Below the surface

I’ve been snorkelling before, but nothing like this. I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere with such casual remarkable beauty. Although the mountains remain my favourite view, there is nothing ‘casual’ about their striking appearance. The corals and fish in this underwater world however, are ‘casual’ because you don’t know of them until you are amongst them. It’s a difficult feeling to describe because it is simply unknown to me, to us; it is so different to the world up here. This world of ours, above water, is magnificent for sure, but has been bluntly accosted by the ragged edges of man made shapes. Although we do have the most beautiful natural wonders like the forests, the mountains, the beaches and all our animals, these beauties are no stranger to the depths of the ocean, where they remain in their untouched organic form.

By being untouched, it becomes a world constructed solely of intricate natural shapes, which man has seemingly borrowed and used as a blueprint for the world both above the surface and online. The view of the coral from above is beautiful, but from up close, its wonders multiply. The closer you get, the more distinct the colours and the forms become. Labyrinths of varying shapes and colour create a world that looks impossibly and ultimately perfect. Fish whose colours are those you would only ever see in the fuschia highlighters of your 10 year old pencil case. Turtles as big as you, glimmers of light on the corals below, shimmering bodies of fish if all shapes and sizes. Magical might be one of the most accurate ways to describe it.

The most surprising thing is, from the shore, it doesn’t look like much. There is a beach, a few rocks dotted around, large ones, but nothing dramatic. It is a small bay that doesn’t look like it could contain more than the simple coming and going of waves. Once you get below the surface though, a whole universe comes alive around you, just like in the films. Rocks which seemed like they would continue their natural trajectory under water, drastically swerve inwards creating caves of space, amplifying the size of the underwater space considerably.

Rock formations create castle like archetypes and thriving fish communities. Green corals take the shape of thousands of lillies, proudly thriving next to sponge like orange corals; yellow coral, as perfect as the one you see in photos, shoot upwards with open mouths calling to anything that might feed it; diving below, you are surrounded by the flowing forms of purple funghi like pads and blue oyster like shapes nested in between, breathing lightly as the silent world of fish moves around it. The colours are not what are most impressive though, because the colours are not always the brightest or the most diverse, in fact, colourful corals are not always considered healthy, and therefore the ones you will see most will be more muted tones of then colours mentioned above, and likely different variations of browns. This only makes it all the more beautiful, with a greater diversity of striking fish, creating contrasts or completely blending into their surrounding environment.

The silence below, is not deafening, it is enlightening. It is a silence not which shocks you, but that you don’t even notice until you come back up to the surface. Until the weight of sound hits you again, the lightness of silence feels like your most natural and peaceful state. An underwater meditation almost, as your curiosity spikes with every observation, as the world once did when you were little.