The Great Barrier Reef....full disclosure

Today was to be one of those memorable days...snorkeling The Great Barrier Reef.  Well, it certainly was memorable.

Admittedly, I am in the infancy of my swimming lessons...in 4ft of water in the Westlake Village Equinox pool with my Australian trainer extraordinaire.

Being such a city kid, I never learned to swim ‘properly’, so in my ‘old age’, I’ve taken on this challenge.

I will blog about these lessons soon for your amusement pleasure.

But today was all about The Reef.

Soooo. I get outfitted with the wet suit we are made to wear to avoid jellyfish stings, fins & snorkel mask.  Oh, did I mentioned my lifejacket?

I slide into the water and am feeling pretty good about myself so I venture out to see the reef on the first of 3 snorkel and diving stops.

I suddenly realize the current has taken me farther out than I would have gone in a sane moment.  I begin to work my way back to the boat but I’m not getting any closer.  I have never had a Panic Attack...until today.

I raise my arms and do the universal wave for HELP.    The crew member immediately spots me, grabs his fins and dives into the water to ‘save’ me.  He was extremely gracious and said if there weren’t people like me, he might lose his job.  I’m glad someone found humor in my predicament.

Once I am back onboard my heart continues to pound in my chest.  I’ve since researched that a panic attack cannot cause a heart attack but you could have fooled me.  I was nauseous and Dom said I was white as a sheet.  I consciously tried to slow my breathing as I practically ripped off my wet suit.  I even felt like my bathing suit was strangling me.  

It took a good hour for me to start to feel normal again.  

The boat stops for the 2nd excursion but there was no way I was getting back into that water.  Dom stayed with me as we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.

Onto stop #3.  The reef is visible from above the water and this time, 2 crewman are personally taking out 2 groups so they can point out the plentiful marine life as the snorkelers get up close and personal.  I really want to go back in the water and conquer my fear.  I told the crewman that I had a panic attack but that I really wanted to try to snorkel again.  He told me to stick close by him and he would be there for me if I felt a panic coming on.

With him by my side I felt very calm.  Only one time I looked back at the boat and saw how far out we were.  I gave myself a stern talking to and stuck my face back into the water.  The Reef did not disappoint.  Hundreds of fish, large striped and small black and whites, yellow lipped fish and even a few sharks.  Roger pointed out everything and dove down to a giant clam to wave his hand over it.  The clam reacted by closing up more tightly.  It was an awesome experience!

Needless to say, I’m very proud of myself.  I so did not want to give into my fears and will be forever grateful to the crew who was so kind to me.