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| Suit up! |
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| Ready to go... |
I was lucky that one of my fabulous All Hands donors introduced me to her nephew, Jeremy. Even more lucky that he not only is a scuba instructor, but also just so happened to run a scuba shop. And luckier still that his scuba shop just so happened to be on the same island as my volunteer work. Lots of wonderful coincidences.
Not to brag, but I consider myself a pretty quick study. Before my first lesson, I read (and aced) the quizzes (I probably shouldn't brag about that, they are insanely easy.) I felt really over-confident. The underwater skills seemed super doable. My first underwater "skill" was to learn was how to clear my goggles if they got water in them. And guys, I freaked. My mask full of water, I couldn't see Jeremy, I flailed and hyperventilated, and eventually I flipped out and swam right back to the surface (which isn't encouraged because if you were actually diving at a deep level, swimming up so quickly has terrible consequences.) But after a minute or two of floating at the surface, we swam back down and I managed to clear my goggles. It certainly wasn't perfect, and mask clearing was the skill I struggled most with for the rest of my dives (which is really unfortunate, because I have a tendency to breathe heavily through my nose, which fogs up the glass.) From then on, I handled each skill calmly and did an acceptable job on the first try.
But the good stuff came on my first dives. They were incredible. The fish, the coral, all those wacky organisms whose names I don't know. All of these creatures and landscapes I've never seen before. I like to consider I'm well travelled, but the Earth is 70% water and I had never seen the bottom of the ocean like that before. Depending on how much sun there was, the coral was a million shades of purple, pink, and white. I was mesmerized by the never-ending school of silver barracuda. Even just looking out at the water, how far it goes, how deep it goes. I got that same feeling I get in a modern art museum: I could stare and stare and stare at the same piece of coral for hours, examining each intricacy, each color, each facet. I sometimes forgot to breathe, not because I was using the respirator, but because the sight literally took my breath away.
Not gonna lie, "A Whole New World" from Aladdin popped into my head on more than one occasion.
As well as a few days at the scuba shop nippa hut, I also stayed at a beautiful resort in the nearby Anda Beach, called Blue Star Dive. Even though Blue Star is a fancy resort (fancy by my standards, at least... you all remember the hut in Thailand, right?) they had backpacker friendly rooms and prices. The staff was friendly, I had a gorgeous room, the food was good, and the owners were incredibly sweet.
I went on two dives with Blue Star, an amazing daytime dive to one of their many dive spots, and a nighttime dive, which was scary but incredible. We saw mandarin fish, an eel, and all kinds of other fish that only come out at night.
Overall, my last week in the Philippines was a wonderful, relaxing break after the noise and work of All Hands. Anda Beach was quiet and secluded, when I went to the Anda public beach for the day I was the only person there! I'd wake up at sunrise and go to sleep early. I ate well, read a ton of great books, and saw some of the most memorable and beautiful sights I'll ever see.
*Stay tuned, I hope to add more scuba pictures soon!
Not to brag, but I consider myself a pretty quick study. Before my first lesson, I read (and aced) the quizzes (I probably shouldn't brag about that, they are insanely easy.) I felt really over-confident. The underwater skills seemed super doable. My first underwater "skill" was to learn was how to clear my goggles if they got water in them. And guys, I freaked. My mask full of water, I couldn't see Jeremy, I flailed and hyperventilated, and eventually I flipped out and swam right back to the surface (which isn't encouraged because if you were actually diving at a deep level, swimming up so quickly has terrible consequences.) But after a minute or two of floating at the surface, we swam back down and I managed to clear my goggles. It certainly wasn't perfect, and mask clearing was the skill I struggled most with for the rest of my dives (which is really unfortunate, because I have a tendency to breathe heavily through my nose, which fogs up the glass.) From then on, I handled each skill calmly and did an acceptable job on the first try.
But the good stuff came on my first dives. They were incredible. The fish, the coral, all those wacky organisms whose names I don't know. All of these creatures and landscapes I've never seen before. I like to consider I'm well travelled, but the Earth is 70% water and I had never seen the bottom of the ocean like that before. Depending on how much sun there was, the coral was a million shades of purple, pink, and white. I was mesmerized by the never-ending school of silver barracuda. Even just looking out at the water, how far it goes, how deep it goes. I got that same feeling I get in a modern art museum: I could stare and stare and stare at the same piece of coral for hours, examining each intricacy, each color, each facet. I sometimes forgot to breathe, not because I was using the respirator, but because the sight literally took my breath away.
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| Underwater action shot |
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| Very cool coral |
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| Also, pet monkey at the scuba shop |
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| Fancy! |
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| The resort from the boat |
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| Private beach |
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| My underwater "tour guide" |
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| I'm on a boat. |
*Stay tuned, I hope to add more scuba pictures soon!
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