I fell backwards into the water. I hoped my oxygen tank wouldn’t bang on the boat, but more importantly, I hoped that no part of my body would bang on the boat.

We were seemingly in the middle of nowhere. There was only a gorgeous dark blue ocean, it’s hue a blissful turquoise. The sky was much lighter, and it shined on us all. And my dad and I? We were filled to the brim with excitement. We were diving forty feet in the Caribbean Sea, probably twenty minutes from the shore of Cancun.

I didn’t bang anything. I just fell onto a long rope. I grabbed it, and waited for our guide. He came with my Dad, and pointed his thumb downwards. Universal diving language for lets go down. Great.

Hand by hand, I slowly shuffled my way down. The rope seemed to never end, and I couldn’t even count how many sharp things had grown on it and spiked me on the hand. But the water got darker and darker until my foot touched the ground.

Bubbles flew up as I realized I was holding a breath. I would have to be careful not to do that on the way up; it would burst my lungs.

And then I looked around me. Hundreds of fish swam around and around, one poking his head out from under a rock to take a peek at me. I swam over and he hurriedly dove back under his rock.

I took a good look around me. My dad had accidentally floated to the surface, and the guide had chased him, so it was just me and the camera man. He pointed out something really squishy and let me hold it. It was a sea cucumber.

I didn’t know that time could pass so quickly. As long as I had air, I was good to go. I explored and the camera guy pointed out some really interesting things, including a stingray in a cave. I took care to avoid it.

Finally, my dad came back, his hand gripped tightly by the guide. He grabbed us and pulled us away. Coral flowed below me, crisp sounds of air breathing could be heard, and fish swam past me, one touching me lightly on the leg.

Around me, fish zoomed by. Our guide pointed out plenty of fishes, coral, and rocks. And the entire time, the camera guy kept on filming or photographing.

When we were done with our little tour, we grasped our hands in a circle, and started floating to the surface. Before I knew it, I had splashed out of the water. Our trip was done.

Our camera guy handed me the CD of the trip, and I got to work. And guess what I made? This:

There is a better video here.