Floating face down in waist-deep water off the coast of Nassau on a summer day in 2015, I studied the contours of the sandy ocean bottom. The sun cast shadows in some places while making others painfully bright, and before I saw the nearly invisible body of a fish swimming beneath me I noticed its shadow moving along in the sand. I was weightless and free, drifting along at the speed and in the direction the current pushed me, mesmerized by the sights below yet fully aware that my mom teaching me to swim when I was young provided the foundation for my current bliss. To this day I recall the peace and tranquility I felt in that moment.
During 26 years of life with a spinal cord injury, I’ve discovered different ways to spend time in the water. Help is always required, and fortunately, there are organizations and individuals committed to seeing that people with mobility impairments can access nature. One of my first post-SCI adventures was whitewater rafting on the Upper Colorado River during a visit to the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colorado. With Wilderness Inquiry, a group devoted to connecting people of all abilities and backgrounds through shared outdoor experiences, I kayaked the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and spent several days sailing from Santa Barbara to the Channel Islands, one of America’s least visited national parks.
My preference for diving and snorkeling in warm, clear water means the Caribbean is home to some of my fondest memories: snorkeling with whale sharks off the coast of Isla Contoy in the northern Yucatan, feeding stingrays 15 feet below the surface in Grand Cayman, exploring sunken ships while scuba diving in the Bahamas, and kayaking in the nighttime through a bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico.