The unforgiving low tide

Kitting up...done. 

Buddy check: 

Mask 

Fins 

Snorkel 

Weights... done 

It’s 11 am, I’m ecstatic to meet the frog fish on blacks,

and just like that, a journey like no other began.

The skipper said push the boat in an easterly direction... done 

I’ve done this a bunch of times: breaching like a whale ... on to the boat and, let’s launch. 

It was low tide, the sea was calm and for once I thought this would be one of the easier diving experiences, until suddenly, it took an unforgettable turn.As we launched, the motors cut off, the boat began to fill with water and all I could hear alongside my beating heart were the sounding words of “hold on”. My mind triggered into overdrive, “am I going to see my family again?, “is this the end?”. I could not help to think that I was going to drown with all the weight of this situation piling and piling until the words of my dad came rushing back :“be safe Aadila, I love you”. I told myself I had to be brave as I held onto those ropes and as the waves crashed into the boat and dive computers beeped for a safety stop, I did not know what was about to happen, I’ve never been through an experience like this.

To my relief ,it was time the skipper called it. I flopped over onto my back and held onto the side of the rubber ducky. I was in shock, I had no energy but I remembered that I told myself to be brave and with the aid of my dive buddies we pushed the boat back to the shoreline and the tractor moved in to take over. I was glad I was alive , as my parents ran to my embrace, and in that moment I knew that this was an experience I’d never forget.