Adapted from an original post at She Has Moxie
Yeah, so the first time I ever snorkelled in my life was on the Great Barrier Reef when we were visiting Port Douglas, near Cairns, Queensland. I know this makes me extremely lucky. It also makes me extremely hooked.
Rob was set up to SBUBA dive from a pontoon that left our large boat for the day. We realized that this would mean I was all alone all day, so I tried to sign up for snorkelling, immediately discouragaed because apparently the Quicksilver staffperson didn’t realize I wasn’t asking to go out on the advanced guided tour where better swimming skills would be required.
I’m not a great swimmer, but I thought I’d be ok. Once I realized their mistake and that everybody else was going out into what was basically a “kiddie pool” version of the ocean, I was really frustrated, especially seeing that some people got to wear life jackets. I’m a good enough swimmer that I could handle the space and distance required for this.
Then after going through the semi-submersible tour and seeing the amazing world that was just barely out of my reach, I made up my mind. I went out at the last minute, and thank goodness for my snorkel angel. A woman realized that I had never done this and held my hand most of the time, literally, and giving me courage. I couldn’t find her later, but I am so grateful to her.
It’s amazing, isn’t it? It’s a lot like meditation. That is, you really have to kind of let go control and let your equipment guide you and let yourself be very aware. I can’t even remember what I saw exactly, but we came so close to corals bigger than my kitchen, and fish that just swept by me. The color! The color!
Rob took me snorkelling in Cancun this spring and, again, it was beautiful. I’m taking swimming lessons so I can get more comfortable and enjoy the scenery more!
Filed under: Travel Memories
