Swim with Dolphins at Subic, Philippines

It was AMAZZZING!! The idea of being able to swim with the dolphins....

Subic is a famous weekend getaway from the city - Ocean Adventure park, swims at the ocean, the old American navy base and the Zoobic safari. You can just walk around the town, cross so many beaches, a big cemetery (am glad it wasn't too late in the evening when we crossed that) and some easy trekking terrains.

If you can visit ocean adventures for swim with dolphins, it is amazing! We took the adventure park free shuttle, managed to slip in just 5 mins before the program started!!

The Swim..... It was beautiful,, Dolphins are indeed very friendly. Some trained tricks, but we danced, swam, played games with the dolphins, and what an experience. We got to feed them too.. and learn s few facts about them. Pretty thick skin, and strong fins! Very strong fins!

Dolphins :)

       

Ummuuah! :-*

   

The dance with him was the best dance I have had till date!

Pulled out the dancing shoes _/!

 Jumps, dives, and it also kisses you and let's you kiss him back..

But these were trained tricks. It's beautiful to watch them go for their own swim after they completed a trick :) it was so much more natural and happy :)

Dolphin skin .. it isn't slimy or slippery as I had imagined. Very small eyes and ears.. but the eyes are wet - to protect them. I didn't know dolphins had a tendency to drown -- coz they breathe from their breathe hole on top, not gills like other fishes. This is why the park looks for volunteers to watch over rescued dolphins while they recover.

Riders on the waves

Later, we went to feed the jack fish, turtles and reef sharks. Turtles tend to get into fights with their own brothers or sisters for food, in which the weakest sibling mostly gets left out, affected and can not survive in the wild. Ocean Adventure rescues them. There was a turtle which wasn't in the shelter with other turtles. We wondered why... Instructors told us his brothers had bitten off his beak mistakenly while fighting for food. He was rescued and it is difficult for him to survive with other turtles for same reason. The food drops off his mouth because of the broken beak, and if there are more turtles he might end up not getting any food. Hoping to visit again with a certificate in open water - and then I can go into the water where they keep reef sharks and feed them!

Lot more happened at the Happy Street: the weekend is pretty awesome in Olangopo! We met some people working at the park and went to Happy Street. Every weekend, the street is alive! buzzing with people, singing and dancing competitions, the clubs and music, groups jamming by the road. Just pull up a table and order some beer to enjoy the celebration and the weekend :) We went for a few beers.. hit a club.. danced until 4 am..... tried Balot Balot (the famous Philippino dish) for the first time.... :)


Getting to Subic from Manila: Get a bus from Cubao - Victory Liner headed to Olongopo. It will drop you off at Subic free port zone (Harbor Point mall). We lodged at The Cabin - fairly decent budget hotel. Has wi-fi too. And is walking distance from Harbor Point.

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!