Underwater!

Being underwater is the closest feeling to flying, and who doesn't dream of flying? You become totally weightless and free to move however you want. You get a bird's eye view of the ocean floor drifting beneath you and it feels like you're parachuting over a beautiful planet. My mind could hardly fathom that the beauty underwater wasn't made by man but 100% natural. The coral and plants often looked like they were designed and built with the help of an architect. I couldn't help but feel giddy every time I bumped into a school of fish. It's amazing to be completely surrounded by so much marine life.   

After scuba diving in Thailand, I wondered why more girls don't dive... there is so much color, sparkle, bubbles, and dancing light. It's impossible not to feel like a mermaid. It's truly magical and there is no way photos can convey the feeling.

We dived a total of 14 times and each time the boat docked at a different spot along the Similan Islands. Some cool things we saw: turtles, manta ray, freaky-looking eels, dragon fish, 4 foot long tunas, puffer  fish (blows up into a spiky ball!), star fish, sea horses, Nemo and a ton of his cousins. We were really hoping to see some leopard sharks that are in the area, but no such luck. 

Scuba diving is truly an experience unlike any other. I have been around the ocean so often but never took the time to think about what is under the surface. It's an amazing discovery and I think every person needs to dive at least once in their life. There's got to be a reason that God made so much beauty and life underwater. 

- Julia

P.S. 

These photos were taken by our dive partner and friend, Steve, who had underwater housing for his compact camera. Light waves travel differently underwater and objects lose their color the deeper you go, so you need to have special equipment for underwater photography which we didn't have. The images look very blue/faded which is not how we saw them with our eyes!

The scariest thing we saw was a bunch of Moray Eels. We usually found them winding through coral or grass or we would spot one standing perfectly still with it's head poking out. Every time I saw one it made me stop in my tracks. These guys were 1-2 meters long. It doesn't help that they have a really mean glare and opened and closed their mouth so you could see teeth inside!