This was the view of Cocos Island when we arrived and when we departed - all you could see was the vast amount of Palm trees from about 5 miles off. In my experience, when you can see the land you're about to stop in and you’ve been at sea for a good few weeks, this is the slowest part of the trip. Although you have just done 2000 odd miles the last 5 is like when you're on a treadmill and however fast you run, you stay in exactly the same place. Everyone onboard was finally wide awake and excitement was buzzing in the air. As the quarantine flag flew, the depth quickly went from hundreds of meters to ten. And the colour of the water dramatically changed to the clearest most spectacular blue. Unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The Mediterranean, Atlantic, Caribbean don't even come close in comparison.
What happened next was a like a beautiful phantasmagoria. Six dolphins decided they were going to lead the way all the way to our anchorage. In less that 6m depth they were playfully checking out their new arrivals. Once we anchored, they spent five minutes making sure we were okay, and then off they went on their merry way. We were in awe of the dream that surrounded us. It was like the film The Beach (Or Lost? - Editor). No one in sight. And then the sharks appeared. Obviously I was over the moon. Being the first sharks I've ever seen up close in the wild. Then the owner, as lovely as he is, got his snorkel and googles and jumps in. Being slightly afraid of swimming with anything bigger than my hand around me, my heart jumped into my mouth. I frantically scanned all the files in my brain for any first aid training on how to deal with shark attacks. Then another crew member jumped in. After me telling them they were crazy, I quickly came to realise that the sharks were no danger and they were just afraid of us than I was of them. I was the crazy one for not jumping in. It was fantastic.
We had to wait till the following morning for the police customs to come to us and do our clearance, we didn't mind waiting as it was close to dinner time and we were still adjusting to our new surroundings. We had ten days to explore.