Snorkeling in the Maldives has been one of the best adventures I have ever experienced. The shades of blue in the water, rich corals & all the tropical fishes make the Maldivian water perfect for Snorkeling. On 16th Feb, after a hearty breakfast, we went ahead and tried it ourself.
The activity involved getting a training session with an instructor to guide us in the shallow waters before taking us deeper. We started to get ready wearing our fins, snorkel and met Sam, our instructor. Mala and I could not swim, and Sam was the perfect instructor for beginners like us. He was incredibly patient while explaining to us how to snorkel.
As we were heading towards the ocean, we started with the breathing lesson first and how to use the snorkel. Once we were ready, Sam took us to the deeper waters, and Mala & I were confident enough to hold each other and explore the world of fish. Honestly, it was hard to breathe through the snorkel, and it took a while before we were comfortable with it, but once you get the hang of it, it is just you and the beautiful view.
At first, I was terrified by the thought of being underwater, my heart was racing, and the fact that I could not swim would not leave my mind; regardless, we started exploring the water. As we began to swim around, we could see many reefs within the water and the fishes hiding behind them. We kept moving forward and tried to reach the deeper part of the water to find some more fish.
After a couple of minutes, we found ourselves on the very edge of the shallow waters, and we were swimming right above the rim. It was both exciting and scary at the same time. Just near the border, we found a Shoal of fish. There were so many species of fish that I did not even see before, and all of them just swimming away, giving us a fantastic look at their colors.
Sam was now confident about us, and he went closer to the shoal to get some shots for us. Our biggest surprise was FINDING DORY, well, not precisely dory but a distant relative 😝. After all the action and a lot of memories, we finally started to swim towards the shore. Sam kept taking a lot of pictures for us and guiding us towards the coast. He found a few seashells from the sea bed and gave them to us.
On our way back, Mala & I stopped in the middle, just gazing at each other and smiling. At that moment we were telling each other IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! This experience will always be with us.
This way, sir! Sam kept saying this the whole time because we were not ready to leave the water, but soon we reached the shoreline and took off our fins. We just took one last look & said goodbye to the fish to carry on with our day. The Snorkeling was now complete.
I never knew watching the fishes inside the water and swimming (trying not to drown 😝) with them would make me feel so peaceful.
