"We were just 40 feet (12 meters) from the surface at Thailand's Hin Daeng,
a stony pillar considered one of the world's top diving sites, when this giant manta ray spanning 13 feet materialized. It circled our group for a full 17 minutes as we bobbed, agog at the magnificent creature. When I extended my hand to touch it, the ray flinched out of reach. Just one fluid motion of its wings made currents that sent divers careening into each other."

Priscilla Yeo, 28
Video Production Manager
and PADI Diving Instructor
 
In her first return visit since the December
2004 tsunami, Yeo, who lives in Singapore,
saw negligible damage to the twin deepwater sites of Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, 50 miles
(80 kilometers) southeast of Phuket, Thailand. Yeo has friends who were diving in the area when the tsunami hit. Though terrifying
currents rolled over the divers and rock formations, they all were unharmed.



To contribute to Your Turn: There + Back, send photos via e-mail to
adventure@ngs.org.





Photographs by Priscilla Yeo