We cover more ground than we ever have this morning. It’s calming, the constant swimming, and Derek is better about taking pictures as we move, which allows us to keep our pace up. I keep track of Pippa, who seems to have completely forgotten she’s also supposed to keep track of me. She’s a quick swimmer and stays right on Vanessa’s heels. I have no time to turn around and check and see how Andrew and Hugh are faring. I figure it’s better for me not to pay Hugh too much attention.

There are more currents eddying in the water today. I drift through a warm patch only to be hit by a blast of cool water. With the currents come more schools of fish — we swim through a shoal of damselfish, hundreds of silver scales, their bodies about the size of my hands, each one marked with a telltale gold circle on its tail. The fish are unbothered by us and flit so close to our faces and bodies that I could reach out and touch them if I wanted.

We scuba through two large stretches of reef and turn around, ready to make our way back. Just like Millie’s notes said they would be, these reefs are shallower, closer to the surface. They sparkle in the sunlight and teem with life. Even the fish seem extra glittery here, the sun glinting off their scales as they dance around rocks.

Vanessa slows on our return trip, seemingly happy with the pace we’ve set so far, and our group breaks up a little to explore the hidden crevices around the reef. Pippa and I notice a large colony of pink and red starfish, all studded with white spots and spines. We watch them unstick and stick their arms and legs up for a while before turning to look for something new.

I find a cluster of staghorn coral and hover over it. Pippa is entranced by an anemone that is home to two clownfish right next to me, so luckily, she stays by my side as I take pictures of the coral beneath my flippers. I see hundreds of little fish darting around the coral, but none look like the butterfly wrasse. They look like a rainbow of zigzags, black, yellow, blue and orange. When Pippa starts to swim away, towards where Vanessa is tapping her carabiner on her air tank (a signal for all of us to pay attention), I give up and follow her.