Swimming with Sea Turtles in Hawaii

On our honeymoon in Maui, my husband and I went snorkeling at a beach where the guidebook promised sea turtles. We spent an hour seeing nothing but sand and a few gray fish. We were about to give up.

Then my husband grabbed my arm underwater and pointed. A green sea turtle, about the size of a coffee table, was gliding slowly right beneath us. It was so calm and graceful, flapping its flippers like slow wings.

We floated above it for twenty minutes, not moving, barely breathing. Another turtle joined it. Then a third. They ignored us completely, munching on seaweed off the rocks.

When we finally swam back to shore, we sat on the sand, salt in our hair, unable to stop smiling. We've been married for a year now. We still talk about the turtles at least once a week.