The Monday after our wedding in 2006, we embarked on our honeymoon in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We stayed at Secrets Resort which was AMAZING! I had never been out of the country before and my eyes were opened! Woah! Punta Cana is amazingly beautiful, the roof on the airport was made of grass! We drove through very poor areas on the way to the resort, I had never seen anything like that before first hand.
Once we arrived, at the resort, we were able to pick our excursions. We probably could have done it in advance but decided to wait. I had always wanted to go snorkeling, John not so much, he lacked in his swimming abilities. He however reluctantly agreed and I was thrilled. I had never been snorkeling, not even once, it was something that I had only seen on tv or had read about.
Just how deep is this water exactly?
The big day arrived and we were fitted for our gear and boarded the boat. There was no “here’s how you snorkel class, video to watch, or instruction sheet. I guess that we signed up for the advanced class, that or it isn’t really that hard to figure out. John, however…. John started to get nervous. Real nervous. The farther we went out into the ocean the sweatier his hands became. He kept asking just how deep I thought it was and just how close we were to sharks. I guess you could say he was out of his comfort zone!
Finally, we reached our destination. They gave each person a clump of fish food to attract colorful fish and told us that when they sounded the whistle to make our way back to the boat. Perfect. It seemed a little odd that we still didn’t get any real instructions on how to snorkel, but it couldn’t be that hard, right?
It couldn’t be that hard, right?
People were exiting the boat and we were the. last. two. left. I couldn’t figure out why John was so reluctant to get out of the boat and into the water. I went and he finally followed. As soon as he got into the water, he panicked! Seriously about lost his mind. Thrashing about. Arms, legs, flying water everywhere. Mind you in this area, he probably could have stood up but we were cautioned not to prevent damage to the coral. So, at the least, he can get credit for following that rule!
Soon he was being attacked (his words, not mine…)
Remember that fish food we were given? Well, John’s frantic movements caused all of that food to come his way. Not just his, everyone’s that signed up for the adventure too. Soon he was being ‘attacked’ (his word, not mine, or at least that is how he always told the story) by lots of colorful fish, I’m sure if you asked him he’d vouch that there was a shark nearby too. I’m surprised he didn’t have a panic attack right there.
Two tour guides jumped in and grabbed each of his arms, calmed him down and then gently persuaded him to relax and look around as they lead him around. He was the first back in the boat, well before the whistle blew. Poor guy. But, thanks to the guides help he was able to see just how beautiful it is in the oceans of Punta Cana. He was so thrilled when we finally reached land and he was off of the boat!
Can you believe I got him to go snorkeling again? It took a solid 8 years and the resort offered mini-lessons beforehand. The lessons were super basic but enough to get the confidence to minimize the fear of drowning a tiny bit! The second time around he enjoyed it a little more than the first time! When we went the second time, there were solid advances in technology. This picture was taken with an iPhone that had a waterproof case. I’m not sure iPhones existed when we were married, not in our worlds at least.
What excursions did you do on your honeymoon or have done and loved?
In the Blink of a Fly is led by Leah Fullenkamp. Leah is the mother of four young children. Their lives were tragically altered after a crash caused by distracted driving killed her husband and her children’s father. This website is the tale of them learning to live again and serves as a passion project to help prevent distracted driving and this tragedy from happening to someone else.