Chai Diab - Ugly or Beautiful

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How many times have we heard that phrase. Well, here's a situation where that is true. Growing up on the shores of Pointe Michel, you learn about the many houses or what we called, "Chais", laid out under the sea. Yes, under the sea. What are Chais you may ask. In reality, a Chai is what we call a house in Patois or Creole. For those of us who grew up by the sea, Chais are huge rocks under the water with coral on them.


Chais were named based on the shapes they formed, how far they were away from the shore, what kind of fish hung around them, or even how ugly they looked. Which brings us the most ugliest Chai there was..."Chai Diab". Some of you may say, what does Chai Diab really mean? Well, "Diab", in Patois or Creole, means "Devil", and the coral bed laid out on this Chai was so huge and mistrious to those with young eyes that we name it the "Devil's House" or "Chai Diab".

Chai Diab had different corals on its top with many colors which revealed themselves beautifully in the glimmering sunlight. At its based, schools of fish, big and small treating Chai Diab as an apartment complex which provided meals all day long.


In one of the deep holes within Chai Diab, there was a huge, long eel we called, Kong. Not King Kong, just Kong. To my friends and I who grew up on the front of the Sea in Pointe Michel, Kong was the Land Lord of Chai Diab. Trying to catch him was an annual summer adventure which I will share with you in another Blog.


In the meantime, dwell your imaginations on Chai Diab. At the time, to us young kids Chai Diab was the Ugliest House there was, but as adults today, it is the most beautiful rock in the Sea. (photo by Jon Hanson found at http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/_more2005/_more02/Moray-Eel-Red-Sea-JH.jpg.html)