Diving with a Great Barracuda

Core Memories Under the Sea

There are moments that truly illuminate what it means to fully experience this life. When these moments occur, I take time to journal and record my thoughts so that I never forget them. One such entry reads:

I am in awe of life and what it has to reveal. I’ve lost track of time, with no idea what day, month, or hour it is. I’m on Nusa Penida and had the most breathtaking experiences scuba diving. On my first dive, I saw four giant manta rays. I swam down to one and synched my arms with its wings. I was about a meter away. I swam side by side with it and we soared around each other. Its mouth stayed open and it had calm eyes. After getting comfortable with each other and enjoying the company for a while, it swam off to continue on its journey. On my second dive, I flew over the ocean floor covered with vibrant pink and orange anemone. The shifting current made the scene look like the Truffula trees from Dr. Seuss swaying in the wind. At one point my dive instructor was showing another diver a sea turtle. His back was to the deep ocean. As I looked up from the ocean floor I caught a glimpse of a massive gray tail moving ten meters into the distance. There was another diver who saw this mysterious great fish, but didn’t look alarmed. When we surfaced, he asked, “Did you see that Great Barracuda?”