Day 2 of my Philippines trip was also a good one as well. The weather was holding out for us and the water was clear, warm, and beautiful. Well we started our day off at 7:30am with breakfast, and what not. Well all gathered by the pool and got all of our gear prepared, well the stuff that we could prepare such as the suits and other personal effects that you wanted to take on the boat. We got all ready and headed out to the boat. Once we all got on the boat the captain and the crew pushed off the boat and we were away! The dives that we had planned were at a fish sanctuary (Gilutungen) and then one at a plane wreck. The boat ride took us about an hour to get there and there were so many other boats there full with divers. Once we got there we were told that no cameras were permitted on the surface, so everyone with a camera put it in their BCD pockets and then quickly jumped in.
Well once we were all in he water we went down around 29m (95ft) along a giant coral cliff. There were so many different types of fish on this dive and they all were really colorful. We also saw some Boxer Shrimp, Triggerfish, Moray Eels, and others. Well we swam along the wall for about 40mins and then we came up in a shallow area were we did our safety stop. The shallow area was about 6m (~20ft) deep and the water temp there was around 32C (89.6F). There were SO MANY FISH there!!! It was like a fish nursery. We started to play with the Clownfish and the other tropical fish that were there. Clown fish are so funny. Like I said before they don't care how big you are they will protect their homes and the area around their homes. Well after around 51mins in the water we got out and took a rest on the boat. Well I thought that we were going to take lunch after the second dive, but that wasn't the case. We ended up going to a fish restaurant on this little island for a nice seafood lunch... Well as I told you before I have a shellfish allergy, so this lunch was just wonderful for me. I ate the fruit and the appetizers that were given us, and everyone else had nice crabs and other shellfish. Well after lunch on the island we got back on the boat and headed back into the water.
This dive was like the first one, but on this one we went just a little bit deeper ~25m (82ft). We did the same this as before, but this time we went in the opposite direction. We followed the wall back and this time we went to another shallow area to do our safety stop. This time we were swimming around with even more fish and we also got to see a Sweetlips baby. It is amazing that such a cute fish turns out to be something completely different when it is an adult. Well after about 60mins my buddy and I got out of the water and back into the boat. Once we were on the boat we took off for the next dive site. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the way there. When I woke up I was so confused as to what was going on. I thought that we were going to go back to the resort to get more air, but they had already stored it away for us. Anyways, I had no clue what we were doing, so I just followed them and got geared up and jumped in...
The site that we were at was called the Tambuli Airplane Wreck. It was a little airplane that went down many years ago and most of the frame is still there underwater. To get there we had to go down 27m (~89ft). Well since we had dove deep all day and we didn't have a lot of surface time we all hit decompressions stops. I was lucky and only had 8mins of decompression to do, other had anywhere from 10 to 17mins of decompression to make. The wreck itself was very interesting to see, it was big enough to swim through and the sea life around it was very interesting to see. Well after we made our stops and all got back onto the boat and headed back to the resort.
Once we got back to the resort we cleaned off the gear and we got cleaned up and changed. This time they took us to a Chinese Restaurant. It took us about an hour to get there, I really don't remember, because I had fallen asleep in the van that took us. When we got there they had the menu already ordered, but they let me order something off the menu, because they had ordered lobster and other such foods that I would love to eat, but can't. I ended up ordering chicken. The dinner was really good and like before we headed to the mart on the way back home for supplies and things to get us through tomorrow as well. Once we got back we started to party as before, but this time we stayed out a lot later and we drank more than the night before, because our dive trip had come to and end. We would be leaving Sunday morning, but very early so we couldn't do any dives on Saturday. So no diving equalled us getting drunk and lounging around the resort on Saturday.
Overall my first trip to the Philippines was a good one. They people were nice, and the diving there was amazing!! I wish that I could someday go back there and dive the other islands there. I was really happy that I went on this trip and I would do it all again in a heart beat.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
My First Trip to the Philippines! Day 1
I know it has been a while since I have posted last, but I have been really busy with helping out the centre. Anyways, I have time now and I can finally get this done. Well on the 13th through the 17th (well a 1am flight) we as a dive club went to Mactan near Cebu in the Philippines. Mactan was a really nice place, but I didn't realize how many Korean shops and Korean restaurants were on that island, at least in that immediate area that we were in. I thought that I was going to experience something different than Korean culture, but I was wrong. Anyways, we left Wednesday night, and the flight was full of screaming children... For 3hrs we had to endure the screams of this squealing little kid, while his parents did nothing except give it more candy and soda.... Oh well, we got to the airport in Mactan, and we took a shuttle to the resort. Now I had imagined a nice very plush resort, but what we got was a Marriott at best. The resort was nothing like the pictures they have on their website. The pools were ok, but nothing like on the website. The service there was great, the staff was really friendly and they went out of their ways to make sure we were comfy. Also I didn't realize that the water out of our faucets in our rooms was not potable. Oh well, I didn't drink it, but I was about too, and Nick told us not to drink it. Anyways, We all got ready to get on the boat, but I was not use to the fact that there were people carrying my gear for me. They set it all up and did everything that I usually do, because that is just the way I learned to do things in Korea. Anyways, I felt a little bad for letting them do that when I was more than capable of doing it myself, but that is just how things work there.
While we were there we did 7 dives and some of us did 8 dives. All of the dives that we did on the first day were about the same types of dives, but we saw so many different things on each dive. The people that owned the resort and dive shop there wanted to come out with us and show us new things, so we let the course director do the dive briefing. I was amazed on the infinite wisdom that came from that man's mouth. His dive briefing was about 30-40 second long. It equated to loosely this: "We all go in together. Swim around together, and get out together." I wish every briefing were that short and sweet. The last thing that he told us though was to be careful of the Triggerfish, because they were mating now. The first two dives were at Olango dive site. on both dives we dropped in and the water was an amazing 30C (86F). I have never dove in water this warm before and I LOVED IT!!!!! I also really enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to wear a weight belt, I just used my integrated weight system on my BCD. I had 2kg (~5lbs) in each pocket. This dive was to be a shallow dive so we could get the lay of the land and a feel for what we were doing. Well it turns out that a shallow dive of them is about 25m (82ft). Well I was fine going at that depth, because the water was still warm as hell at that depth. I actually ended up going down around 28m (~92ft) Well we swam along the wall for about 30mins and in that time, I saw more fish than I had seen in all of my dives in Korea put together. I loved it!!! We saw; Lion fish, Nudibranch, clownfish, moray eels, and so many other tropical fish there. It was wonderful. Now, Nick and I wanted to see a Triggerfish, because of what our friend Rob told us about them. We wanted to see one and see if they actually did what he said they would do to people. Also the guide Nemo told us to be careful of them because the Triggerfish were mating now. On the second drive we saw a Titan Triggerfish, it was really interested in our group and the DM that was guiding us wasn't taking any chances. He took his poker and his alternate air source and tried to scare it away from us. Also on that dive we saw a lone Barracuda just resting against the wall.
On the third dive of the day we went to Kontiki dive site. There we saw a giant school of Sardines. I was a little disappointed in the school of Sardines for the only reason I would have liked to swim in them instead of around them, but never less they were really amazing to see. This dive was also a wall dive. We went down around 24m (~79ft) for about 48mins. We swam along the wall looking at all of the fish and the different life that you can find in the warm waters off of the Philippines. We did our 3min safety stop with the Sardines and then we got back on the boat. I must say that the safety stops were MUCH more interesting in the Philippines than they are in Korea. There is a lot more to see and you aren't just sitting there getting bored. Well once were on the boat we made our way back to the resort. Again once we got there we were told no to worry about the gear and that the boat crew would get it off the boat for us and clean it. Again it didn't feel right for me to be doing that.
Well after got back to the resort and we got changed and cleaned up the owner took us out for a BBQ. It was really nice and getting there was half the fun. They shoved all of us into a small little truck and then they took us into town. The BBQ was nice place. The smell was amazing, but I quickly found out how much of the food I could actually eat. (not much, because I have a shellfish allergy) Well I stuff my face with the foods that I could eat which were most of the appetizers, but they all were really tasty. Well we spent about a few hours there stuffing our face with food. After that we went to the local mart to get some more provisions (beer, snacks, and Tanduay 65). Shopping at the mart in the Philippines is an experience, they have very dedicated lines for the size of cart you have and they enforce them fairly strictly. Well once we got the supplies we headed back to the resort for the night dive.
We did our only night dive at the House Reef that was about 200m (656ft) from the resort that we were staying at. Well we all got into the water and we went down around 24m (~79ft) and we were down there for 35mins. It was a really nice dive. The torches that we had were the same ones that we use in Korea, but for some reason they seem to light up a lot more than what they do in Korea. Well while were down there we saw a lot of different fishes. We saw; a Banded Sea Snake, a Sponge Crab, Lionfish, Moray Eels, and other fish. This was also my first non Korea night dive which made it wonderful. Well we all surfaced and we got into the boat and went back to the resort. Once we were back we cleaned off the gear and then showered and cleaned up. We also got out the drinks and snacks that we had gotten at the mart and had ourselves a little party poolside.
We sat poolside and drank until around 1am or so, and then we all decided it was time to get some sleep, so we all went to bed and that was our first day in the Philippines.
While we were there we did 7 dives and some of us did 8 dives. All of the dives that we did on the first day were about the same types of dives, but we saw so many different things on each dive. The people that owned the resort and dive shop there wanted to come out with us and show us new things, so we let the course director do the dive briefing. I was amazed on the infinite wisdom that came from that man's mouth. His dive briefing was about 30-40 second long. It equated to loosely this: "We all go in together. Swim around together, and get out together." I wish every briefing were that short and sweet. The last thing that he told us though was to be careful of the Triggerfish, because they were mating now. The first two dives were at Olango dive site. on both dives we dropped in and the water was an amazing 30C (86F). I have never dove in water this warm before and I LOVED IT!!!!! I also really enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to wear a weight belt, I just used my integrated weight system on my BCD. I had 2kg (~5lbs) in each pocket. This dive was to be a shallow dive so we could get the lay of the land and a feel for what we were doing. Well it turns out that a shallow dive of them is about 25m (82ft). Well I was fine going at that depth, because the water was still warm as hell at that depth. I actually ended up going down around 28m (~92ft) Well we swam along the wall for about 30mins and in that time, I saw more fish than I had seen in all of my dives in Korea put together. I loved it!!! We saw; Lion fish, Nudibranch, clownfish, moray eels, and so many other tropical fish there. It was wonderful. Now, Nick and I wanted to see a Triggerfish, because of what our friend Rob told us about them. We wanted to see one and see if they actually did what he said they would do to people. Also the guide Nemo told us to be careful of them because the Triggerfish were mating now. On the second drive we saw a Titan Triggerfish, it was really interested in our group and the DM that was guiding us wasn't taking any chances. He took his poker and his alternate air source and tried to scare it away from us. Also on that dive we saw a lone Barracuda just resting against the wall.
On the third dive of the day we went to Kontiki dive site. There we saw a giant school of Sardines. I was a little disappointed in the school of Sardines for the only reason I would have liked to swim in them instead of around them, but never less they were really amazing to see. This dive was also a wall dive. We went down around 24m (~79ft) for about 48mins. We swam along the wall looking at all of the fish and the different life that you can find in the warm waters off of the Philippines. We did our 3min safety stop with the Sardines and then we got back on the boat. I must say that the safety stops were MUCH more interesting in the Philippines than they are in Korea. There is a lot more to see and you aren't just sitting there getting bored. Well once were on the boat we made our way back to the resort. Again once we got there we were told no to worry about the gear and that the boat crew would get it off the boat for us and clean it. Again it didn't feel right for me to be doing that.
Well after got back to the resort and we got changed and cleaned up the owner took us out for a BBQ. It was really nice and getting there was half the fun. They shoved all of us into a small little truck and then they took us into town. The BBQ was nice place. The smell was amazing, but I quickly found out how much of the food I could actually eat. (not much, because I have a shellfish allergy) Well I stuff my face with the foods that I could eat which were most of the appetizers, but they all were really tasty. Well we spent about a few hours there stuffing our face with food. After that we went to the local mart to get some more provisions (beer, snacks, and Tanduay 65). Shopping at the mart in the Philippines is an experience, they have very dedicated lines for the size of cart you have and they enforce them fairly strictly. Well once we got the supplies we headed back to the resort for the night dive.
We did our only night dive at the House Reef that was about 200m (656ft) from the resort that we were staying at. Well we all got into the water and we went down around 24m (~79ft) and we were down there for 35mins. It was a really nice dive. The torches that we had were the same ones that we use in Korea, but for some reason they seem to light up a lot more than what they do in Korea. Well while were down there we saw a lot of different fishes. We saw; a Banded Sea Snake, a Sponge Crab, Lionfish, Moray Eels, and other fish. This was also my first non Korea night dive which made it wonderful. Well we all surfaced and we got into the boat and went back to the resort. Once we were back we cleaned off the gear and then showered and cleaned up. We also got out the drinks and snacks that we had gotten at the mart and had ourselves a little party poolside.
We sat poolside and drank until around 1am or so, and then we all decided it was time to get some sleep, so we all went to bed and that was our first day in the Philippines.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
My First Trip to Changwon Pool.
We had a good weekend this past week. Saturday and Sunday (June 2nd and June 3rd) we went to Changwon pool to do the pool sessions for a group of 10 open water students. This was my first time going to Changwon's pool. It was a nice pool, and it was busy with a lot of people learning to swim, doing laps, lifeguard courses, and of course other divers using the pool to work on skills.
Well like I said before we were there, because we had a group of ten OW students. Six of the ten, where American or Canadian students, the other four were Russian. This situation was unique, because the Russians, spoke and understood very little english. Thankfully we had Kostyantyn to translate what was on the tests and basically communicate with all of the Russian students. The American and Canadian students were mostly all friends that decided to join together there were only two that didn't know anyone, but we all welcomed them into the groups like they were old friends. The instructors consisted of Drew, Mr. Lim, and Walle. JoLeen, Kostyantyn and I were all there to help them out.
Well on Saturday, I got to the dive shop at 11am and help load the vans. The Russian students were doing their tests, because the other group had finished theirs earlier in the week. Well at 12:30pm we all got into the vans and headed off to the pool. It took us about 40 mins to get to the pools. Once we got there we all unloaded the gear into the pool area. The students seemed shocked by what they saw in the pool area. There were a lot of people doing all sorts of swim related activities. Well we got our lockers and our swim caps, and changed into our suits went to the pool area. Once we all got poolside, we had the students set up there gear while we watched them and helped them get set up. We then split into two groups, the group of friends and the group of Russians, with to Americans. Once the gear was assembled and put on we did a seated controlled entry for their first time. They all performed that very well and soon they were all floating at the surface. It was funny to see them all bobbing in the water trying to steady themselves. Once they all got comfortable breathing with their faces in the water, we took them down one by one. I went down first with one of them and waited at the bottom of the pool for Drew to bring them down to me. The pool was 5m (16.4ft) deep, and there were many other divers in the pool. Once we all got to the bottom they immediately started to work on their skills with Drew. I sat in the back and made sure that the students were comfy and stable. They worked on their skills such as mask removal, mask flooding, taking the regulator out of the mouth, and other such skills. Well after they were all done with the skills we swam around. I worked with them on their buoyancy, and taught them how to fin pivot and hover. Some of them got it right away, but other had to work on it more. Well after that we let them swim around for a few mins then we all surfaced and got out. Once we were out of the pool they were all excited to do it again. Most of their fears had washed away, and they all seemed like they had a lot of fun.
Sunday we all headed back to the pool. We did the same routine as before on Saturday as far as unloading the gear and getting dressed and then getting poolside. Well today we didn't have to do as much stuff as we did on Saturday. Today the students would finish their confined dives 4 and 5. That ment a lot of free time to practice their swimming and buoyancy. Well the students got geared up, but this time they would have to do the stride entry into the pool. So we taught them how to do that, and then let them try it for themselves. It all went very well, and when they got into the water we told them to go down and we watched them go down slowly. Once on the bottom they did their skills that they had to perform and they all did it with ease. The only skill where they had some hang ups was the free flowing regulator. The hang ups were minor though, so no big deal. After the skills were all done they surfaced and did their surface skills. They went well as well and before long they were all finished and out of the pool. Once they got out they took apart their gear and got showered, but while they were doing that, Kostyantyn, JoLeen, and I had to do our swim tests for our Divemaster Course.
We had to do a 400m swim with no assistance and no stopping, an 800m fins, snorkel, and mask swim where we could only use our legs to swim, and lastly we had to do a 100m tired diver tow. This is the part of the day I was not looking forward too. I HATE swimming distances. I mean I can swim, but I don't like doing it for any extended period of time. Anyways we made it through the tests, but I still have to do the 400m again, because I started to cramp in my legs after doing the other dives first. Well after the swims we got changed and headed back to the dive shop in Busan. There wasn's much going on as far as exciting things, but it was an over good time with new divers. Next weekend we will be going all of this in the ocean for their first dives as students. I can't wait.
We had to do a 400m swim with no assistance and no stopping, an 800m fins, snorkel, and mask swim where we could only use our legs to swim, and lastly we had to do a 100m tired diver tow. This is the part of the day I was not looking forward too. I HATE swimming distances. I mean I can swim, but I don't like doing it for any extended period of time. Anyways we made it through the tests, but I still have to do the 400m again, because I started to cramp in my legs after doing the other dives first. Well after the swims we got changed and headed back to the dive shop in Busan. There wasn's much going on as far as exciting things, but it was an over good time with new divers. Next weekend we will be going all of this in the ocean for their first dives as students. I can't wait.
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