My Reef (at least for a morning)

I woke in time for the sunrise.  It was beautiful.  The camera doesn’t do it justice.

 Slowly, the light spread across the sky and the beach came to life.  Not a soul in sight.  I’m going for a swim, I thought.  I didn’t have a snorkel or scuba gear.  Just my usual goggles and trunks.  I left my phone behind, grabbed a towel, went down barefoot.  I haven’t brought flip-flops.  Every bit counts when your luggage is at the limit.  The stones hurt my feet; the sciatica nagged, but I knew swimming would help.  Every step was uncomfortable, until I hit the sand.  

Then it started to drizzle.  No, I’m going anyway.  I stashed my towel, dipped a toe in.  It was a little cold, but definitely bearable; a lot better than the Mersey, I guessed.  With each step deeper, I felt better.  Water up to my shoulders, goggles on, off I went.  Breaststroke first, calm and steady.  Not much to see at first. I was hoping this wasn’t another example of people destroying a natural habitat.  Then a translucent fish; beautiful.  It’s friend appeared. I ensured I kept up steady breathing.  In the Royal Navy, a PTI once spotted that I didn’t really know how to swim properly.  He fixed that: forty minutes on breathing alone, then technique.  Since then the water’s felt like home.  I swam towards the cliff face.  A dozen striped fish, yellow, black, white, silver - stunning.  Then two even more beautiful, and a whole shoal right beside them.  I drifted near the rocks, staying still.  Fish were everywhere now. 

Then it hit me.  This is a tropical reef.  

I looked around; no one. Yesterday it had been packed with snorkellers, divers, kids, and influencers.  This morning, it was mine.  I swam on, hovered near a shoal of tiny translucent fish.  I stayed still and suddenly I was surrounded; right in the eye of a whirlpool of fish.  They weren’t afraid.  Then a flash above, tiny bodies scattering from some unseen predator and there I was still and peaceful, thinking, this is serenity.  Crystal clear and quiet.  Maybe on a future trip, I’ll look for a coral reef.  

I skipped a party beach I was invited to last night.  I came for this instead and it was absolutely the right call.  For nearly two hours, it was my private reef.  Eventually, I floated back and walked up the shore.  Beautiful music was playing. The bar had just opened. I asked about breakfast and promised myself scrambled eggs.  After a shower, I decided to write this.  

I haven’t blogged in years, but maybe this is the first of many, because this morning, Monday, 17th August 2026, it was my reef.