My husband and I traveled to Hawaii for a conference for his work with his board chair and his wife. While the guys were in class, the chairman’s wife and I explored the resort, sat by the pool, read, and relaxed. Before coming to the island, I had done a lot of research on fun things to do on the island. One thing I REALLY wanted to do was swim with the manta rays. A few months before we traveled, I booked a spot on a zodiac for the four of us to swim with the manta rays after dark. The website explained at night the plankton would come to a source of light. The manta rays would follow the plankton into the light. The manta rays would do barrel rolls and gracefully feed on the plankton near the surface. I was so excited to get out on the zodiac and have a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure!
We got a phone call when we arrived informing us a storm was blowing in, and they were postponing our excursion. I was so disappointed! The next day we called, and they said we could try to go out, the seas were going to be rough, but we should be back to the harbor before the rain started again. Elated, I talked the other’s into going, gathered up everything we needed, and the four of us headed to the harbor.
When we arrived they gave us wetsuits, snorkels, and a stern warning that the winds were strong and the water was rough. We were so excited we didn’t care. The wetsuits blocked a lot of the wind and kept us warm.
We headed out at sunset. It was beautiful with the red, pink, orange, and purple clouds in the sky. It took us about 45 minutes to get to our destination. We were traveling with the wind and even though the waves were three to four feet high, we seemed to be hoping from the top of each wave to the next. Everything was amazing! We arrived at a spot where about five other boats were floating just as it got dark. In fact, it was really dark as the moon and stars were covered by storm clouds. The only light we could see came from the lights mounted under the surfboards that all the snorkelers were gathered around. One by one each of us popped into the water and grabbed a piece of a rope that was woven in and out of the outer edge of the surfboard that the light was mounted under. We paddled away from the boat. Beneath us we saw the most amazingly graceful animals I’ve ever seen. As the fish swam by us, these ginormous rays did barrel rolls, like backwards flips, feeding on the plankton. The storm began blowing in and the water got rougher and rougher. We bobbed more violently up and down on the top of the water while the manta rays swam in the circular barrel roll pattern, and the random fish swam from left to right… and right to left, I was on sensory overload. I became dizzy and super nauseated. As everyone in our group were amazed and really enjoying these giants swimming so close to us, I had to flip over, try and get some fresh air, and look for the hidden horizon. I couldn’t get back to our zodiac, as we had to stick together with our group, besides, I had no idea which zodiac was the one that brought us. I had no control over my situation. The longer we stayed, the sicker I got. I couldn’t stop the waves, I couldn’t get out of the water, I couldn’t go home, and I couldn’t stop the dizziness and the nausea. Final everyone else got cold in the night waters, and we couldn’t get back to the right boat fast enough. As soon I crawled back in the boat, I leaned over the side of the boat and began throwing up my guts. Our forty-five-minute ride over the swelling waves seemed like hours. Once I began ‘feeding the fish’, I could not stop. The dizziness just got worse, and my stomach would not settle down. I was so happy to get back to my hotel room, shower off the salt, and crawl into bed.
While I was bobbing around on the ocean, sick, freezing, trying not to sink, I felt anxious, scared, even frustrated. I had to stop… stop focusing on the bouncy waves, focusing on the fish swimming back and forth, focusing on the rays swimming in circles, searching for the boat that had completely disappeared, searching for the horizon out there in the dark. I needed to get my thoughts away from the sinking, helpless, queasy feeling, and concentrate on the fact that I have a God bigger than this ocean, and He was with me.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2
The next day, we all got together for dinner. Although I was embarrassed about getting seasick, we had fun laughing at how it wasn’t supposed to be my job of feeding the manta rays! They only feed on plankton, so I really didn’t need to ‘chum’ the waters.
