Bonaire is an incredible place. It is a small island close to Aruba, surrounded by an endless expanse of salty blue ocean water. The air is moist and full of life and the scenery is generally flat. It has a small hotel close to the shore, where my family and I stayed for two weeks of our vacation.
The hotel however, was not what we had gone there for. It was the unbeatable scuba diving. For the past couple of months I had been training for this. Sitting in stuffy classrooms to learn the risks and technical issues. Swimming in a pool and experiencing scuba tanks, regulators, and buoyancy devices.
After what seamed like eternities I was finally certified. My uncle gathered my family, close and extended to go to Bonaire. We all came, and the next thing I knew, I was getting ready for my first dive.
As I finished assembling my scuba gear, I looked out across the ocean. It was as clear as plastic wrap, slowly fading into a majestic blue as you looked out across it. I connected my regulator and pressure gauge, released the valve on my air tank, exercised my buoyancy control device (BCD), and tested my regulator. I was ready, as was my dad, my diving buddy. The excitement was building up inside of me, like water building up behind a dam. My anticipation was unbearable.
Finally, we headed toward the dock. I tightened my flippers, and pulled down my goggles over my eyes. As we stepped onto the dock, its legs carpeted with damp barnacles, I could hear it creak spontaneous, like a door in a horror movie. The water looked cool and refreshing compared to the sizzling heat. My dad casually stepped off the dock, falling five feet into the calm water, causing a small splash. He gently adjusted his BCD, until he was lightly bobbling along the surface of the crystal clear water. Then he waved his arm symbolizing for me to follow. I fearlessly took a giant stride into the colossal body of water. It was time for the adventure to begin.
We released air from our BCD's, and calmly glided down. I saw the dock legs behind me, and as I pivoted around, I began to imagine fish of every size and color happily swimming along like in Shark Tale or some other movie. I turned and before my very own eyes were real fish, close enough to grab. Twenty or so marine blue and gray fish swam less then two feet away from my goggled nose. I excitedly tried to grab one, and simply watched others dart around, but when I checked my depth gauge, I realized I was only five feet deep. I turned to my dad who was waiting patiently. He finally signaled for us to go down, and so began our decent.
Compared to the pictures I'd seen, I was starting to become disappointed. The number of fish stayed pretty much the same. No more then twenty basically colored sea creatures and the scenery was a sparse display of sandy gray. I checked my depth gauge once again. We were now thirty feet below sea level. Suddenly, as we hit thirty feet, the floor sloped down rapidly as a tremendous cliff, with merely two strands of piercing green seaweed sprouting up.
My dad and I adjusted our BCD's again, and then rapidly descended down the ledge. My regulator almost fell out of my mouth in astonishment. What I had seen before was nothing compared to the sights I was trying to take in. Not five feet away from the drab colorless ocean I was just swimming around in like a lost sea turtle, was a whole new world.
Colors erupted left and right, coral reefs shot up, seaweed swayed like leaves on a aspen. A simple beam of sunlight shot down from the surface, igniting a purple sponge with a vigorous glow. Life's essence was buzzing like a telephone wire, as fish bolted away. Fast, but not fast enough to remain unnoticed. Their scales shimmered in the light of day like mirrors, and their tails whipped back and forth like leavers in a pinball machine.
Wiser fish remained where they were not scared away by our unsolicited entrance. Fish danced and played, as a tremendous rainbow fish began to circle us inquisitively. 35, 40, 45, we gradually drifted down, down, down, deeper and deeper. As we traversed across the hypnotizing wall, the colors shifted rapidly, from green and yellow, to orange, and red.
The coral reef stretched along the rocky sea ledge for an endless expanse, blanketing it in a rough quilt of life and color. My dad and I circled it again and again, until our air started getting low. Finally we reluctantly retreated to shore, where we could discuss the incredible experience.
As we approached the dock however, we noticed a group of people gathered around the dock legs, as if a billionaire was handing out bags of money. We neared the excited crowd, and soon realized what the gathering of people was all about.
Nervously pumping its boneless legs was a tiny octopus. It stared blankly at its audience through unreadable pebble like eyes. The blackness of the puny eyes, matched its puny gray body. We stared until we really
did run out of air, then, once again reluctantly pulled away. I surfaced with only one thought in my mind. What a perfect first scuba experience. Next time, who knows what could happen. I'm thinking about my first boat dive....