If you’ve read my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, you know my history of not getting along with water. It goes back to a cigar-smoking childhood swimming teacher I had when I was about ten. His methods included holding the heads of his students under the water. To this day, the smell of cigar smoke still reminds me of him and churns my stomach.
Way back near the beginning of Deb’s and my marriage, we vacationed in Maui, Hawaii, and she convinced me to try snorkeling. It didn’t go well. We were in about 20 feet of the clearest water I’d ever been in, and in addition to being uncomfortable in the water, the clearness actually made me feel like I could fall to the ocean floor at any moment. I hyperventilated, kicked to shore, only to have a sea urchin spine stab me under my fingernail as I crawled onto the beach! The only good memory from that outing was that I remembered seeing fish that were so brightly colored they seemed unreal.
I didn’t try snorkeling again until 2016. We had traveled to the Sea of Cortez in hopes of swimming with sea lions. In preparation, I bought a newly designed snorkel mask that covered my entire face. Determination and that new mask helped me learn to love snorkeling. I had a few minutes of panicky feelings, but then the playful, show-off sea lions diverted my attention. Later on that trip, Deb and I sat in shallow, snorkel-height water, holding octopuses! I was hooked!
Since the Sea of Cortez, Deb and I have snorkeled approximately 25 times off the coast of Bonaire, 15 times off the coast of Belize, and 30 times in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea. And early next year, we head to the Galapagos Islands for more snorkeling.
During all those snorkels, the only time I felt uncomfortable was one snorkel in the Raja Ampat where the current was particularly strong (it’s part of the world’s largest ocean current system, pushing warm, Pacific Ocean water into the Indian Ocean through the Raja Ampat’s 1,500 islands).
When Deb was in college, her initial goal was to become a marine biologist. Having to dissect animals changed her plans, but she’s a certified scuba diver with a lifetime love of underwater life. I shot the above photo of her last month while we were enjoying the rare experience of snorkeling with stingless jellyfish in a saltwater Raja Ampat lake.
Deb and I have our own interests too. But for me, one of the joys of our long marriage is to be able to share a love for underwater life with her. And if you look in Deb’s hand, you’ll see the underwater camera I bought her—she’s sharing my interest in photography.