Smile!

Hawaii, Hawaii (Nov 6, 2005)

I miss scuba diving. I didn’t have any more opportunity to breathe bottled water since my trip to Hawaii in November. I could have actually taken a detour to some caribbean paradise island in March, during my trip to Venezuela, but due to (lack of) time and money (scuba diving is expensive) I didn’t have any chance. But I miss it.

This photo was taken during a dive off the coast of the Big Island (Hawaii). The guy in the photo was the instructor of the diving shop with which Mayli (my wife) was completing her certification. He saw that I had my tiny aquatic camera pointed in his direction and decided to pose for me (I guess he was actually smiling but it is difficult to say). What he didn’t know was that a huge Manta Ray was swimming in our direction, just hovering on his head... well he discovered that soon enough. These mantas are really large (their “wings” span is maybe a couple of meters) and when they pass close enough you can feel the water moving (assuming that they don’t actually “bump” into you). They are of the same family of sharks, but fortunately they are eating only plancton (that they filter through their enormous mouth), and they are quite docile and at least in Hawaii they are used to go close to humans. Swimming with mantas was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had...