Beach Bum

Roatan, Honduras has become a second home to me. The island holds many great stories and great memories that I will forever cherish. The first time I ever heard of this beautiful island my dad told me that the first time he ever went there he instantly fell in love with the place. Of course, he wanted to revisit so he brought me along during deer hunting season. As soon as I stepped off the plane we stood in baggage claim for what felt like three years, but once we got to the Bananarama resort it didn’t take me long to throw on my swimsuit and head to the ocean. As a child, I had always loved swimming in the water, so as soon as my dad brought up getting certified in scuba diving I instantly took the offer. Once I was exposed to scuba diving I fell in love with the ocean even more. I found myself enjoying and appreciating what it has to offer more than I did before. Seeing what life is like underneath the waters is truly spectacular, the amount of creatures that you see in a different area is amazing. When I was in the process of getting certified my instructor showed me a couple of seahorses in a group together, and that sight is really rare to see. Although you are not allowed to bring a camera with you while you are in training, sadly, I am still happy that I got the opportunity. Not have I only seen seahorses, I have also seen sea turtles, lionfish, barracudas, and I have even dived with sharks. The coolest thing I ever got out of that dive was a shark tooth, which I still have, but I still need to get it made into a necklace. In all honesty that will probably never happen, knowing me.

“You’re 30 feet underwater, the ocean is brisk, the slight current is stirring the sand, the colorful fish are swarming, the bright red lobsters are playfully harassing the neon eels — everything seems surreal, especially the fact that you’re breathing underwater.”

Natalie Lavery