My first time snorkeling on a coral reef in the Philippines

I'd snorkeled before — at ordinary beaches, with more murky water than fish, nothing much to see, honestly. None of that prepared me for what it was like to put my head underwater for the first time at a real reef, during one of the stops on the island-hopping tour in Coron.

The water was so clear that, even before I dove in, you could already see the bottom with a sharpness I'd never seen anywhere else. But it was putting my face in that changed everything completely: coral in shapes and colors I didn't even know existed, entire schools of fish moving as if they were a single thing, and that underwater silence that cuts off any surface noise instantly.

I couldn't tell you how long I floated there barely moving, just looking. I completely lost track of time.

The guide had to call us several times to move on with the rest of the tour — and we were far from the only ones who had a hard time getting out of the water that day.

What surprised me most, more than the beauty itself, was how accessible it all was. You didn't need to be a strong swimmer or have any prior experience — with a vest, a snorkel and some enthusiasm, anyone can have that first encounter with a tropical coral reef.