Planet Roamer

The whirring of the boat's motor, the sound of the waves and the crew calling to each other. It all becomes muted, as slowly, so slowly, we begin our descent under the waves.

It's going to be a deep dive today, at least 30m, but that's the best place to see them, apparently. Away from the coral we usually target on dives, as it provides us with everything from tiny clown fish, to beautiful and bold parrot fish, to even, if we're lucky, the occasional white tip reef shark skimming around us, curious as to what all the noise is.

But no, today we descend into, well, nothing. We reach 15m and all around us is blue. Not varying shades of blue that sparkle and reflect like the waves on the surface do, but just... blue. One block colour that provides us with no reference point to see how quickly we're descending, in fact the only way you know you're not upside down is by looking at which direction the bubbles you exhale float up in. We reach 30m and still can't see the bottom of the sea. We're in one of those magical places where for all you know the seabed could be miles and miles below you, with who knows what creatures existing, far beyond the realms of our knowledge.

But we wait, as the guide said we should. Bobbing in the blue as though we're suspended in mid air we wait. And wait. And just as we're nearing the half way mark in our air consumption we see it: a shadow at first. Nothing more, a wisp of darkness, a slight change of colour in the never ending blue. Was it our imagination? No, there's another one, and another one, and those shadows are getting closer, and bigger and finally - finally they emerge. 15, maybe even 20 hammerhead sharks come into view, the biggest around two and a half metres, the smallest only a metre or so.

And it is breath taking.

They're around 10m below us, but with visibility that's crystal clear they appear so much closer, as though all you have to do is kick your fins a couple of times and you'd be right in the middle of them. With eyes on the far sides of their uniquely shaped heads they have to swim with a curious wiggle in order to see the entirety of their surroundings, and it makes for a spectacular show. And we, the enthralled audience, can't take our eyes off them.

That is, until we realise we've unknowingly descened to 35m and are somewhat low on air. Reluctantly we signal it's time for our ascent and slowly begin the climb back to reality, with a final appreciative glance back at our incredible performers.