Dawn is the best time of day in the Sea of Cortez. A ruby red globe of promise hovers just above the water, we watch the sunrise like castaways waiting for rescue, slowly sipping our smoothies and savouring our chia pots. Desert days get hot quickly - just fifteen minutes after sunrise the cool of our white van (affectionately named ‘the beluga’) feels like a welcome reprise. As on all our trips, waking up at sparrows never feels like a compromise - we are the early birds who will get the worm… or in our case - the fish.
Just south of our hacienda is the small town of Cabo Pulmo - we roll in while the street dogs are just waking up and greet our hosts. David Castro and his family were part of the pioneering fisher-families who lobbied the Mexican government to protect their bit of ocean, instead opting for eco-tourism as a sustainable way of living off the sea. And boy does it work! After launching the boat we travel out to sea, you don’t even have to be within the reserve to see the effects of protection. ‘Stop the boat’ David says, ‘I can smell them’. Yep, you heard right, with his nose in the air David asks Peter to jump in and check - we hear his garbled yell of excitement through his snorkel. We have found the jack fish...
'Suspended in deepest blue with sunrays slicing down from the surface to the depths I feel him sing. Floating fifteen meters above him we don’t matter in the least, we hardly move – our eyes and hearts fixed on the outline of white whale-tail glinting below, enveloped in a cloud of sound foreign to any terrestrial being, it is not only a listening experience - in water sound comes from all directions at once and if loud enough penetrates your skin, muscle and bone until you are vibrating in the throes of something much greater than simple listening. The singing humpback male hangs suspended in blue water below us while we hang suspended in his song... '
Read Hanli's account of visiting Niue for the first (but not the last!) time...
Having been freediving competitively for over 10 years I’m not so amazed by depth anymore as by the people who take on freediving for the first time. More happens within a person than in a deep dive. It can change the way you trust your body, or give you a hige boost in confidence. Freediving can teach you to relax and breathe in a way that makes you calm and happy...
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Some changes happen suddenly. Others come more slowly and natural, as if it’s meant to be all along. The ocean has always been part of my life, but in different ways. This might be my favourite way so far. I used to be a competitive freediver to see how deep I was able to freedive, but it almost made me lose my love for the ocean...
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'There once was a girl called Nim
who wished she’d grown up with a fin...'
Read the wonderful poem our guest Nim wrote for us on our last nigh in Baja.
Thank you Nim, we loved having you with us in Mexico!
At I AM WATER we are passionate about sharing our oceans! When you choose to come on an adventure with us proceeds from your trip cost goes towards getting kids in South Africa and other project areas to experience the water for the first time!
Here's a small video from one of our snorkel days in Durban, South Africa!
From growing up in Stockholm with water all around to having our summer house on an island only available by boat, my fascination for water has always been there.
As an avid waterlover and after a couple of months of way too much work, I read about I AM WATER Ocean Travel’s trip to Mozambique: a week of learning how to truly freedive, “The Big Blue” style. It took me about 2 minutes to make up my mind and book a spot…
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It’s as if the mountains take all the glory. Those who do spare the ocean a glance is to confirm that it is still or stormy, clear or murky – as always, staring at skin. On a very popular road to a very famous place you park on a small gravel patch next to the tar and get changed. This is not blue water. This is 5mm with integrated hood country. We suit up, add some extra weight for the thick suits and shallow water, slip n slide down the incline to the rocky shore.
I have never experienced an embrace stronger than that of the ocean at depth. On one breath I leave the surface and kick my way down to where liquid turns black, the sun is only a memory and water presses in on me from all sides squeezing me harder than I think I can survive. But it’s still only water. Gentle, flowing water- the same water can crush a human as easily as you crumple a piece of paper in your hand.
