I picked up my pair of snorkels and fastened them over my eyes. The lagoon was a calm, clear view from the deck — water so pristine that I could picture shoals of fish swimming along the lagoon floor through a massive body of blue mosaic reflections. I held my breath and dove in.

As I dove beneath the surface of broken reflections, colorful scales scattered from beneath as the cool, silky texture of the lagoon came to greet me. It enveloped every sense of my being in its invigorating embrace, reminding me of the hug of fresh, newly changed bed sheets.

The low hums of the water whispered in my ears, a strange but soothing sensation.
It created a bubble of a world where I was the only one living in it. The sounds of my deep breaths were contained within this bubble, harmonizing with the thrums of the deep. They were magnified yet felt so muffled and distant. Stillness overtook my body; it was like a state of eternal meditation, wrapped in your own cozy cocoon, isolated away from the worries of the world with only your loud thoughts for company.

The sight of azure waters enchanted my being — they danced to the rhythm of the water with the ever-shifting rays of sunlight sifting through the surface gracefully. Looking up from below, it was as if a whole other world awaited me, one that would be conjured if I reached my fingers through the window of the surface level. The sun was a great beacon of light on the other side, dominating the heavens as it blended with the faint blue of the waters and the sky. It was a simple abstract painting of impressionism, illustrating the gates to heaven.

I was further invited into the heart of the lagoon, where fish played along the reef. The bed was littered with a multitude of colorful shells and corals, partially buried underneath all the limestone white grains of sand. Fish swam away from my presence, dispersing rainbow colors, circling and wiggling through reefs of all shapes and sizes. Every so often, starfish with swirls and patterns in resemblance to their habitat would shift from underneath the sand, leaving a cloud in their wake. The corals of bleached vermillion protruded sharply from the floor, protecting their inhabitants from visitors. They were like sculptures handcrafted by a masterful artisan, their red hue emitting a warm glow radiating from the core.

A spectacle to behold, this painting of life underneath the surface. It was a frenzy of colors and emotion, of liveliness and tranquility, like paint freshly squeezed from a tube and randomly brushed together on a great blue canvas. I floated still and silent above the lagoon floor, admiring the majestic art of the marine world that nature had come to portray.