Read Part 2
We scheduled our dive weekend eight days after our last classroom session at Diver's Network. Our instructor, Luis Nazareno, said we had to confirm by Wednesday so he could make reservations at the dive resort.
It was knotty for us that week because Em and Eleanor both had colds, and we were not sure they would be in shape for the dive that weekend. We were worried about congestion because that could hurt underwater, and we didn't know how to equalize yet.
I also had a salon appointment that Wednesday that I intended to keep because of the 70% discount. I was aware of the hair science law that forbade hair washing for 3 days after a major treatment, and the crime I was premeditating was to be committed in salt water, which made it a capital offense.
But if we didn't do it that weekend, it would have been at least a month before we could get a weekend with Luis. And he did say there were new drugs out there that could take care of congestion, and our issue was more cough than congestion. So even if Eleanor's cough made a horrible echo in her chest, we gave Luis the green light that Wednesday. My hair would just have to be collateral damage.
Things in my bag
Friday night, right after we came home from the UP screening of the 'The Cove' (the docu about dolphins, which was perfect for the night before my first dive), I packed my bag. There were only three important items in my list: sleepwear, extra pair of contacts, and a swimsuit. The rest were my usual travel things (bathroom kit, sunblock, iPod).
All Luis said to bring was something to wear under the wetsuit. To me that meant only a basic swimsuit because that's all I had. I asked how many to bring, and Luis said that would depend on how hygienic I am. So I brought only one :)
The extra pair of contacts was reserve, in case I lost my current pair. I was warned we would be taking off our masks underwater, and there was a huge chance I'd lose my contacts.
The boat ride to the resort was short. The resort itself was unremarkable. I thought it had the look and feel of a spacious garage. But I soon found out it was perfect that way. Divers spend a lot of their time underwater, not lounging around the resort grounds. And they tend to make a mess when they're on the surface--wet stuff, dripping gear, tanks that need refilling, etc.
The Diver's Sanctuary's cafeteria looked out to a not-so-breathtaking view, but you knew there's a busy traffic of divers just beneath the sleepy surface.
View from the cafeteria: Our rooms were in that structure to the left of the blue building. The rooms were basic and clean, but we barely spent time there.
The extra pair of contacts was reserve, in case I lost my current pair. I was warned we would be taking off our masks underwater, and there was a huge chance I'd lose my contacts.
It was past midnight when I finally felt okay about my preparations. So with my outfit for the next day and my backpack by my bedside, I set the alarm on my phone to 5:00am. Our arrangement was for Em and Eleanor to meet up with Luis at Diver's Network at 5:30, and the three of them will take Luis' truck and pick me up at the Buendia Shell station. And so I went to bed happy and excited.
And the next thing I knew, I was looking at the wall clock and it was 5:28. The alarm didn't go off! I forgot to set it to a weekend. I reached out for my phone and texted Em that I was on my way, which was technically a lie. But I figured that if I could change and step out of my front door in 3mins flat, I could turn it into truth. And I did. To keep the long story short, I got to the meeting point all of 7mins before they did.
The road south
The drive to Diver's Sanctuary in Batangas was an easy 3hrs, counting in the breakfast stop at the SLEX McDo. We went via Tagaytay, which turned out to be a scenic route.
Em, who was seated shotgun, was asleep most of the way. Eleanor, who was still nursing a cough, also took short naps. I felt somewhat drowsy, too, but I didn't fall asleep because of the McDo coffee.
Also, I didn't want our driver to be the only one awake, partly because I thought that was rude, and also because I sensed he was probably as drowsy as we were. And so to keep myself awake, I watched the view go by--gates to tech parks, pineapple farms, the Taal lake and volcano, and people going about their business. I also tried to make conversation with Luis to make sure he was alert. He was chugging C2 green all the way, and I didn't know if that was a good sign.
And finally we got to the town of Bauan (I didn't know that was its name until Luis had us write it on our dive logs). We stopped at a parking lot. Luis said the resort was just around the corner. But--surprise, surprise--we had to ride a motorboat to get there. I was suddenly thankful that we rode with Luis. We would have gotten lost if we were on our own, even with detailed directions.
We unloaded our stuff and waited for our boat. It was midmorning and the sun was nice and warm. Luis mentioned something about us being lucky because his class just the day before had to dive in gloomy weather. I agreed.
The boat ride to the resort was short. The resort itself was unremarkable. I thought it had the look and feel of a spacious garage. But I soon found out it was perfect that way. Divers spend a lot of their time underwater, not lounging around the resort grounds. And they tend to make a mess when they're on the surface--wet stuff, dripping gear, tanks that need refilling, etc.
The Diver's Sanctuary's cafeteria looked out to a not-so-breathtaking view, but you knew there's a busy traffic of divers just beneath the sleepy surface.
View from the cafeteria: Our rooms were in that structure to the left of the blue building. The rooms were basic and clean, but we barely spent time there.How I felt
I wanted this blog entry to be about the actual dive lessons, but right now I don't remember the details of those. I only recall how I felt--like I was in a fat camp. At least that was how I imagined being in a fat camp would feel like.
The challenge for me was two-fold: I had to overcome my physical limitations--tiredness, slow reflexes, and excess poundage; and my psychological issues--fear and lack of confidence.
I already mentioned in a previous entry my tendency to be overcautious, which I attribute to age. Ironically, it was Luis, who didn't really know me apart from my name, age, and contact details, who made me realize I had that issue. At one point, perhaps tired of all my questions, he told me to stop overthinking and overanalyzing, and to just relax and enjoy the experience. From then on I had a name for my problem: overthinking and overanalyzing.
Thankfully, by our last dive that weekend, I actually stopped thinking about what I was doing, and just did it. The physical part was easy once the mind part got sorted out. And that's how diving started to grow on me.
Dive drills
But back to the lessons, here's what I remember...
The first thing we did was try on and pick the equipment we needed--masks, BCDs, regulators, fins and wet suits. But we didn't put them on yet. Luis asked us to get into the pool first and show him that we could float for--was it 20mins? I don't remember now. He explained that it would be irresponsible if he didn't make sure we could handle ourselves in water before he let us dive.
And so we showed him we could float. When Luis went to get something, a diver nearby remarked that our instructor sounded strict. I thought it was better that way. Still I was relieved it was just a floating drill. I was afraid he'd ask us to do laps.
And so we showed him we could float. When Luis went to get something, a diver nearby remarked that our instructor sounded strict. I thought it was better that way. Still I was relieved it was just a floating drill. I was afraid he'd ask us to do laps.
After the floating part, we got out of the pool, and Luis showed us how to attach the regulator to the BCD and the air tank, how to check our air tanks and the air quality, how to read the gauges, how to balance weights, and how to put on our wet suits. These may sound easy but they weren't. There was a lot to remember, and some steps actually required physical strength--a full dive setup can weigh up to 25kgs on the surface!
'Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty': Once the regulator was attached to the tank, we opened the valve by turning it leftward (counterclockwise) all the way, and then half-a-turn rightward (clockwise).
'Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty': Once the regulator was attached to the tank, we opened the valve by turning it leftward (counterclockwise) all the way, and then half-a-turn rightward (clockwise).Luis said that in the Philippines, a lot of the pre-dive checks and preparations are done by the dive resort staff. But if we dive abroad, we have to do everything ourselves. Even if I didn't plan to dive ever without a knowledgeable dive master, I'm still glad we did the pre-dive preparations. It made me understand the whole process, and understanding helped calm my nerves.
So after we put on our wet suits and BCDs, the lessons started. Basically, we did drills in the pool first, and we repeated these in open water. Here's what I remember we did (not listed in the order we actually did them--everything was a blur, and I remember only bits now):
Sea critters
But the most amazing thing about that weekend was seeing underwater creatures up close. I've snorkeled in nice places before, and I know what the underwater world looks like, but only from the top view. This time I actually sat on the seabed and examined a sea cucumber. Luis picked it up and had me touch it. It looked like a huge caterpillar, and was as soft, too.
We also saw a pair of lovely sea moths. Luis said they were rare, and we were lucky to have chanced upon them. They looked like they had wings and were actually 'flying' underwater. Here's a video of these cute creatures on YouTube (NOTE: I don't own this video. I linked to it just so we'll have an idea of how the sea moths look).
We also saw what Luis IDed as a Flying Gurnard, another sea creature that had wing-link body parts. This one's not so rare, but it was no less amazing. I wish I had an underwater camera (and knew how to wield it while hovering) to document everything.
Other creatures we saw were a lion fish, schools of clown fish, and other colorful species I didn't bother to ask Luis to ID. There were lots of corals and marine fauna I was dying to examine, but I thought I'd read about them first. Luis himself saw some juvenile White-tipped Sharks that weekend. Good thing they didn't come out when we were diving around the ravine where they were hiding.
Packing up
After our last lesson on the 2nd day, we rinsed our wet suits and dive gear, the way Luis had shown us the day before. We showered, packed our personal stuff, and settled the resort bills. By the time we were done and ready to go, it was after sundown.
We rinsed and put away our dive gear at the end of the day.
The boat picked us up and took us to the parking lot where we left Luis' truck. After loading up all the dive equipment, we were off. We stopped for dinner at a pizza place in Tagaytay called Carlo's. There Luis showed us how to log our dives in a tiny red logbook. He also showed us his dive computer and what it could do.
By the time we left the pizza place, we were too full and tired to talk, so everyone was mostly quiet on the way to Manila. I felt sorry for Luis who had to drive. But I was too wrecked to make any more conversation. That weekend felt longer than 2 days, and we still had to go to work the next day.
Our class: Em, myself, Shifu (Luis), and Eleanor
But looking back now, that weekend was really fun. The diving drills were actually easy. I've been swimming since I was kid (I grew up just 10mins from the beach), and I'm generally comfortable in water. I don't understand why I felt so edgy at first. The rest of that week I couldn't stop thinking about the next dive. And I did dive again two weeks after--at The Pearl Farm in Samal, Davao. But that's for another entry.
All photos here are by Eleanor Joy Tan.
Read Part 1
Read Part 2
- Remove our regulator, retrieve it, put it back in our mouth and purge it
- Remove our mask, put it back on, and clear it of water (this was particularly challenging for me because I had my contacts on, so I had to close my eyes all the way)
- Remove our BCD and put it back on (we did one version on the surface, which to me was harder because we had to balance ourselves on top of the floating BCD, before we could put it back on)
- Remove our weight belt and put it back on
- Switch from regulator to snorkel (on the surface)
- Swim without a mask
- Swim without a regulator (I think we only did this in the pool)
- Simulate a quick solution for leg cramps (this, too)
- Retrieve an object from the pool floor (and this)
- Simulate an emergency ascent (No Air Can Be Bad?)
- Hover (where I failed horribly)
- Find our way using a compass
- Check one another's equipment--BWRAF
- Simulate emergency measures (on the surface--we had to push our 'injured' buddy to the shore)
- Experience how it felt to run out of air (not pleasant!)
Sea critters
But the most amazing thing about that weekend was seeing underwater creatures up close. I've snorkeled in nice places before, and I know what the underwater world looks like, but only from the top view. This time I actually sat on the seabed and examined a sea cucumber. Luis picked it up and had me touch it. It looked like a huge caterpillar, and was as soft, too.
We also saw a pair of lovely sea moths. Luis said they were rare, and we were lucky to have chanced upon them. They looked like they had wings and were actually 'flying' underwater. Here's a video of these cute creatures on YouTube (NOTE: I don't own this video. I linked to it just so we'll have an idea of how the sea moths look).
We also saw what Luis IDed as a Flying Gurnard, another sea creature that had wing-link body parts. This one's not so rare, but it was no less amazing. I wish I had an underwater camera (and knew how to wield it while hovering) to document everything.
Other creatures we saw were a lion fish, schools of clown fish, and other colorful species I didn't bother to ask Luis to ID. There were lots of corals and marine fauna I was dying to examine, but I thought I'd read about them first. Luis himself saw some juvenile White-tipped Sharks that weekend. Good thing they didn't come out when we were diving around the ravine where they were hiding.
Packing up
After our last lesson on the 2nd day, we rinsed our wet suits and dive gear, the way Luis had shown us the day before. We showered, packed our personal stuff, and settled the resort bills. By the time we were done and ready to go, it was after sundown.
We rinsed and put away our dive gear at the end of the day. The boat picked us up and took us to the parking lot where we left Luis' truck. After loading up all the dive equipment, we were off. We stopped for dinner at a pizza place in Tagaytay called Carlo's. There Luis showed us how to log our dives in a tiny red logbook. He also showed us his dive computer and what it could do.
By the time we left the pizza place, we were too full and tired to talk, so everyone was mostly quiet on the way to Manila. I felt sorry for Luis who had to drive. But I was too wrecked to make any more conversation. That weekend felt longer than 2 days, and we still had to go to work the next day.
Our class: Em, myself, Shifu (Luis), and EleanorBut looking back now, that weekend was really fun. The diving drills were actually easy. I've been swimming since I was kid (I grew up just 10mins from the beach), and I'm generally comfortable in water. I don't understand why I felt so edgy at first. The rest of that week I couldn't stop thinking about the next dive. And I did dive again two weeks after--at The Pearl Farm in Samal, Davao. But that's for another entry.
All photos here are by Eleanor Joy Tan.
Read Part 1
Read Part 2
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