I take my foot off the bottom rung and sink softly down, surrounded suddenly by a school of yellow grunt. Their bodies undulate all around me and, though their large eyes are right next to mine, they seem unperturbed by my presence. I watch their gills work, amazed. A few blue tang join us, cutting crossways through the motion of the school of grunt, not unlike the way the boys I’m with now join me. We are giants compared to them – each grunt is the size of my outstretched hand, the tang maybe the size of a small dinnerplate – but we are flying through their world, and they are unconcerned.

We are snorkeling in the clear waters of Cayman. I watch a large parrotfish chase after a saucereye porgy as I stretch languidly above them. Nearby, a honeycomb cowfish darts into the mountainous star coral to hide and myriad other fish fly in and out of the corals and sponges that make up this coral head that is their home. Sometimes I hold my breath and dive down to be nearer to them, releasing air slowly so that I can stay under just a little longer. I’m careful not to touch their home, but I long to peek into their hidden caves and see what lives inside – a lobster? An eel? I’m out of air – a reminder that I am an intruder in their world – and have to surface.

Afloat again, I continue to watch. There! Oh! In a sandy patch between coral heads a sea turtle is taking a break, snacking on a bit of sea grass. She sees us, but we are merely uninvited guests, so she takes her time before she moves on. We follow respectfully. With a few flicks of our plastic fins, we can nearly keep up as she swims. She inspires awe, this creature whose movement through the water belies her ungainly body. In the water, she is at ease. Turtles are all grace in the water; I will never tire of watching them. Slowly, she flies away from us, and I am momentarily bereft.

We relax again, allowing the waves and the currents to direct our movement for blissful moments. This is the closest I can come to flying: watching a universe swirl around me, supported by the clear water with no fear of falling. No wonder we dream of mermaids. Oh, to be a creature of both air and water! Until then, I’ll keep snorkeling.