We're in a bright-orange rigid-hulled inflatable boat, and we are racing (as much as one can race in 7-foot swell) into the wind. My knuckles are white from gripping the center console — and it's a good thing I'm holding on tightly, because the boat has just caught air. Come to think of it, it's also a good thing that I pulled on my wetsuit back at the dock, because I'm so drenched that this boat ride could just about be classified as a dive.

We've only seen one other vessel since we left the harbor — a large fishing boat that was headed in the opposite direction. The absence of boat traffic strikes me as odd, and I lean toward the captain, a quiet Dutch expatriate, and bellow, "So, do a lot of divers go to this site?" The captain looks at me evenly, one lip raised in a not-quite-smile, and replies, "No."

What does his "no" mean? Of course, it could be a simple reply. And there's always the possibility that it means "I can't really hear your questions over the engines. Please don't bother me while I'm driving." The tipoff here, however, is in the half smile, which on the face of the stoic Dutchman transforms "no" into something more along the lines of "No, and it's their loss, because you're about to have your world rocked."

Read the full article, originally published during the Summer of 2016, on Alert Diver.