By Sophia Braccio

Today is my last day in Omiš, a town I never knew existed. Now the juicy local peaches on Tino’s boat, impromptu synchronized swimming lessons in the cool Adriatic sea, street cats on old city walls, and late-night chats on the hostel balcony hold a special place in my heart. Billy, Miranda, and I arrived in Split on Sunday to begin our marine life conservation program with ImpacTrip. Stepping onto the tarmac in the Split airport, sandwiched between soaring cliffs and the ocean, I was both awe-struck and scared of how far away from home I felt.

Soon we connected with our program coordinator Klara, who was so cool and kind that I could not help but relax. We spent the week with volunteers from the U.S., Canada, England, and the Netherlands. Our group had special chemistry, the kind you get when people who are just the right amount of similar and different find each other. We talked about sustainability, governments, parties, school, SCUBA, our accents, stories from our homes, and where we were going next. We celebrated a week’s worth of personal victories and disappointments, like friends who had known each other for years.

Part of the reason we bonded so quickly, I believe, was because of the extreme amount of trust that SCUBA diving requires. To dive, I needed to trust my equipment, myself, and every person I was in the water with. The local dive instructors were an honor to work with. Tino, Christina, and Natalya were knowledgeable about the ocean and diving and took extreme care in training us properly. Additionally, they shared with us a deep love for the ocean and its ecosystems. Their respect for the environment was admirable, and I hope to replicate it in my own life.

Many memories from the trip were made out on the ocean. The boat is where we would eat bowls of fresh fruit and listen to Croatian and American music (shout out to Tino’s son Bepo for DJing). Perhaps the best moment of the week was sitting on the bow of the boat with the other volunteers on Wednesday, after a day of diving and exploring the island Brač, laughing with my face covered in salty spray. The boat was also where we worked together to meticulously prepare for a dive. Miranda was my buddy, so we would help each other into our Bouyancy Control Devices and clumsily waddle to the back of the boat to jump off.

Once beneath the surface, trying to control my breath and buoyancy was like learning to walk again. I would begin to glide through the water just to sink to the sandy bottom seconds later. Natalya would use her hands to slowly signal to me “inhale”, and then “exhale”. Maintaining a controlled breath required a meditative focus. Once I learned the rhythms of diving, I could descend to a reef and hover above it. I saw cities of fish among the towers of rock and coral. I witnessed the “oxygen factories” of the planet, as Tino called the sea plants. I also saw algae growing over tires and an old sink. I was told the divers have decided to leave the larger and less dangerous waste on the sea floor to allow the fish and creatures to hide in them. There were many sea cucumbers and sea urchins, small black fish, and fish camouflaged with the sand. It was a beautiful world and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to observe and care for it.

As I wrote this post, I heard a wedding band walking through the streets of the old town. We ran downstairs to watch the party process through the streets, waving the Croatian flag in the breeze as neighbors stuck their heads out of the window and cheered. Hvala, thank you, Omiš for sharing your beaches and traditions with me.