Monday, May 26, 2014

Scuba Diving @Batangas, Philippines

Getting introduced to scuba diving at Batangas.. beautiful place! Ocean in the midst of hills. The cottage where we are at.. the porch opens up at the beach.. sat there soaking in the vastness of the oceans. Hmm.. the infinity amazes me.. Makes me imagine a lot of thing ;) being dropped in the middle sometimes and being carried by the waves. Or being gifted to communicate with the dolphins and whales at the first 'meet' ;) and then saving a dolphin from the money making fishing industries..

Anxiousness and excitement mixed, am ready to discover a millionth of the depth.. YES!! A 45 minutes introductory session. Most Important: DO NOT forget to breathe! And yes that happens - when I went in I realized it is very different to be breathing compressed air from a tank from your mouth, not breathing from your nose and fear that if you're not able to breathe 30 mts underwater it's going to feel like ages before you can come back to the shore and breathe normally again.. I love the water.. but I was a little scared! I started with snorkeling just at the shore which made me feel confident..! Snorkeling was a good idea to start with. The water spiders were a little creepy though.. But it did make me think that I could dive really easily :) but then.. that is what I THINK.
Depths of the Ocean
When we get to the diving point not too far from shore (since it is just an intro dive)the waters were not-so-calm and I found it slightly hard to breathe from the tanks. Then I needed extra weights.Took a little while for me to get used to it. I looked very anxious, so the instructor even asked me if I wanted to go ahead and do it or wanted to head back to the shore. I was scared but I had to experience it!! Okay let's do this..

Once you're underwater, it's far more easier. Water is calm, and I was super excited by now. It was beautiful! A different world.. And Batangas has beautiful corals and marine life to explore. It's like colonies where I am an alien.. fishes coming out of the corals.. watching out of curiosity and hiding into the corals when you're too close..

Finding Nemo :)




Starfish, Juvenile Barracudas, Nudibranch, Puffer fish and more.. And colorful corals! I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day..

Followed by delicious Philippino dishes for lunch and some lazing around I tried Wind surfing.. :) So difficult. How do you balance on a surf board AND manage a sail?! But.... it was amazzzzzing fun!! I could barely manage to stay on the surf board for more than 3 minutes, and this is the 'better' time recorded after trying for some 15-20 mins. I would either fall over the sail, or take the sail on me and fall into the water. Haha..!!

Day was closing in, packed up to return. A wonderful Sunday, so much that I visited Batangas again with the same friends for more intro dive. I would be a pro-intro diver soon .. LOL ;)

I now have experience of 5 dives (intro/basic only still), but I can tell you Philippines has some beautiful diving spots! I spotted a sting ray on one of the dives in Batangas again. Dived at World War 2 Japanese ship wrecks #Vintage I call it! And am going to be a certified diver before end of this year!

It's so much fun in Philippines!

12 comments:

  1. beautiful piece of writing.. hooked totally.. waiting for more..

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  2. well done sakshi ...the fear part was honestly described....keep it up ..u seem to b really enjoying the new place ...

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    1. Thank you sir.. It's a beautiful place.. so much to explore.. And enjoying it thoroughly! :)

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  3. Nice post...so glad your enjoying your time in the Philippines! Can't wait to hear about your next adventure. :)

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    1. Thank you Stacy :) Enjoying the place a lot!

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  4. WOW very well written keep it up

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  5. very well written. Nice to see your adventure spirit. Keep it up. Better than spending your time in front of TV

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