The waters beneath me swirled with sea turtles, nurse sharks, and spotted eagle rays, all revolving around the fisherman’s vessel in search of loose scraps of food. My experience there was surreal, if not unnerving. Clearly animated by the activity around them, the marine life navigated the area with quick movements and sharp turns. If I managed to briefly forget that sharks have teeth, having swum a safe distance away from the one to my right, I was not-long-after reminded that sting rays have stingers, two having floated into view on my left. The animals meanwhile seemed unbothered if not emboldened by the number of snorkelers crashing their dinner party, as if to say with upturned noses to us, prospective other patrons in line, “We have a standing reservation here.”

The tide was calm that day but the high volume of swimmers, human and fish alike, eventually turned the water murky and the bubbles from our erratic flippers constrained our vision. So after less than 30 minutes, I surfaced for good and boarded the boat back to shore. Despite the third swim’s brevity, the chance to be near so large a swarm of creatures was unlike any underwater experience I’ve had before. To be so close to such a variety of sea life, albeit a staged variety, heightened the adrenaline that all adventurers seek. Next time, though, I’d rather feel more like a fish than fish bait.