Descriptive Essay About Snorkeling

688 Words2 Pages

I will never forget the first time I went snorkeling, it was something I had been afraid to do up until the moment I touched the water. Beforehand all I could think about was what if I got attacked by a shark? I was too young to die and I felt like I was tempting fate. Then once I made the plunge into the water everything washed away, as if the waves carried the fear with them as they folded over me. I remember that day so clearly, rocking back and forth, up and down, I sat on a small glass bottom boat. The enormous ocean waves making me nauseas as I put my snorkel gear on. I hurried as fast as I could, knowing my nausea would go away as soon as I entered the water. This wasn’t the first time I have gotten sea sick, but it only shows up when the boat is sitting still. As soon as I got my equipment on I jumped into the water, fins first. I felt the sensation of goose bumps shivering up my whole body, tiny bubbles rolling over my body from breaking the surface, they ran from my toes upwards to break free at the ocean’s surface. Once the bubbles cleared, I looked around to see a new blue world I have never experienced before. I heard the sound of the ocean, mumbled by the sound of my deep breathing and the tanks of the more experienced scuba divers below me. It’s a very relaxing and peaceful sound, and if I had not been in such a new and unusual place I could have floated with my eyes closed for hours.
However I was more focused on the jagged, rough looking coral reef. The coral reef did not have much color by itself, but when the sea plants and creatures are added to the scene it is a place with every color of the rainbow. I saw many schools of brightly colored fish, they didn’t seem to be afraid of me as they had no problem swim...

... middle of paper ...

.... It looked like its skin was so smooth and soft. Before I knew what I was doing I put my arm out an inch at a time, until I stroked the shark as it swam less than a foot away from me. I had realized instantly that it was a nurse shark, and it was very calm, which is common in nurse sharks. I noticed the light flickering above me, the other explorers were returning to the boat and I knew it was time to go back to my own familiar world. As I rose to the surface I knew that I would never forget that day, and all the new unusual creatures I saw. That day will stick with me forever, the new experience, the beauty of it all, but the thing I will remember the most is facing my fear. To actually touch one of the strange creatures that was the root of my fear was very invigorating and freeing, even if it was a harmless relative of the real the real man eaters I had feared.

Open Document