An encounter with a Caribbean Reef Shark

It was afternoon by the time the second group set out to go diving. The sun was shining, and see sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. It was hot and humid, and clouds were lining the horizon. We kitted up and loaded everything into the motorboat, and as we undid ourselves from the boje, four very excited volunteers were lying on the front deck. As we approached the dive site (I believe it was Aladdin's) the wind was tousling our hair and a sudden feeling of happiness erupted in everyone. A smile spread across my face as I felt a deep inner enjoyment and content. The sea was calm so we threw in our BCDs and hopped in with our fins and masks to put everything on in the water. As everyone swam to each other Chloe gave the signal and we slowly descended. You felt almost as if you were floating, weightless. The warm water encased you as you started swimming with only board shorts and a rash vest. As we rounded up around Chloe we all got our dive slates out and began the coral point out. Everyone seemed very confident after the last lecture in the morning and some hours to practice. Chloe showed her amazement and joyfulness by giving us energetic thumbs up ever time we identified a given coral correctly. Like this half an hour drifted by seamlessly. I was just watching Chloe when I saw her eyes focus on something in the distance. I swivel around and am astonished to see a Caribbean Reef Shark swimming by silently. You could see the awe stricken faces of all volunteers, and the coral point out was momentarily forgotten as we all watched with wonder this amazing creature of the ocean. As it started to swim away we went after it in hot pursuit until it disappeared in the distance and blended in with the turquoise blue of the warm water. As we ascended to the the safety stop Theo and Lukas were finally able to fool around, they played around by snatching Chloe's fins and taking off her boots. This ended up being a mad chase in circles until the three minutes were over and we were able to surface. As we inflated our BCDs we all erupted in laughter and Chloe had big smile on her face when she said: "You guys were awesome. You knew your corals inside out, and that dive really made my day!" We finished up that great dive with jumps off the boat and swim around before we headed back home to camp.