Magic Island
First of all, a summary of the equipment used: Mask, fins, wetsuit. An inflatable vest, with a tank of air in the back. A BCD ( a system of tubes that lets you add/release air from the vest to make you float/sink). Regulators (tubes that let you breathe from the tank). And a weight belt, to make you sink in the water.
Sam, our driver, dropped me off at the Wyndam, where I met Sandy, an experienced diver, and many people going for the first time, including a family of four from Jersey and a man named Ray who was also starting this Open Water Certification. We got to Denarau around ten, and it was smooth sailing from there.
Fifteen meters down. Going into the water for the first time, I was just too excited and focused on doing things right to be nervous. It was my introduction to a whole new world, and it was a glorious one. Junior, my dive instructor, found a sea cucumber, a lumpy yellow thing, and let us all hold it. In the back of my mind, I kind of expected that things wouldn’t be all bright like they were on TV, just kind of colorful. I was wrong. What seemed to be vegetation on coral jumped back into their hole when I reached out to touch it. Two small stingrays emerged from the sandy bottom and swam in front of us. The vividness of the underwater world hit me immediately, with schools of bright blue (and I mean like shining bright) and yellow fish swam around. A transparent needlefish swam off nearby, and as we found our way around the coral, I found myself face to face with a vast array of striped parrotfish, bottomfeelers, angelfish, and god knows how many other varieties. It was magical.
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