A frightening experience on extended stay at Bali

After we got settled down at the hotel, we went for a walk at the beach. It was low tide then and we could literally walk on the seabed. the sea level was about ankle length and we saw alot of adventurous people walking out to the seabed towards the sea which was KMs far away.

We started walking, it was not easy as it's not flat, it has slopes and we had to find ground which are not so deep to walk on. We walked and walked for a long time until we were so far away from the shore. Soon, I realised that we were the only 2 tourists, apart from 2 locals who were harvesting some sea urchins. I wanted to get back but hubby says that he wants to go further as he can see dry ground further but I was tired and i felt unsafe since most locals were already off the beach and sun was setting. So i got mad and refused to walk further, but being him, he carried on. Shortly, he returned and i told him that the tide is coming in, I could see that the sea level was rising.

Suddenly I panicked and I was wondering if we could make it in time back to the shore. I am not a good swimmer and the last thing I want to do is die in a sea mishap. We couldn't swim back as there are alot of sea weed on the sea bed and if it rises to the level which enables us to swim. it means the waves would be too strong. Hubby was still calm (or at least appears) ... and i said, let's get back as fast as possible.

We were still trying to walk sideways, finding shallow grounds but I found that the tide was rising quite quickly, I decided just to bash through directly inward towards the shore. Although the sea behind us was still far away but I saw that the water level in front of us was higher than behind us .... which means that it was filling in from the sides and not behind. I was almost suffering a panick attack and told hubby "Let's get in there ASAP" and I did not wait for him and just bashed through towards the shore myself. AFterall, he is much taller than me and a much better swimmer.

It took us quite some time before we reached the shore and I was really so relieved that I made it. At that point the sea level was already half way toward my knee (i think). If it had reached my knee, it'd be vv hard to walk back. I had to raise my leg each step and i was wearing sandals. Not to mention that there were lots of starfish and some sea urchins , etc.

When we reached shore, I spoke to hubby for a minute or two and at the end of the speech and video session, the dry ground we stood on the beach oredi rose to my ankle. It was really fast.

Thank God that we are both safe and sound and one thing I learnt - Trust your own feelings cos we know when we feel danger approaching.

Also, what we see is may not be what it really is. We saw alot of "dry" ground but later we concluded that it is not dry ground but due to the reflection of the sun as it was setting, it created that illusion. Furthermore, it looks safe cos the waves are really far behind us BUT little did we know that the water level is rising higher nearer the beach than further away from the beach.

With this experience, it makes me even more paranoid about sea activities really. But well, as the saying goes, " When we grow older, we become more Kia Si" .. which i totally agree cos i know why. Perhaps it's smarted to be more cautious? rather than taking uncalculated or ignorant risks right?