Maldives, Memories and Crab Races

Vivid flashbacks, nostalgic memories, the ultimate sepanx-in-a-nutshell.

Listening to this song brought us back to memories of the wholesome barbecue nights on the sandbar. Where we became spectators to the most exciting party-tricks the squirmy hermit crabs could put on – a crab race through the sand.

Inna put on some chill music to set the mood.

While my supportive husband used our underwater flashlight to mimic the disco vibe.

Miren, Arlette and myself, drunk in saltwater and adventures, danced the night away.

I remember vividly, the quiet-lul-turned-softcore-post-barbecue-party where we drank cokes and bottled water as we waited for the little boat to bring us back to the Maldives Sea Pleasure.

Overhead was a carpet of stars in the pitch black skies. They looked like a downpour of rain, only frozen in time. As if we weren’t already enthralled enough, our reverie was pleasantly disrupted by occasional shooting stars, showing off their beauty.

I’ll wonder when we will ever see the stars that abundant, and skies as dark and quiet again.

I suppose we were the complete opposite of the ocean’s quiet that night. We were like echoes in the middle of the vast ocean. Infinite and free.

The laughter, the music and the memories still resound in me, long after the trip. Echoes of a not-so distant past.

There are nights when I’d look back and wish I could go back to crab races, shooting stars and DIY low-key disco dances. There are nights when these memories would turn into saltwater and roll down from my cheeks.

This particular night though, while listening to this jam, everything demanded to be felt once more, and it was then, the saltwater tears came in waves.

Maldives was more than the work we put in: organizing and preparing a year ahead, waking up at 6am for dives, lugging-drying-packing gears twice my weight, it was more than the lack of WiFi, too. It was more than the abundance of spicy food we found a bit challenging to eat.

Maldives was the appreciation of nature, family, friends and moments. Maldives was an appreciation of life and everything in-between.

Here I have come to appreciate the beauty and unadulterated real-ness of marine wildlife. Here I have come to cherish the friends who shared their wisdom. Here I have witnessed heroes who made selfless choices. Here we have established seamless teamwork above and under water. It is here where we have found a family who support each other’s life’s passions.

Diving is not just about the sport.

Maldives has made me come to realize what diving has really been about.

Maldives was that beautiful, starry night with crab races.

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