Location: Direction Island, Coco's Keeling!!!!!
COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH, COCO’s KEELING! The last time I was skipper, I may have shared similar sentiments about Makassar Reef – and I don’t want to build a reputation as a hallmark card-level hyperbole-flush writer. I don’t believe that every place we go to is the greatest place on earth, I promise (the only way this can be proven wrong is if I’m skipper again in Cape Town, which is also up there on my list of favorite places). When I was a student myself, in 2020, our captain had just completed this Indian Ocean crossing, and he would show us photos of Coco’s Keeling that had us all in awe of this place we’d probably never get to see. Last year, I was on the Vela trip across the Indian and got to see this place for myself for the first time, and it was INCREDIBLE. Now, I feel like it’s my duty to instill a love for this place in future visitors as it was done for me. So, from day 1 of this trip, I have been talking about Coco’s Keeling, or in a Coco’s Keeling accent — and yesterday, we made it and asked anyone if it has lived up to the hype. In the first few hours after our arrival, we swam with three different species of sharks, an oceanic Manta Ray, and explored an untouched reef off of an island where no one else could be seen. Today, this proved not to be a fluke. Customs officers came by to clear us this morning, and apparently, the movie “Argo” was on TV here a few days ago, so they had lots of funny jokes for us. They also passed along perhaps the most vital piece of information we’ve received while here in this remote and disconnected place – that there is, in fact, a store that sells ice cream on the next island over – it goes without saying that we’re making an excursion out of it in a few days. The students hopped in this morning to start gathering data for their semester-long research projects, with groups free diving and setting up cameras, surveying various species of fish, gathering sand samples; you name it, they are probably doing it. For others, the day started long before our yummy breakfast of Migas with homemade tortilla chips! Ben hopped in for a sunrise snorkel, which he described as “epic.” Others swam laps or worked out, reaping the benefits of a boat no longer in motion. I did the rounds of wake-ups and was shocked to learn that Hannah sleeps with her sheet completely wrapped around her head – a photo taken after she removed it to breathe. Ali and her team made Croque Monsieur for lunch on freshly toasted freshly made homemade bread — delicious!! Such a good refuel after a morning in the water. After lunch, I, along with Meg and Amanda D., had the absolute honor of acting as Discover Scuba Diving students (students who are trying diving for the first time with no training before getting in the water) for Philip and Kackie, two of our Divemaster Candidates who are finishing up their Divemaster curriculum this week. I played an 11-year-old boy named Craig who was upset to be diving because his parents didn’t believe him that he could breathe underwater without a tank. Meg and Amanda played my parents, who shared a particular aversion to fish. Ben and Will joined us as instructors and additional divemasters while Kackie and Philip juggled the most difficult students they will ever have underwater (hopefully!). At one point, Amanda reached into her BCD and pulled out a banana for a mid-dive snack. I probably went through half of my air by laughing so hard that my mask cleared. We surfaced, and then everyone else hopped in to dive. They had been going over their knowledge reviews as they were working to finish their Advanced Open Water diving certification. The AOW divers completed their Navigation training dive, while Charlie and Ali started on their Rescue diver training with some practice saves at the surface – Amanda M. played a very convincing victim for them. While they dove, I was on a mission of my own. As the Leadership instructor, it is my job to organize the trip’s Challenge Course – an afternoon reminiscent of Survivor mixed with Amazing Race mixed with your most competitive elementary school field day. So, I explored Direction Island, scoping out sites for potential challenges, hiding places, tiebreakers, and everything in between. I had a secondary task while ashore as well. Back in Bali, I organized for us to get a camping permit so we could spend the night on Direction Island – having a barbeque on the beach, bonfire, roasting marshmallows – the whole nine yards! So I scoped out the various campsites to secure us the best home base for a few days from now. Kackie and I volunteered to grill master the BBQ (after seeing the foot-long hot dogs that arrived in our Christmas Island delivery, but before seeing the grill set up of Coco’s Keeling). For those wondering, it’s rustic. We’re building a fire. Thank god we were both Boy Scouts – gonna channel my inner Craig one more time. A future skipper will let you know how we fared. Today marks the official 1/3 point of the trip – and it feels simultaneously like the time is flying and like we’ve been here forever. Coco’s Keeling will always be the greatest place on earth. Can’t wait to see what our next five days have in store for us. To my family – please reply to my email!!! The lack of response is killing me! Love you guys. I might have service at about 10:45pm-midnight on October 16th if you want to stay awake….. Bislingiamasellos – sike, I know you’re not reading this. Wellllll maybe you Emma – our reunion is the number 1 thing on my bucket list right now, I feel the hive mind bluetooth signal wavering.