While in Okinawa we had the unique opportunity to go snorkeling.  Caitlyn and I both had never been snorkeling, so it was a bit daunting to try it, but at the same time fun! Our friends took us to a beach on the East China Sea so we could practice swimming in the ocean and using a mask and snorkel. The first challenge was getting use to the mask.  The mask needs to be on tight and high on your head.  Take a breath so it squeezes the nose piece on the mask so no air or water gets in your nose.

The second challenge was using the snorkel.  The big word was RELAX and breath in and out of the snorkel with your mouth, not your nose.The whole concept took a lot of practice, but once I relaxed, learned to breathe through the snorkel, it was fun.

A couple days later, we went to a different beach on the East China Sea to go snorkeling!  A lot of local people were there snorkeling and scuba diving.  We walked down a steep set of stairs directly to a coral reef.  The tide was out so the reef was really tricky to get across.  I wore water sandals, and Caitlyn wore flippers which proved to be tricky walking.  My shoes were ripped by the coral and rocks. I skinned my knee on the coral as it is very sharp.

The scariest part of snorkeling at this beach was that once you were past the coral reef, the ocean dropped off and was very deep.  I definitely could not touch the bottom.  Since I am not a strong swimmer, I wore a vest to help me float.   I kept repeating “I can float, I can float” over and over until I relaxed and started floating. It was hard not to get panicky.

We saw so many beautiful and scary fish while snorkeling – puffer fish, clown fish, tiger fish, and a school of tiny blue fish that jumped out of the water!  It was beautiful!

The tide started coming in and the water got choppy.  I tried for a long time to get back to the point we entered the ocean without success. Fortunately Caitlyn helped me, actually dragged me across the ocean back to the reef. I was glad to be back on solid land…well at least the coral reef, steep steps and then finally solid land!

Snorkeling is fun and I am glad I tried it.  It was definitely an “out of the box” experience for me!