Ignoring my astute inner voice, I leant into him, telling myself not to ruin the day. I’d sort everything out some other time. Siobhan seemed to understand without me uttering a word and the three of us stood together in silence, smiling faces tipped to the sun, as we sailed towards Molokini.

When the boat finally approached the atoll, I realised with delight that it was a lush, green crescent. For some reason, I’d been expecting bare volcanic rocks, like we’d seen along the coastline. Offset against the vibrant sky, it was breathtaking. Even the sight of half a dozen other boats anchored in the atoll didn’t dampen my excitement.

“This is going to be incredible,” I said, almost to myself.

“And look at the water,” said Siobhan. “I haven’t seen this colour before. It’s stunning.” She was right. “We should name it,” she said.

“What a lovely idea,” I said, turning to her.

“Oh, I like to name colours, especially when they’re like this, rare, you know?” She stared down into the water. It wasn’t just one colour, but a fluid amalgam of many shades of blues.

“Let me know what you come up with,” said Josh, taking his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to get some more shots.” He smiled at me before heading towards the bow of the boat.

Siobhan and I were silent while we each searched for the perfect name for the colour of the water. Just as “fifty shades of great” popped into my mind, Siobhan leant over and in a near-whisper said, “Cobalt from the blue.”

I actually gasped. “I love it,” I said, and she beamed.

“It’s ours.” We grinned at each other.

*

It’s very difficult to giggle underwater and not fill your snorkel and mask with water. I discovered this while giggling underwater. The fish at Molokini were not just plentiful, they were also very friendly, and when fish are friendly with pretty much every part of your body, it tickles, which makes you laugh. I came up to clear my mask for about the sixth time—I’d lost track by that stage.

Josh popped up beside me and we both treaded water, our fins flowing through the water below us.

“You keep laughing,” he said, laughing at me.

“I know. They keep tickling me.”

“Isn’t this incredible?” he asked rhetorically.

I replied anyway. “It’s incredible. I had no idea there were places like this. The water is so clear.” I held my breath and stuck my mask below the surface of the water, so I could see to the sandy bottom below us. The water was around fifteen metres deep where we were, with near-perfect visibility to the ocean floor the whole way down.

I lifted my head from the water just as a woman started screaming, “My ring! I’ve dropped my ring! Oh, my god, my engagement ring!”

She was one of the honeymooners. There were four honeymooning couples on board, and I had quickly confirmed to the crew that Josh and I were not a fifth one. This woman had obviously ignored the skipper’s advice about not wearing jewellery into the water, and I only felt mildly upset for her—the skipper had been quite clear about the risk.