discovering the underwater world
the love for the ocean i think has been with me since birth. i love the beach so much that when i was a kid i would ride my cousin’s bike to the nearby beach, alone. the sound of the waves has the calming effect on me and burying my feet under the cold black sand is just therapeutic. i’d get dolphin henna tattoos or would apply for a save the dugong organization membership in my teens. i even planned taking marine science at the up marine science institute after i graduated from statistics. but one thing that discouraged me was that i couldn’t swim.
i couldn’t swim until i was 26yo. still then, i wouldn’t dare going into deep waters without a life vest. but i wanted so much to get past snorkeling that i thought of diving. in 2007, i had that opportunity when my bestfriend melany asked me to join them scuba diving in boracay. with re-assurance that i won’t be really needing my noob swimming skills in discovery diving.
melany and i did the discovery diver training. she has done it already several times though. lance, her husband was into openwater diving already. we joined them to a boat dive somewhere in coral garden i think, i couldn’t remember the divespot actually, melany and i were towed by our divemaster. and yeah, the experience is ultimately different. i wanted to take off my regulator and scream the excitement off my chest. but i had to hold it of course, ehehe. it was the most amazing thing i had experienced in my life that time and it made me think out loud “now, i can die”.
.
.
the experience made me want more and i realized i just couldn’t die, because there’s more! (hello, the expanse of the underwater life is about 70% of earth). i took another discovery dive the following year and that’s when i decided that i wanna learn scuba diving, get certified and continue exploring the underwater world.
.
Diveshop: SEA GAIA Dive Resort & Lodge, Boracay Stn.1 (+632 288-3661)
.