Page 65 of Sunburned

Rémy handed Tyson the extra pack, and they carefully checked it together as the rest of us found places to sit to slip on our fins and adjust our masks. Once Tyson was satisfied that his new gear was working perfectly, Rémy came to stand at the back of the boat and whistled for our attention for the pre-dive briefing.

“Today we will dive in St. Barthélemy Natural Reserve. As you can see, the water is very clear, so we will have lots of fun and see lots of fish. Rays,tortues—turtles,” he corrected himself. “And maybe sharks too.”

At this, Jennifer gripped Cody’s arm.

“We will go down here and swim along the reef toward the big rock you see there, then we will go through the Snares to reach the wreck.” Rémy’s English seemed to have improved as he got into his groove. “The little boat—”

“Dinghy,” Jennifer supplied.

“Merci—dinghy—will wait for us on the mooring ball closest to the wreck and we can surface there.”

Nods all around.

“We will have a safety stop for three minutes”—he held up three fingers—“at five meters. If you need to surface early, thedinghyhas extra gear and a kitmédical. Is everybody ready?”

A smattering of claps and a chorus of “Yes” and “Let’s do this,” and Rémy grinned. “Okay, divers, in the water.”

A splash, then another, and another, as Tyson, Samira, and Gisèle plunged into the water. I looked back at Laurent, pulled my mask down over my eyes, and stepped off the back of the boat.

Chapter 20

The sea was the perfect temperature, refreshing but warm enough on the surface that it shouldn’t be terribly cold down below. I felt a shiver of excitement as I inserted my regulator in my mouth and sank into the calm blue water. One of the things I loved most about diving was the inability to think of anything other than the present moment, something I was especially looking forward to today.

Beneath the water with masks, packs, and wetsuits, it became difficult to tell everyone apart, but Laurent stayed by my side as we descended as a group. Like most of the guys, he was wearing a black rash guard and face mask, but his red shorts stood out, so he was easy to keep track of as we began to swim toward the reef.

The water was deep near the boat, but so transparent I could easily make out the sandy bottom. I felt powerful and free as I moved through the water, my fins propelling me, breathing in and out rhythmically. Almost immediately, Laurent nudged me and pointed beneath us, where I saw a four-foot-long nurse shark swimming slowly through the depths, paying no attention to us. I pointed it out to Allison as we continued on our way, hoping Jennifer hadn’t seen it.

Up ahead, the reef rose from the ocean floor like a city in the desert,the coral in vibrant shades of purple, yellow, and brown, some of it shaped like leafless trees, some like bushes, some like brains. A school of striped angelfish mingled with fat black fish at the edges of an outcropping of what looked like giant undersea mushrooms. I spotted rainbow-colored parrot fish, and deeper in the reef, a grouper that had to weigh two hundred pounds. I’d never seen one so big. A turtle at least three feet in diameter sailed peacefully past, gazing at us curiously before taking off into the reef, and Samira pointed out a spiny Caribbean lobster backed into a clump of tubular coral. I could hardly believe our luck. The dive would have been successful with these sightings alone, and we’d only just begun.

Coral rose up around us and fish darted into crevices as we entered the swim-through, the reef tightening around us. The visibility was incredible, the sunlight filtering through the turquoise sea to illuminate the underwater world as we passed weightlessly through the reef. We moved slowly, taking time to appreciate the colors and textures, the little silver and orange fish that flitted between the veiny sea leaves, the fluttering fingers of sea anemone and ubiquitous iridescent parrot fish.

Allison pointed out a pair of gorgeous eagle rays far below us, their spots rippling as their giant fins undulated, kicking up sand along the bottom. The water grew cloudier, which was odd, given how far above them we appeared to be, but it was hard to determine depth in the water, and the rays could have been closer than I imagined.

The visibility continued to decrease, the coral above us shutting out much of the sunlight as the water grew more and more opaque. I didn’t know what was going on, but Rémy continued without looking back, so I kept swimming.

I thought I heard the ping of a tank-banger coming from somewhere behind me, and I turned back to Laurent, who had also turned. There was a blond swimmer behind him—it was too milky and crowded in the water to tell whether it was Jennifer or Samira—regardless, she didn’t seem concerned. Someone’s pack hit my shoulder as they passed, but the water was so cloudy that I could hardly make out their fins in front of me, much less determine who it was.

I felt my heart rate quicken at the changing conditions and reminded myself to breathe evenly. Rapid breathing burned oxygen. I checked my gauge console. I had plenty of oxygen left. Everything was okay. It was just murky.

Very murky.

After a few long minutes, the coral opened up around me and I saw the slanted deck of a submerged watercraft so close ahead of me that I almost swam headlong into it. We’d reached the shipwreck, but the visibility was so poor that I couldn’t ascertain which part of the boat I was looking at. Nor could I distinguish who was who as the other divers poured out of the Snares and dispersed around the wreck. I looked back for Laurent’s red shorts, but everything appeared blue in the deep water.

Was the diver ahead of me Rémy? He was too big to be Rémy, I realized as I caught up, and when he turned back toward me, his features were unfamiliar. I sucked in a gulp of oxygen as a bolt of adrenaline shot through me, but before I could be sure of what I’d seen, he was gone.

For a moment I lost which way was up, and I grabbed on to a corroded railing until I could orient myself, pushing down my panic as I searched for Laurent among the fins and masks in the swirling sand. Who was that man? Or was I suffering from nitrogen narcosis, seeing things that weren’t there?

No. I wouldn’t let myself think like that. I was agitated, but I wasn’t hallucinating. That man was real, and I was okay. Laurent had said this wreck was a popular diving spot, it was entirely possible another group was down here.

I spotted what looked like red shorts and released the railing to reach out and tug on Laurent’s arm, but when the diver turned, it was Cody.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun to see Laurent, finally. I breathed a sigh of relief as he flashed the OK symbol. I gave him the so-so hand motion, gesturing to the water around us. He nodded, motioning for me to calm, his eyes never leaving mine as he breathed in sync with me until my pulse returned to something like normal.

I pointed up, and he nodded, indicating the other divers scattered around the wreck. I heard another tank-banger, this one louder, and Laurent and I both looked around for the source. We swam toward the sound, converging on Jennifer, who was holding tightly to the mast of the ship, her air bubbles coming much too fast. I hovered close by as Laurent did the same check with her that he’d done with me. Once he’d calmed her, he pointed to the two of us and indicated we should hold on to the pole and stay there. I gathered he was going to look for Rémy so he could take us to the surface before Jennifer passed out or made any dumb mistakes.

Cody swam over to us as Laurent glided away, immediately going to work to calm Jennifer. Gisèle appeared out of the murk, followed by Samira, who both grabbed on to the mast too, clearly nervous.

It was only two minutes before Laurent returned, but it felt like two hours. He pointed up, and my anxiety began to ease as we rose toward the surface. By the time we paused for our five-meter safety stop, I was feeling silly for getting so freaked out. I knew better. Anxiety caused mistakes. The best thing a diver could do in any situation was remain calm.

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