Today I am about to try something new for the first time… snorkeling! And it is all going to happen at Hideaway Island.
Since my time in Vanuatu has been trying new things and experiencing new adventures, it was time that I crossed another adventure off my list… snorkeling…
I took the bus to the area where I would be taken to Hideaway Island. This was the second time coming into this island. Hideaway Island had a daily 12:15pm Snorkel Safari that takes place in the island.
The weather was so beautiful and the water looked perfect. I put my name down for the Snorkel Safari, got in my gear and I then had to wait for an hour or so…
I also took the opportunity to try some of the snorkeling gear. That was when I also found out that flippers are so hard to walk with…. but I didn’t want to be bare feet walking through those hard rocks.
I got into the water and I put on my snorkeling gear, hoping that no water would end up in my nose or my mouth, so my gear had to be put on properly.
With my Go Pro, I began filming my adventures underwater and that’s when i saw…. fishes! I jumped and I freaked out. I’ve been to so many beaches my whole life but that was the first time I had encountered fishes while underwater….
In the moment, I thought to myself “that’s it for now”. But when I looked up, I see little kids, way younger than me, way further down in the water than I am, enjoying themselves, and being so excited about seeing fish. So I figured….
if they are not scared, then I am not going to be scared!
I finally got the guts to go underwater again and swam a little further. To my surprise, I started to enjoy it. The little fishes didn’t freak me out anymore, I started to like swimming with them. Although I had the tiny fear that I would be bitten, I realised that Snorkeling isn’t as scary as I thought it would be.
Soon enough, I take a break, drink some water, and I get ready to go do some more snorkeling… this time, further away from the island.
Typical me, I take more last minute photos and I head to the meeting place. I’m relieved to see kids younger than me so I can keep the mindset, “if they are not scared, then I shouldn’t be scared…”
Our supervisor finally arrives and we get on the boat. I have my Go Pro set to film all the action. After very few instructions, it was time for everyone to get out into the water.
A family with the young children go in before me. I enter the water right after them, filming my action into the water. That’s when I see…
So
many
fishes….
I freaked out seeing so many fishes and it felt like they were coming towards me. I felt that they were tickling my feet (I later discovered that it was actually my bandaid peeling off). But all of the kids were so amazed by all the fishes that I kept that mindset I had…
“if little kids aren’t going to be scared, you aren’t going to be either!”.
Soon enough I just enjoyed the moment and went underwater, and looked at the fishes and began swimming.
Everyone would keep on swimming and as time went on, I actually start to enjoy the snorkeling experience and I find being with the fishes really cool until…
someone threw bread near me and all the fish rapidly swam towards me.
I began to freak out and I took out my snorkeling gear so I can breathe properly. But my supervisor thought I was struggling to swim and asked if I wanted a life ring. Even though I would be okay without it, I said yes to it anyway.
The good thing was that the life ring became really helpful for me. Whenever I felt tired or needed a break, I just rest on the life ring and my legs don’t get that tired. I even got to snorkel while being more relaxed….
Then I came to conclusion, snorkeling is so much fun! I enjoy it so much, that’s why I was kind of sad when we got back to the island because I was actually enjoying myself. Even though I was “a bit” scared in the beginning, it was so cool to see what’s actually inside an ocean…
Once I washed myself off, we made our way back to the mainland, and had KFC for lunch (KaiKai Fried Chicken!). I decided to try to spicy chicken burger and spicy wings… no question, they were delicious!
So that was the end of another day in Vanuatu! The countdown is getting closer until… we leave… 🙁
