Tortola Swan Song ...So To Speak

West End, Tortola

"Hey, AquaWoman," my son Ben exclaimed when I answered my cell phone. "From your blog, it looks like you took my advice about diving while you were in Tortola."

My last dive on Angelfish Reef was the best yet. ( Marti, from the dive shop who got me started on this great adventure, says I say that every time I get out of the water).

Since I began ten days ago, I've learned to slow down even more underwater. And hover--the ability to stay in one place regardless of surf surge or current just by using your breath.

I followed a green turtle gliding through the crystal clear water until he nearly surfaced, and Caroline, my divemaster, nudged me back down to the reef below.

I watched angelfish and rainbowfish slip in and out of a coral-created tunnel as if they were playing tag. I saw a trunk fish face to face; black sea urchins that were fun to look at, not to touch ( Bev's pictures above ); and the beautiful caribbean drum fish hiding away beneath elkhorn coral, his 9 inch, black and white stripes gorgeous against the reef backdrop.

So, today I've hung up my fins, rinsed and stored my mask and snorkel for another time. Maybe next year in Turks and Caicos where Marti will be a divemaster.

I remember when I arrived here, I wasn't sure if this had been a good idea, or in my words--- "What was I thinking".

I guess that's a hard learned lesson for me: It isn't always about the planning, it's about just showing up.

M.C.