A Stinging Sensation

Today was a day I will never forget.

After an early morning wake up of 6am and a nice breakfast, a group of about twenty of us went out on a boat and took an hour ride to Caño Island to go scuba diving and snorkeling. On our way out to the island, we were lucky enough to see dolphins and humpback whales. There was a mother feeding her baby and once the baby was finished, it jumped out of the water! "That baby is no more than a week old," our guide told us. It was incredible.

Once we arrived near the island, our instructor, Ivan, talked to us about scuba diving. Now scuba diving is a new thing for my dad and I, so we decided to do the discovery course on diving, which basically means a teaser session on scuba diving to make you love it so much, you want to get certified and do it over and over. And that's exactly what happened. We were the only ones doing the discovery course, so we had Ivan all to ourselves. Ivan talked about the different equipment; the regulator, oxygen tank, weight belts, and masks. He showed us how to empty out our mask underwater in case water got in it. You didn't even have to come up to the service! He showed us the same thing with the regulator in case it filled with water. It was really interesting. He showed us all these different hand signals so we could communicate underwater. Then, he suited us up and we fell backwards off the boat into the water.

When I hit the water, I came up to the surface and panicked a bit. I wasn't used to being in the water while having something to breath through. "Swim to the buoy!" Ivan called to us. When I flipped over and put my face in the water, it was magical. Beautiful fish of all different colors were swimming everywhere. We got to the buoy and we grabbed the rope that went all the way to the bottom. Ivan had us slowly go underwater so the pressure wouldn't hurt our ears. Every meter, we had to clear our ears by holding our nose and blowing, just like in an airplane. At first, my right ear wouldn't clear, no matter how hard I blew. Eventually though, it cleared and the pressure and pain released and I felt so comfortable. We then let go of the rope once we got to our ideal depth, between 45-50 ft.

We followed Ivan and every 30 seconds or so, he would turn around and make sure we were okay. After giving the a-okay symbol, he would turn back around and lead us further and further through the water. I was surprised at how easy and comfortable I was. I felt like I was floating through another land. The water was pretty clear and the temperature fluctuated between warm and cold often. We saw white tipped reef sharks, parrotfish, sting rays, moray eels, and so many others. The underwater camera I bought with my grandmother just a month before was absolutely perfect for the dive.

Sting Ray

Moray Eel

After 45 minutes or so, we slowly surfaced. We headed back to the boat and took all of our equipment off before climbing back in. Dad and I sat there for a bit, stunned, and then could not stop talking about what we had just experienced. We had both loved it. Dad wished he had been able to see better since his eyesight is so bad and you can't wear glasses under the water but it was so wonderful. I had noticed that sometimes when I was in the water, my skin would itch. I thought it was from the saltwater, but when I looked down, my skin had broken out. "Those are jellyfish stings!" I had a huge sting on my arm, and lots of little ones all over my leg. They didn't hurt, they were just another part of the experience.

Jellyfish Sting

We then headed to a nice beach and took a break. After a half hour, we swam back to the boat and headed to another part of the island to do a different dive. This time, it was much easier. We geared up, fell off the boat and headed for the buoy. This site was called "the shipwreck". We headed down the rope, releasing pressure as we went and then set off following Ivan. We saw lots of the same things. However, this time there were huge schools of fish, pufferfish, and a sea star! It was lovely and calming and I loved how the whole experience wasn't frightening at all. You were just hanging out with all the animals in their home.

White Tipped Reef Sharks

Sea Star

After 45 minutes, we started to surface. I wanted to stay down there forever. Ivan flipped over on his back, took out his regulator, and started creating air rings. They were really neat and stayed perfect in the water. We came back up to the surface and climbed back in the boat after taking off all the equipment. I had even more jellyfish stings all over my legs but I didn't care. It was all too incredible.

Ivan's Air Bubble Rings

We headed back the island and showered off. We had a great lunch (ham with onions, salad, rice, beans, and ice cream) and then went back to our room. We were maybe going to try and do something else before it got dark at 5:30pm, but dad and I conked out in our beds until dinner time. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat on my bed. Dinner was also delicious (a zucchini soup, fish, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and dulce de leche cake) and we met some new people.

Dad and I have to go to bed early since our call time tomorrow is 5am for our tour of the Corcovado National Park! Adam, we are doing this for you. I don't know how it could top today, but everything has been so incredible, I can't wait to see what's next.