Going on vacation is something my family and I do pretty regularly. For spring break my senior year of high school, I had to do the cliche thing everyone did and go to Mexico. There are many fun and exciting things to do in Cancun, Mexico. Many people travel to this part of the world to get away from stress, everyday life, and to relax. You find all kinds of people, from drunk college students, to middle aged singles and couples, and senior citizens, all trying to have a good time, and enjoy themselves. Very little clothing is needed. There is little to no pressure, little to no rush, and very little to no resemblance of the real world. The Cancun area is a fantastic place to take a vacation without a doubt. It has amazing hotels, exciting activities, and interesting things to sightsee. Thirty minutes south of Cancun is a quiet fishing village of Puerto Morelos. When the crowds and action of the main part of town became a little too much, we wanted a calmer pace in Puerto Morelos. It had nicely groomed beaches, very friendly locals and that nice small town vibe, we never have to worry about being run down the beach by the annoying timeshare salesmen. One of the most special parts of this area was the closed off piece, the Mesoamerican Coral Reef that is available for travelers to explore by snorkeling and diving.

My parents decided that they would pay for everyone we were with to go on a snorkeling excursion. We were a group of eleven people, mostly adults. There were six trained people with us, and within a few minutes training, everyone was on their own looking at corals, fish, and searching for shells for almost an hour. I was close to the outer reef of the beach, having been snorkeling for quite a while, we had started swimming against a current and floating back towards where we had started. I found myself drifting off into deeper water by myself and had lost sight of any other people. You just forget about everything else. After going through some pretty deep water it was getting shallower again. It was probably about ten feet of water where I had seen a really big grey scary looking fish that was not a shark, but still pretty big. It startled me, but it eventually swam away and I started watching a school of small striped fish. I was not afraid at all, it was just a beautiful moment where time stops for a little. I just floated there for minute, admiring nature. I looked around hoping someone else was around to see the amazing site I was seeing, but no one was close enough. Even after I was able to tell my family about it, I could not begin to describe what it really looked like. When you snorkel, it is important to follow the guidelines before you dive in.

Thinking back, it was very dangerous for me to just go off into the ocean leaving behind the group. My parents were a little annoyed with me for not being all that smart, my mom was freaked out about the water anyway, and me doing that just added to her stress. I had never been snorkeling before so my skill level was barely a beginners, lucky the water and it’s creatures were very calm that day.