Gone Snorkeling

Coming to think of it, I really should post an underwater picture, but unfortunately I’m no proud owner of such useful camera gear. Also, this shot will always be special because piqued by the enthusiasm of a certain reassuring MC, it is where I first wander off safe, solid beachfront into the unknown under the cool, blue surface of the sea.

The beach just-around-the-corner of Gem Island, Terengganu

And what a party it is down there! Bulbous corals beckon, and when approached, you find that they are perched on some underwater rock and just beyond is space, storeys and storeys of space that open up below and entice you to dive down and explore. Fish graceful and playful, flitting things which make you think of every colour you’ve ever learnt of – carmine, indigo, teal, in combinations you’d never see on land. Sedentary sea cucumbers on the seabed, sea snails suctioned tight onto rocks, man I even saw an oyster.

And us – how encumbered and clumsy we are with our life jackets, mouthpieces and precious buoyancy, bumping our way through a world where I could not help but think we do not belong. If you stick your hand out and look at it under the water, you will find it an unnatural, unhealthy shade of greenish-grey, not unlike how fish look as they lose their gleam almost immediately when out of water.

Nevertheless, it was such fun to visit – I could almost hear the band carrying on as I made my way back over the sparkling water to land.