L-R: Amanda (Natural Mommie), Kristen (PR Rep Extraordinaire), Nadine (Nadine Jolie),
Jordan (Ramshackle Glam), Molly (The Snyder 5),
Jeanine (PlanetEye Traveller) and moi in the center.
On our way to Xcaret, our Royal Holiday rep Julio explained that we would be going snorkeling. Not just snorkeling but in an underground cave and river of sorts. My heart started beating a little faster – not out of excitement but more from anxiety! I’ve never snorkeled in my life, though I’ve had the opportunity to in more than one occasion on our various vacations. I didn’t get the allure of looking at fish, with my face in the water. The idea of doing this in a cave made me feel somewhat claustrophobic.
Once we had our gear (life jacket…thank you, scuba mask and ur…tube, and flippers) I was feeling a bit better about the adventure. I actually started getting a little excited. I told my fellow travellers that my husband would never believe I was going to do this, and that had HE been the one to suggest it on a vacation I’d probably have whined and said no.
The moment I got in the water at the entrance of the cave at Xcaret, my heart did a somersault when my feet couldn’t feel the bottom and for a split second I forgot I was completely safe with a life jacket on. Once my senses came back to me, I bobbed for a bit and got used to the buoyancy as well as how to maneuver through the water with my flippers. Others around me were already in their snorkel gear, checking out the scenery below us. Me, I had to get advice from Amanda (Natural Mommie) on how to breathe! The first time I put the mask on, I of course breathed through my nose and panicked. It takes some getting used to.
The beauty of an excursion like this is that it can be a group thing, or you can float away for a bit and be alone with your surroundings (and by alone I mean 10 feet away, I’m not that brave). It was then that I practiced how to breathe, cautiously putting my face in the water for 30 seconds at a time and seriously telling myself over and over, “in…out…in…out” for fear of sputtering water.
And then I got it, the rhythm was there and I was able to float for longer periods with my scuba gear on, watching the area around me. Beautiful blue and yellow fish (I don’t claim to have any idea what kind they were) swam just out of arms reach. I saw something crawling across the bottom – an eel maybe? I don’t know, but I was thankful I had flippers on my feet to kick like mad and get far from it!
I wasn’t super snorkel girl by any means. Molly from The Snyder 5 watched me, face in the water, swim directly into the cave wall. “I saw it coming, and watched it happen,” she said.
Still, going out of my comfort zone and trying something like this was big for me. I was so proud of myself! I really have to make a conscious effort to be more open to new things. It’s sad to think of what I have missed out on so far but no sense in thinking about that now.
Now it’s a matter of thinking about what’s next!
(More information about the Underground River at Xcaret, including some video, can be found here!)
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