Bringing you back to the warm sandy beaches and turquoise sparkling waters of the Hawaiian Islands. Ahhh just the thought of it, brings me back to paradise. And this is a short story about my first time experiencing snorkeling!
Back in 1993, on my first of many visits to the beautiful tropical islands of Hawaii, I had scheduled many a tour and one of those being snorkeling.
How much fun this had sounded like!
Well to give you a little back story, I'm a squeamish type of gal and I tend to freak out when unexpectedly touched by almost ANYTHING and also when touched by anything that I'm squeamish about! This definitely includes FISH.
So there I was in my little polka dot bikini (without enough sunblock), a perfect manicure of brightly painted nails and out on a boat heading to Molokini.
This popular tourist destination for scuba diving, snuba and snorkeling, and the perfect place for me to experience this new adventure!
The crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small islet located in Alalakeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoʻolawe, is exactly where this boat was a-headin'.
Arriving there without a hitch and gearing up for some underwater fun, and then slowly making my way into the refreshing waters of the Pacific.
I was traveling with my best friend 'Nick' at the time, and we began to tread water and take a look below!
Such beautiful colorful fish swimming by, it was like being in a giant tropical fish aquarium!
But then, these fish started to get closer. They were still pretty, but they were getting a bit too close for comfort.
Then all of a sudden it all hit me at once and I realized what an idiot I was for painting my nails such a fun and bright island color...
Fisherman use brightly colored bait for one reason alone - to attract fish! Aaaaaaaahhh what have I done?!
The fish were now not only too close, but now they started to brush up against me and touch me! Ewww! And so begins the freak out session... I was really losing it to say the least!
Screaming and thrashing about in fear and uncontrollably.
It was a sad sad case, and actually quite a funny scene now that I think about it.
But not at all funny as it was happening, and what happened next really did NOT help my situation WHATSOEVER!
The crew on the boat were watching me and had thought that all of my activity was me actually being delighted by the fish and so they decided to start tossing out pieces of bread directly at ME to feed the fish! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Nick swam up to me as quickly as he could, knowing me well and also being my Hero of the Day, he had assisted in getting me far away from the swarm of fish that were surrounding me and nibbling at me and back to safety of the boat, where I could relax, and finally breath again.
I swear I was hyperventilating and I really recommend NOT doing that (especially while in the ocean)!
So it won't be a surprise to tell you that I didn't go back in the water for anymore snorkeling that day and had remained on the boat relaxing.
However little did I realize that although it was overcast that I would end up with one of the worst if not the worst Sunburn of my life.
I kid you not when I tell you that once we got back to the hotel and I had stripped down to take a shower that it looked as though I was wearing a neon white bikini which was my non burnt skin!
OUCH! It hurts just to think about it. #Protectyourskin #WearSunblock
-T
***Pictures Later!!!
Back in 1993, on my first of many visits to the beautiful tropical islands of Hawaii, I had scheduled many a tour and one of those being snorkeling.
How much fun this had sounded like!
Well to give you a little back story, I'm a squeamish type of gal and I tend to freak out when unexpectedly touched by almost ANYTHING and also when touched by anything that I'm squeamish about! This definitely includes FISH.
So there I was in my little polka dot bikini (without enough sunblock), a perfect manicure of brightly painted nails and out on a boat heading to Molokini.
This popular tourist destination for scuba diving, snuba and snorkeling, and the perfect place for me to experience this new adventure!
The crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small islet located in Alalakeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoʻolawe, is exactly where this boat was a-headin'.
Arriving there without a hitch and gearing up for some underwater fun, and then slowly making my way into the refreshing waters of the Pacific.
I was traveling with my best friend 'Nick' at the time, and we began to tread water and take a look below!
Such beautiful colorful fish swimming by, it was like being in a giant tropical fish aquarium!
But then, these fish started to get closer. They were still pretty, but they were getting a bit too close for comfort.
Then all of a sudden it all hit me at once and I realized what an idiot I was for painting my nails such a fun and bright island color...
Fisherman use brightly colored bait for one reason alone - to attract fish! Aaaaaaaahhh what have I done?!
The fish were now not only too close, but now they started to brush up against me and touch me! Ewww! And so begins the freak out session... I was really losing it to say the least!
Screaming and thrashing about in fear and uncontrollably.
It was a sad sad case, and actually quite a funny scene now that I think about it.
But not at all funny as it was happening, and what happened next really did NOT help my situation WHATSOEVER!
The crew on the boat were watching me and had thought that all of my activity was me actually being delighted by the fish and so they decided to start tossing out pieces of bread directly at ME to feed the fish! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Nick swam up to me as quickly as he could, knowing me well and also being my Hero of the Day, he had assisted in getting me far away from the swarm of fish that were surrounding me and nibbling at me and back to safety of the boat, where I could relax, and finally breath again.
I swear I was hyperventilating and I really recommend NOT doing that (especially while in the ocean)!
So it won't be a surprise to tell you that I didn't go back in the water for anymore snorkeling that day and had remained on the boat relaxing.
However little did I realize that although it was overcast that I would end up with one of the worst if not the worst Sunburn of my life.
I kid you not when I tell you that once we got back to the hotel and I had stripped down to take a shower that it looked as though I was wearing a neon white bikini which was my non burnt skin!
OUCH! It hurts just to think about it. #Protectyourskin #WearSunblock
-T
***Pictures Later!!!