Bucket List Leap into the To Sua Ocean Trench

Jumping into the To Sua Ocean Trench was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Heck, even seeing one in real life from the top was freaking amazing. We were in Samoa on a mission to visit as many bodies of water as possible in a single day. We started with a natural swimming hole, dipped into a waterfall, and then—To Sua Ocean Trench.

If you had asked me what an ocean trench was just a few hours earlier, I wouldn’t have known how to answer. I had never even seen one before. But there I was, tromping into To Sua Ocean Trench with zero concern for the fact that I couldn’t swim—making my way down the slippery, steep steps, clutching a GoPro, and grinning so wide I could barely contain myself. I think my excitement made my usually sporty buddy Jik a little doubtful and shaky while climbing down. Me? I was fine.

In the face of the To Sua Ocean Trench, I suddenly became adventurous.

Eventually, Jik joined me, and we swam—well, she swam. I mostly floated around, holding onto the big rope installed for safety. Occasionally, I climbed into the boulder to take some blurry GoPro videos, pretending I was a YouTuber. There was even a cave on the side of the trench that we floated toward, but stopped before entering. I had decided this was not going to be a Final Destination moment for us.

Speaking of which, when I first saw To Sua Ocean Trench from the top, it had an eerie, unsettling vibe (obviously not enough to stop me from jumping in). Only later did I realise why—it reminded me of that 47 Meters Down shark movie I’ve embarrassingly watched way too many times. If only that image had occurred to me while we were there, I wouldn’t have jumped at all.

Oh well. For once, I’m glad my memory wasn’t as strong as my sense of adventure. I’ve done it now—added it to my bucket list and immediately crossed it off.

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