"Hey let's go dive for shells."
"Sounds sweet, let's go!"
My friend Gio, one of the most adventurous people I have ever met, has a tendency to take things to the next level in difficulty. I think he enjoys pushing himself to the limit of what he can do. He likes the challenge. So I should have known it wasn't going to be as simple as diving for shells.
When we put on our masks he said, "Whatever you do don't kick when you're out there. Otherwise you are going to be torn to shreds."
Where we went diving isn't a normal beach that someone would consider diving at. It's not a current free beach, nor is it in calm flat waters. Instead it's a beach about one hundred yards long with a barrier reef fifty yards off of it. This barrier reef is created by a network of sharp coral reef like hills two feet underwater and sandy valleys that are about three to four feet wide. Because of the barrier reef, large waves crash over the reef bringing fresh shells that fall into the sandy valleys. This is where we went diving.
We chose our entrance carefully; too far to the left or right and we would have gotten sucked out of the bay.
As we swam out through the maze of reef passages towards the barrier reef, it was as if we were swimming through a botanical garden. Flat corals, tube corals, brain corals. Corals of all colors. Reds, blues, oranges, yellows, and greens all around. Darting between corals and lava reef, curious and bold fish happily sifted through any silt that may have been lifted from swimming. While I think it's amazing, Gio finds that it's now lifeless compared to what it once was. He says the reefs are bare now from overfishing and coral bleaching...
Once the easy part is over, the challenge begins. The reef becomes no deeper than three feet and because of the waves that make it over the barrier reef, the current becomes so strong it wants to suck us down to the end of the beach. It's like swimming against a flash flood in two feet of water. But we can't swim because of the shallowness of the reef. It's as sharp as a knife and a forgetful kick could create a scraped up leg.
In order to fight the current to get to the shells, we grab hold of the lava parts of the reef underneath and drag ourselves against the current. It's like rock climbing underwater.
As we pull ourselves to the edge of the reef we begin diving for shells. It's not really diving but more of searching for shells as a river is washing over us.
As we hold onto the reef in between wave surges, we watch for the waves coming. Right before the waves wash over us, we pull ourselves underwater into a valley of sand and search for shells. While the surface was chaotic, two feet under water it was calm. The tighter I hugged the reef, the less surge there was. The current would gently sway my feet back in forth as if my feet were dangling off a swing. Instead of the chaotic white noise of waves, below it was quiet. Only the noise of my hand rummaging through the sand for shells.
While underwater I would watch the waves roll over me. As soon as they passed, I would surface for a few short breaths of air before having to hunker down again. Sometimes there were too many waves and I would have to let go so I could get air. Letting go meant getting blasted over the reef only to painstakingly drag myself back out.
While I started to get the hang of it. I probably looked like a drowning person from the beach. However it was awesome watching Gio search for shells. It was somewhat like watching a sci-fi movie in space combined with Tom Cruise's stunts in Mission Impossible. He would hold onto the reef and army crawl across the bottom. As soon as the surge let up he would pull himself with enough force to torpedo himself through ten feet of water to the next hand hold. From there he would use his body weight and ocean current to swing himself diagonally and let go as if free falling across the reef to grab hold of the reef in a place too hard to swim to.
When we got out Gio said, "that was a really small day. Sometimes I go out on really big days where just making it out to the reef is more rewarding then finding a shell."
Even though we found some good shells. Just the challenge and adrenaline of holding onto the reef is good enough to dignify going out there.
