I sat on the big coach bus for 4 hours eagerly waiting to finally arrive at my destination: Seacamp, which is in Big Pine Key, Florida. As I looked out my window, I saw the amazing blue ocean water, and I was so amazed at the color of it. It looked like two different colors that didn’t mix with each other.

When I finally made it to Seacamp, I was extremely thrilled, all I saw was a huge campus, with a lot of dorm rooms, and the crisp blue ocean water, like I saw before on my way there. Finally, after I settled into my room, which had four bunk beds. I got changed into my swimsuit, and I went into the water to take a swim test with my instructor. Luckily, I passed the test, even though it wasn’t hard, and then I learned how to snorkel. I was so shocked at how well I did for the first time that I ever snorkeled!

After that swimming activity, I went on a tour of the campus with my group. On the campus there was a first aid office, a lot of dorm rooms, a basketball hoop, volleyball net, and a lot of sand from a beach that’s nearby! Later that night, I dissected a fish, and the room that I was dissecting in started to smell like fish, which was really gross. After the dissection, we had a bonfire and we roasted marshmallows by the fire, and then we ate them, and played a couple of fun games. Then, I went to bed, and the next morning I davened Shacharit (the Morning Prayer), ate breakfast, and went on a boat trip to the ocean where I actually snorkeled!

While I was snorkeling, I saw a coral reef and tons of fish in it! It was so pretty! I took tons of pictures with my underwater camera! When I came back from my boat trip, I had some free time before lunch would begin, so I hung out in my room, and just relaxed for an hour.

After lunch, I kayaked to an island called Horshoe Island, and over there I learned about a type of tree called mangroves, and I sat in the water, and played a couple of fun games, one of the games was where there was someone who was a little fish. Then, there was another person who was the barracuda, and the little fish was trying to run away from the barracuda before they got caught. If you got caught, you’d become the barracuda, and someone else would be the little fish trying to escape getting tagged by you.

When we came back from there, it was getting a little late, so I davened Mincha (the afternoon prayer), and then I saw the sun disappear into the trees. It was such a beautiful sight. The sky was pink, orange, and yellow, and as the sun was setting, I saw the sun’s reflection on the water, which was really beautiful too. That night I dissected algae, which means that I just looked what was tangled up in the algae, not really cutting the algae open. I only found tons of worms in my algae, but some of my friends found brittle stars, sea cucumbers, shrimp, and crabs! After that interesting activity, I went to bed.

The next morning, after I davened Shacharit (the Morning Prayer), and ate breakfast, I learned about sharks and squids, and then I dissected a squid. And guess what?! After I dissected the squid, I swam with sharks! They were only bonnet head and nurse sharks, but I still swam with sharks! I sadly only saw one shark, but at least that’s better than not seeing any!

After that, I changed, packed up, and headed home, eagerly waiting to tell my family about my trip! I have to say, that was the best trip I have ever taken, and I recommend that if any of you get the offer to go on a trip like this, go on it! I will truly never forget this trip!