beach, you will see two green buoys in the lagoon. They have Blue Bay Marine Park ... Zone written on them.
2. White Buoys. From the second green buoy (the one closer to sea) look towards the island. There is a channel towards the right of the island, going out to sea. There are two white buoys in the direction of this channel. They have Blue Bay Marine Park ... Zone written on them.
3. Buoy Anchors. What is used to anchor the white and the green buoys to the bottom of the lagoon? You may need to dive down to wipe some sand off
Finding Nemo:
From the white buoys described in clue '2', take the buoy that is closer to the mainland, not the one closer to the island. This buoy is anchored on shallow sand, but the lagoon floor slopes off near that and the coral begins. (Thus the water colour changes from light- to dark-blue). Look around near the slope, where the coral begins. There you will find a sea-anemone with a resident clownfish family a few meters below the surface!
Finding the cache:
On the green buoys, the missing word is ... ? Take the numeric value of the 1st letter, and subtract the numeric value of the 8th letter. Let's call that 'A'. Take the amount of letters in that word and divide by two. That is 'B'
On the white buoys, the missing word is ...? Take the numeric value of the 7th letter and subtract the amount of letters in that word - that is 'C'. The amount of letters in that word is 'D'
What was used to anchor the green and white buoys to the lagoon floor? Assign the number to 'E'
Truck tyres=3 Track chains=1 Concrete pyramids=8 Volcanic rock=6 Engine blocks=4
The cache is at S20° 26.BCE E057° 42.BDA
A word of caution: The island is private, do not swim there. The channels to either side may have strong currents, keep away, especially from the channel to the right.