Underwater adventures: Swimming with dolphins

We met up at Tamarin at the crack of dawn. Sleep was more or less gone, the thoughts of actually swimming with bottlenose dolphins much more enticing than dreams of adventures. There was possibly a tingle of fear along with anticipation, though, to be honest.

We joined Ian Koenig from Fish Whisperer, our guide and enabler for the day and new Helios Polarized reseller. After a few guidelines and overview of the activity, we set off.

The beach and sea was calm and quiet on that Sunday morning. Crabs still scuttled around in the sand – still wet from the dew and free of footprints. We hopped on Ian’s boat and off we went to the deep, blue sea and away from the rising sun.

For most of the short trip, only the slosh of waves as the boat cut through could be heard. We could tell Ian was at home, perched at the front as we bobbed up and down. He scanned the sea through his polarized sunglasses, his perkiness betraying his love for fishing.

The boat sputtered to a halt, floating above a deep blue expanse. The blue of the water evoked coldness and was less than inviting to someone who didn’t know what delights it hid. We leapt off, swapping our sunglasses for our snorkel and sandals for swim fins. And we were right; the water was icy after the long night.

Teeth chattering, we clamped them over our tuba and did a few strokes. At first, it seemed like the water was too opaque to see through, but then we caught sight of movement. We followed, suddenly hearing them and swimming and kicking faster. And then, there they were. A whole pod, flitting through the water effortlessly. Adrenaline pumped in our veins. I almost forgot to exhale; they were so majestic. The sun filtered through the water in slants and they glided through them, their dorsal fins occasionally tearing through the surface.

We swam after them for an hour. As our heads splashed out of the water and we saw their tails disappear, we were once again reminded of the beauty of the ocean and that it was not first and foremost ours, but theirs. The ones that lived in it.

We hopped back onto the boat, tired but so satisfied.