Author: Quinn Collins

This Maymester trip has witnessed many of my “firsts”, so today, I am here to share with you my first snorkeling experience. Due to my time constraint on the island, none of my activities were planned thoroughly. They were merely opportunities that my friends had told me about, to which I immediately said yes without giving much thought. This snorkeling trip was not an exception. There was at most an interval of twenty minutes between my hearing of the trip and my payment for it.

In the very next morning, my friends and I gathered around a bench in front of the “Caveman Travel Agency”, where we picked up our snorkeling gear. While dousing myself in sun screen, I listened to the head guide go through some cautionary items. The guide exuded an atmosphere so calm and relaxed, there was no room for any nervousness. Moments later, we began boarding our boat.

The intense turquoise of the sea was only accentuated by the water’s clarity. Even while the boat was in motion, we could see the reefs hidden below. The boat went about a mile out from the shore to a location where we could see the barrier reefs that tirelessly guard the coast of Belize. Our first spot was called Coral Garden. The five- to six-foot deep water of the region would help us familiarize ourselves with snorkeling. The process was not difficult at all. I made the occasional mistake of breathing through my nose, but I soon learned to suppress the instinct. I turned my full attention to the scenery after quickly learning the process. The underwater view was breathtaking. In between the circular- or branch-shaped reefs were fish of every color, size, and shape imaginable. And this was only the beginning.

Our next stop was Shark Ray Alley. As the name suggested, we swam with sharks and sting rays at this stop. I am tempted to let your imagination run wild and think that we survived a casual swim with great whites and lethal species of sting rays, but truth is an obligation in this blog post. When we arrived, the gentle, grey-skinned Nurse Sharks—about three to four feet long on average—crowded the side of the boat, as one of our guides dangled a lifeless sardine a foot above water. We quietly slipped down the opposite side of the boat and snuck around to the side where the sharks were still bunched one on top of the other, hoping to get an afternoon snack. We made sure not to scare any of the sharks off by approaching too closely. As we looked underwater, we also saw the harmless species of rays (I’ve forgotten the exact name) gracefully flapping their sides in the water. It was at first a little nerve-wrecking when they grazed against my skin, but my fear soon went away. I actually started to like feeling their slimy skins on my body, as weird as that sounds. I learned from my guide that if I balled my fist in front of a ray, it would start following me, thinking I had food. Unfortunately, our play date with the sharks and stingrays ended quickly, and we re-boarded our boats.

Before the trip concluded, we continued to spot amazing creatures, including a manatee. The sight of them makes me all the more grateful to immense conservation efforts that strive to protect natural life in the Caribbean. Overall, my first snorkeling trip was a success. But more importantly, I am extremely fortunate to have found a close group of friends, with whom I was able share this once-in-a-life-time experience. Of course, none of this would have been possible without this phenomenal study abroad program.