My hair blows in the wind as I look back at the shore of the pure white beach, growing farther and farther away as our voyage progresses. My family and I had booked a snorkeling tour on a reef just off the coast of Jamacia. We travel at a comfortable pace, on a large boat, enough that a light breeze can cool us from the tropical heat. We arrive at the reef and our tour guide says it’s time to get in the water. 

As I enter the ocean, it feels cool and refreshing, like a sip of water after a run on a hot day. The water is clear as glass, like a window into another world. As I put my head beneath the water, I can see miles of beautiful and rigid coral; all of it, filled with living creatures like tiny sea horses, vibrantly colored clownfish, and sea anemones.

I see a pile of sea urchins resting atop the rigid reef, almost seeming lifeless, only their sharp quills sway with the soft rhythm of the ocean. I see a large school of tiny fish swimming towards me. They approach me almost close enough to reach out and touch, then turn to the right almost in unison. 

While this unfolded before me, I noticed our tour guide dove down to the ocean floor to pick up an unsuspecting sea cucumber. As he ascended back towards the surface, carefully handling the fragile creature, I lit up with a tingling sensation to see that he was handing it to me. I extended my arms and he placed the sea cucumber in my hands. It felt cold and dead, but I still felt a sense of life coming from its small soft feelers wiggling around in my hands. I couldn't believe my eyes. Being able to hold another living creature in my hands like that, especially one that is so rare. It felt like holding a baby, knowing that in your hands you hold the life another being and that its life is at your fingertips.

Continuing through the reef we came across a small cavern of coral, as we passed by our tour guide pointed into it excitedly, I wondered what he saw. He dove down into the cavern, only to come out with a pufferfish! He held it by its tail to avoid getting poked by its poisonous spikes. We all stared in wonder at the creature none of us had seen before and witnessed how calm it was reacting to a threatening situation. Our guide set the fish free of his grip, letting it swim off freely in the seemingly endless void of the ocean. 

We trecked our last amount of swimming back to our boat to head back to the shore of the pure white beach. We climbed back onto the boat where we were greeted with warm dry towels that made me feel like a bear, settling into his cave for a long winter. There I was again with the wind in my curly black hair, only this time with a wonderous experience in my head the thought of knowing what it’s like to be able to hold onto life.