Joining Nemo; My First Scuba Diving Experience

I don't know why it took me two (2) years to blog about my first and hopefully not my last SCUBA Diving experience. The idea of blogging about it popped out when one of my friend Naprey posted his scuba pics. All of a sudden I began to think about what happened that day. For a non-swimmer like me, being able to surpass that challenge was such an achievement. Anxiety began to encapsulate my entire self the time that my friends started the plan. Two of us in the group don't know how to swim that's why I was confident enough that she's going to suggest another getaway other than Scuba Diving but I was wrong! Among all of us she's the most excited! grrr! 

Anyway, since no one opposed the Scuba Diving plan, I had no choice but to face it. As far as I can remember, we paid Php750 each that time for a 45-minute underwater exploration with underwater pictures. There was also a package which includes your meal but I couldn't remember how much and I also don't know if they still have it this time. What we had was just an "intro-dive" and we had our own diving instructor/guide as we explore the beauty underwater.

We went to their office as early as 7:00am. I'm very sorry but I just can't remember the name of diving company and I don't want to give wrong information here. All I remember was that it is located right after Magsaysay Park on the block going to the Sta. Ana Wharf. I'm pretty sure they are still there up to this time. We will be travelling by a small boat locally known as "latsa (lancha)" as we go to the diving site. Since we were only 9 in the group, we joined the other small groups in the trip. As you can see, we were in all smiles but deep inside, very anxious of what might happen later.

(Sheng, Johnny, Digs, Me)

(Egon, Ate Pao, James)

(Cristal and Rhyz)

Then someone from our diving instructors started the orientation on our way to the diving site. He said that we are going to dive in the Angel Cove. Well, whatever was that place, I didn't care because I'm waiting for him to say that diving is safe for non-swimmers. That's the very thing that bothers me all along. If in case he will mention that you need to know how to swim before you can dive, then I would be very willing to stay in the boat, eat our food and take pictures. However, as to my astonishment, he mentioned the phrase right before he started discussing what SCUBA Diving is all about. "NON-SWIMMERS CAN DEFINITELY DIVE". My eyes grew larger and my heart beat faster, so I'm not exempted at all. He also mentioned the meaning of SCUBA which is self contained underwater breathing apparatus. He's referring to the tank and all those tubes that comes with it. It will provide the air that the diver will need underwater. He also said that we need to hydrate ourselves in as much as we can because our throat would definitely be dried up afterwards.  Such thing will happen because we will be using our mouth to breathe in and breathe out. In short, we can't moisten our mouth with our saliva. Try to do it and you would know what I'm talking about. Then he gave us the Do's and Don'ts and the important hand signals that we will be using underwater. Of course we can't chitchat down there or else we would all be filling ourselves with sea water.

And that's it, everything's all set. We put on our wet suit and off we go.

All of a sudden I panicked, the tank was very heavy and I don't know how will I get into the water. Will I jump or what?! Help! Then those men assisting me said I should imagine myself having a big step. Wooo! and that was arghh! I thought I'm going deep down because of the heavy tank on my back but I'm still floating. Well, along with the tubes, the tank comes with a certain vest that can be inflated as your life jacket. My diving instructor went near me and gave me last minute instructions, we even practiced the breathe in breathe out using our mouth for the last time. Then he asked me if I'm ready to go down, because the moment I'll say yes, he will deflate the vest and we'll start sinking. He adjusted some sort of meters in my tank and we went down. I almost forgot that I had my goggles on because at first I was closing my eyes. When I opened it, wow! so this is the world of Ariel (Little Mermaid). Now I'm wondering where's Nemo... Then my instructor checked me if I'm okay, I replied with the "okay" hand signal (tip of the thumb to the tip of the pointing finger making a circle). And we went deeper, the pressure in my ear is now getting higher and it's getting painful, we were taught beforehand that when this happens, we just have to "equalize" (pinch our nose and then exhale hard while keeping the mouth shut).

Now I'm seeing the beautiful coral reefs

(Me and my diving instructor)

and there's NEMO!

Sheng and her dive instructor

and the picture taking continues...

and that's it, what a very nice experience. Although this thing happened two years ago, I can still feel the excitement by just merely thinking about it. I suddenly want to try it again with the hope to have the same group of friends with me. 

Tiring but fulfilling, no wonder after the trip I slept the entire afternoon.

-niceurdaneta-