(3-minute read)
My next stop before heading home was Arborek Island in Raja Ampat, Indonesia! When I say I fell in love here, that feels like a complete understatement. Here I got to witness a real sense of community, see healthy coral reefs, play with so many puppies, and swim with so so SO many manta rays!
Unfortunately, I also got to experience being incredibly sick in the middle of my travels (but I learned to go with the flow of things). In the end it worked out and I got to meet wonderful people and learn a thing or two about marine science careers and more about photography.
I was originally invited here by Githa Anastasia to do work with her organization MORA, (Molobin Raja Ampat. We had hopes of me delivering presentations and working with this group to help develop skills in stewardship.
MORA is an organization that focuses on uplifting island women and providing opportunities for them to work and gain skills in ocean conservation as well as ecotourism. They do this by holding presentations, training sessions, and providing women with hands-on experience. This is such an amazing organization that does so much to raise up other women– I was beyond excited to help out. Sadly though, due to my unexpected illness, these plans didn’t pan out.
Being sick, I was able to take advantage of this new free time and reflect a lot. Since leaving America for the first time, I really felt like I was seeing a completely new world and I basically was. Everything I experienced was so different, I loved it! A combination of calm life on an island, eating the freshest fish possible, seeing the local community’s connection to the ocean, and meeting the most independent kids I’ve ever seen was wonderful to experience.
It is such a privilege to be able to explore different parts of the world and I am incredibly grateful that I finally have the opportunity to do so.
Luckily, by the second half of my trip I was starting to feel better and was able to get a few dives in before heading home! My favorite thing from all of these dives was seeing all the manta rays. I knew they were big, but I didn’t know that big!
It was easily one of my favorite dives ever because for almost an hour, we got to just sit and watch these beautiful ocean giants move so gracefully in the water. I loved it. (I’m saying “love” a lot for this blog).
This was my last stop before going home, and I am going to miss this place immensely. It has been so much fun being in the tropics for the past few weeks!
If you are curious, here is my final review on warm water diving since most of you know I only had experience in cold water before this:
- I love that I have way more dexterity in the water– like no gloves?! No 7mm wetsuit? Only 12lbs/6kgs of weight needed? I was able to move so much more, it was great.
- I am so jealous of the visibility. Seeing the surface of the water at 60ft/18m was weird, but very cool.
- So much stings you. I am not a fan of that. My poor face and legs were stung many times!
- Coral is unbelievably gorgeous and seeing how alive reefs are when there is healthy coral was amazing.
- I got to see so many sharks and other megafauna which is always a huge plus for me.
- Currents are a little spooky when they are strong but drift dives are pretty fun.
- 10/10 want to get in some more warm water dives this year when I can, I loved it.
Thank you so much to Githa Anasthasia for inviting me to such an amazing place and welcoming me in. I had so much fun and I hope we can go diving again!
Thank you to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and our sponsor Rolex for making this scholarship experience a possibility. I would also like to thank Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light and Motion for my underwater camera setup as well as Aqualung, Fourth Element, Suunto, Halcyon, and DUI for my diving equipment.
