Hey there guys...
On July 18th I finished my DM course. I finished my course and I learned a lot over my course with Sea World Busan. It was a long journey, but I finished and I was really happy on what I accomplished. It was a lot of fun, and I am really looking forward to going to Roatan to do my IDC. I will keep you guys informed about that journey in my life as well.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Pohang Trip 2
Hey there guys, sorry I have been really busy and haven't posted in a long time. On June 30th we went on our second trip to Pohang. This time we went with did a AOW course and we also worked on more of my DM course. Also on this trip Rachel also finished her DM course.
We got there around noon and we got our gear set up. We got in the boat around 12:30pm and then we got in the boat. Our first dive I helped out Jen. She was guiding our dive and I was supporting her. We went to the new shallow reef and just swam around with some AOW students. We went down around 15m (49.2ft). The water temperature was around 18C (64.4F). While on the dive we saw a lot of fish and a lot of new soft coral. The visibility was about 14m (45.93ft), which really good for this time of year. We were down there for around 34mins. We did our 3min safety stop and then got on the boat and headed back.
During our surface interval at the docks we changed groups. I was put in charge of the fun divers and one of the Korean students. So it was Per and Chang Woo in my group. I gave them the dive briefing on the Cube Reef and we were all at the understanding on what to do on the dive. Well we all got into the boat and headed out. While on the boat the boat captains for the boats were arguing about where the Cube Reef was. They finally found it or so they thought and they told us to drop in. So we all got into the water, and I signalled to the group to go down. We started to go down and there seemed to be no problems. Well around 5m (16.4ft) Chang Woo stopped descending. I signalled to him and he started to swim down. Well we got down around 29.4m (96.45ft) and started to swim towards what I thought was the reef. Well we made it about 10m (32.8ft) and I looked around and I couldn't find Chang Woo. That was a bad thing considering the visibility at that depth was around 10m (32.8ft). I signalled to Per and he told me to look up and there Chang Woo was about 6m (19.68ft) above us. I swam up to him and brought him down. Well as we got down there was a fishing net running across the bottom, well he got tangled up in it and started to panic. I had to push him down to the ground and Per held onto him. I tore off the net from his fins. He calmed down, but Chang Woo started to signal up. I shook my head no, but he still signalled up. I looked at his computer and things were fine, but he wanted to go up. So after about a minute of just sitting there we started to ascend. We did our safety stop and during it Chang Woo tried to inflate my BCD. I had to smack his hand away from it, and I held him while Per held his legs so he wouldn't swim up. We were down there around 14mins. Well after the stop we surfaced and Chang Woo immediately took off his mask and spit out his regulator. The waves were picking up and Chang Woo was trying to talk while swallowing a lot of salt water. I told him to put his regulator in his mouth and not to start speaking again. Well I got in the boat and so did Per. We dragged Chang Woo into the boat. Once in the boat he started to cry and throw salt water up. He apologized to us, and we asked him why he wanted to go up and he told us it was because it was his masked started to fog... Well Per didn't show much anger, but I was a little upset with him. Well we had to wait around 15mins for the rest of the groups to surface. Well people started to get into the boat, and we all took off to the dock.
Once we got on the dock we started to celebrate Rachel finishing her DM course. I also talked to Mr. Cha about Chang Woo. Come to find out that Chang Woo had never done a deep dive, but some how he got certified as an AOW diver from his old dive school. So taking him down to that depth just scared him. Anyways, after I told him what happened with Chang Woo we started to party. The party went into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning we got up to Jen making her breakfast burritos again. They were a lot better than eating ramen. Well we got ready to go into the water again for the morning dive. This time I was in charge of an AOW group. I helped them on their underwater navigation skills. Well went out to the shallow reef again, and got in. We went down around 12m (39.37ft), and we worked on the navigation skills. We did a square and reciprocal lines. After we got those down we just swam around. It was really nice swimming around with the schools of fish that were around. There were also some thermoclines. The temperature at 12m (39.37ft) was 15C (59F) and around 8m (26.24ft) it was around 21C (69.8ft). The dive was around 36mins long and when we were done we got back in the boat and headed back.
When we got back to the dock the weather had gotten really sunny and hot out. Well on this dive I was in charge of the fun divers, but there were no fun divers for me to take care of. So I tagged along with Drew and the other AOW students. For this dive we went and worked on Peak Performance Buoyancy. Well our group dropped into the water, and we went down around 23.6m (77.42ft) we swam around and worked on hovering underwater. Well after we worked on that, we swam around and saw a ship wreck. We were down there around 28mins, and we sawa lot of cool things. We also saw a lot of fish while swimming around. Well we all got low on air and we all went up to the surface. We got back in the boat and we headed back.
Once we got back to the dock we had a nice lunch and we hung out while the gear dried off. We did our log books and we talked about how things went over the weekend. After a few hours we packed up all of the gear and we got into the vans and headed back. Overall the trip went really well and I am very proud of Rachel for finishing her DM course.
We got there around noon and we got our gear set up. We got in the boat around 12:30pm and then we got in the boat. Our first dive I helped out Jen. She was guiding our dive and I was supporting her. We went to the new shallow reef and just swam around with some AOW students. We went down around 15m (49.2ft). The water temperature was around 18C (64.4F). While on the dive we saw a lot of fish and a lot of new soft coral. The visibility was about 14m (45.93ft), which really good for this time of year. We were down there for around 34mins. We did our 3min safety stop and then got on the boat and headed back.
During our surface interval at the docks we changed groups. I was put in charge of the fun divers and one of the Korean students. So it was Per and Chang Woo in my group. I gave them the dive briefing on the Cube Reef and we were all at the understanding on what to do on the dive. Well we all got into the boat and headed out. While on the boat the boat captains for the boats were arguing about where the Cube Reef was. They finally found it or so they thought and they told us to drop in. So we all got into the water, and I signalled to the group to go down. We started to go down and there seemed to be no problems. Well around 5m (16.4ft) Chang Woo stopped descending. I signalled to him and he started to swim down. Well we got down around 29.4m (96.45ft) and started to swim towards what I thought was the reef. Well we made it about 10m (32.8ft) and I looked around and I couldn't find Chang Woo. That was a bad thing considering the visibility at that depth was around 10m (32.8ft). I signalled to Per and he told me to look up and there Chang Woo was about 6m (19.68ft) above us. I swam up to him and brought him down. Well as we got down there was a fishing net running across the bottom, well he got tangled up in it and started to panic. I had to push him down to the ground and Per held onto him. I tore off the net from his fins. He calmed down, but Chang Woo started to signal up. I shook my head no, but he still signalled up. I looked at his computer and things were fine, but he wanted to go up. So after about a minute of just sitting there we started to ascend. We did our safety stop and during it Chang Woo tried to inflate my BCD. I had to smack his hand away from it, and I held him while Per held his legs so he wouldn't swim up. We were down there around 14mins. Well after the stop we surfaced and Chang Woo immediately took off his mask and spit out his regulator. The waves were picking up and Chang Woo was trying to talk while swallowing a lot of salt water. I told him to put his regulator in his mouth and not to start speaking again. Well I got in the boat and so did Per. We dragged Chang Woo into the boat. Once in the boat he started to cry and throw salt water up. He apologized to us, and we asked him why he wanted to go up and he told us it was because it was his masked started to fog... Well Per didn't show much anger, but I was a little upset with him. Well we had to wait around 15mins for the rest of the groups to surface. Well people started to get into the boat, and we all took off to the dock.
Once we got on the dock we started to celebrate Rachel finishing her DM course. I also talked to Mr. Cha about Chang Woo. Come to find out that Chang Woo had never done a deep dive, but some how he got certified as an AOW diver from his old dive school. So taking him down to that depth just scared him. Anyways, after I told him what happened with Chang Woo we started to party. The party went into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning we got up to Jen making her breakfast burritos again. They were a lot better than eating ramen. Well we got ready to go into the water again for the morning dive. This time I was in charge of an AOW group. I helped them on their underwater navigation skills. Well went out to the shallow reef again, and got in. We went down around 12m (39.37ft), and we worked on the navigation skills. We did a square and reciprocal lines. After we got those down we just swam around. It was really nice swimming around with the schools of fish that were around. There were also some thermoclines. The temperature at 12m (39.37ft) was 15C (59F) and around 8m (26.24ft) it was around 21C (69.8ft). The dive was around 36mins long and when we were done we got back in the boat and headed back.
When we got back to the dock the weather had gotten really sunny and hot out. Well on this dive I was in charge of the fun divers, but there were no fun divers for me to take care of. So I tagged along with Drew and the other AOW students. For this dive we went and worked on Peak Performance Buoyancy. Well our group dropped into the water, and we went down around 23.6m (77.42ft) we swam around and worked on hovering underwater. Well after we worked on that, we swam around and saw a ship wreck. We were down there around 28mins, and we sawa lot of cool things. We also saw a lot of fish while swimming around. Well we all got low on air and we all went up to the surface. We got back in the boat and we headed back.
Once we got back to the dock we had a nice lunch and we hung out while the gear dried off. We did our log books and we talked about how things went over the weekend. After a few hours we packed up all of the gear and we got into the vans and headed back. Overall the trip went really well and I am very proud of Rachel for finishing her DM course.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
My First Trip to the Philippines! Day 2
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Pohang!!! Finally some boat diving. The first of the year!
Well We had some great diving this past weekend at Aquabelle in Pohang. We went there the 26th and 27th of May. The weather was great, it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky both days. It was around 26C (79F) both days and the water was great. Well we got there around 11:30 on Saturday and didn't waste any time. We got our gear out of the van and we started to set up the equipment. We got all of the gear ready and the suits on in a timely fashion, but found out that there was a group in front of us that were going to go out on the boat that was at the dock... The good thing is that there are 2 boats that run divers out and back in, the bad part was that there were 3 guys with rebreather systems in the boat before us... As discussed before I was to guide the fun divers with JoLeen and Jen both watching the 2 groups that made up the fun divers. I gave a briefing and told the divers that we would try to stay in big group and the visibility would dictate how close we would group together. I also told them that we would be swimming in a straight line for about 20mins in one direction and back the same way for another 20mins. I also told them to tell me when they were low on air or cold and we would surface and get them into the boat. The briefing went well for my first one, well at least I thought that it went well.
Well about an hour later the other boat came back and we made a mad dash to it. We were all baking hot, because of the wetsuits. JoLeen, Francois, and I decided to jump of the dock before the boats got there to stay cool. Anyways, we got into the boat and we were off. The first dive that we did was at the new reef. It was a reef of seaweed and soft coral. Basically it is just a rocky ridge in the middle of sand. It is about 12m to 18m (39.3ft to 59ft) deep. You can see a lot of fish and other wildlife there. Well we got over the site that we were diving and we all rolled off the boat. We grouped up and talked for a few seconds to make sure everyone knew what we were about to do. They all gave the ok and we descended. The water was great at the top. It was 21C (69.8F), and the visibility was around 6m (19.68ft). Well when we got to the bottom the water went from 21 C to around 14C (57.2F). It was a big shock, but I really don't mind the cold water. Well we got grouped up at the bottom and started off heading east.
As we were headed down there were a lot of jellyfish in the water. We made it through them without an incident everything was going great, we were going at a nice slow pace, but Jen's group was falling behind, because there was a photographer in her group and he was taking pictures of everything. We slowed down and tried to let them catch up. I was trying to look back at them every 5 - 6 kick cycles to see how they were all doing. Well around 5 mins into the dive we lost Jen's group. I wasn't worried because Jen is a wonderful diver and the guys she was with are all very experienced divers. They knew where we were headed and I wasn't too worried about them, the only thing that worried me was that I lost a group... Well JoLeen and I continued on until we got into a valley. I told them to wait, and that I was going to go looking for the other group. Well I went over the ridge that we went over and I looked both ways, well I didn't find them. I turned around and headed back over the ridge and JoLeen and the other group had disappeared... I was thinking "OH FUCK".... Well I started to search for them in all different directions. I looked for bubbles, but I couldn't find any. After about 10mins, I started my expanding square to try and find them. That didn't pan out. I checked my air and I was at 70 bar (~1000psi), I had to ascend because I had to make a safety stop. Well I made my safety stop and set off my SMB (surface marker buoy). When I got to the surface I saw that the groups were getting on the boat and that I was the last one to surface. When we got on the boat, JoLeen, Jen, and I all asked each other where we all went too. We came to the conclusion that it was all just misunderstanding. Well I am glad that we didn't lose anyone permanently and that we all got back on the boat safely.
Once we were back on shore we talked it over with Drew and he told us that it was a good learning situation and that no one was hurt or wanted their money back so it was a win. I still don't completely see it his way, but I can see where he is coming from. Anyways, We got refitted for our second dive and began the process of waiting again. This time we only had to wait 2 hours to get back on a boat. On this dive we did things a little bit differently. We broke the fun divers up into 2 groups. I was with Dave and Sumin and Jen was with Paer and Rob. JoLeen this time was going to help Drew out with the AOW divers. I gathered my group and gave them a quick briefing on what we were going to be doing. Also we decided to take an egg down with us, because this dive was going to be around 30m (98.4ft) and we wanted to see what the egg was going to do. Well we got onto the boat and we headed out.
The dive site that we were doing on this dive is called "Cube Reef". It is a man made reef, and is made out of big metal frames that are in the shape of cubes. They have been there for about 20yrs and they are home to a lot of fish and some neat looking coral. We all got out of the boat and I handed the egg to Dave before I rolled in. We went down to the bottom and we all kneeled down. Sumin got out her camera and filmed me breaking the egg open. Sure enough the pressure from the water kept the egg in shape. It was really cool to see it. We played with the egg for a few mins and then we started to swim around. We saw a schools of fish, jellyfish, sea hares, and other such sea creatures. This dive was nice and relaxing compared to the first one. We really didn't do much except just swim over the reef and around it. After about 30mins we started our ascent with 3mins to spare before we would have had to made a decompression stop (going from 3min safety stop to an 8min decompression stop. Not that big of a problem, but we didn't have any drop tanks with us in case we ran out of air.). Well we got to the surface and we all got into the boat and headed back.
Once we got back we got all the gear cleaned off and hung up to dry. We showered and got ready for the night activities. The group that I went with all brought different food. We had a nice dinner, with Korean pork, homemade potato salad, steaks, homemade vegetarian curry, and hotdogs. We had beer and soju to wash it all down. This all started around 5:30pm and most of us stayed up till around 11pm drinking and having a good time. Well by the time I had finished drinking most of the people were a sleep in our Min Bok (a traditional Korean sleeping place). I found a spot on the floor and started to sleep, well that is what I wanted to do at least. One of the guys that came with us is a big snorer. Well he was cutting a freakin forest down by the time I laid down. I could stand it, so I went into another room, well Nick "The Greek" followed me and we went to sleep. The girls also followed, but they went to sleep in the changing room of the women's shower room. Nick and I went to sleep in the men's changing room. Well about 45 mins after we got to sleep, the Korean guy who owns the place decided he was going to have a party in the room that we were sleeping. He scared me and I shot up really quickly, however Nick was not so fast on getting up. Finally after about 10 mins of trying to get him up we got him up and out. We went back into "the forest" where the lumberjack was still very much at work. Finally out of sheer exhaustion, I pasted out. The next morning we woke up 5hrs later and decided it was time to get up. The girls started to make breakfast for all of us. We had a lovely breakfast of breakfast burritos and fresh fruit. We had the morning cups of coffee and we were ready to go.
We started off the day with a nice dive site called The Virgin Mary. You can guess the reason for the name of this site... That's right there is a statue of the Virgin Mary praying. The dive is about 18m (59ft) deep. There is also a giant crack that we can swim through named "The Virgin's Crack", because the Virgin Mary is at the entrance of the crack. Well we got into our groups which were a little different than yesterdays. Kostyantan was with us this time and he had to do his briefings and leading for his Divemaster course like I had to do for mine. So this time I was with Kostyantan, Paer, and Rob. We did our briefing and got into the boat.
Once we got to the site we got into the water and we talked for a few seconds and then descended. We went down the 18m (59ft) and started to swim around. We got to the crack, but we didn't see the statue. Well we swam through the crack and then just floated around. We were all following Kostyntan this time which was nice, because I didn't really have to worry about loosing anyone. We were down there for about 30 some odd minutes. While we were down there we saw a lot of fish and coral, basically the same as before, but different dive sites. We started to surface and we did our safety stop and got back into the boat. The water temp at the surface was about the same as yesterday's, but the bottom had dropped to 11C (51.8F), getting back into the warm sun was nice. Once we got back to the docks we got our gear refitted, and waited for the next boat to take us out. While we were refitting, I asked the other groups if they saw the statue, and they all said yes.... This is the second year in a row that I have not seen it... Well come to find out that someone had knocked it over into the rocks and then cut off the head... No wonder why I didn't see it...
Well for this dive Kostyantan gave us a briefing for our next dive site which is an underwater Buddha statue. Yep that is right we are going to hit multi-religions on these dives. Well we sat there listening to his brief and then got our gear on. We all got into the boat and the boat captain told us that the site was "under construction", so we would have to choose another dive site. We decided to go and look for the "Cock and Balls" statue of fertility. The captains didn't know exactly where the statue was, but they knew that it was in a certain region, so the dropped us off and told us to head SW to possible see it. Well we all dropped into the ocean and descended. Well I thought that we were going to be around 12m ~ 18m (39.37ft ~ 59ft), but we ended up going down to around 25m (82ft). The water temp for that dept at 12:25m was a balmy 10C (50F). Anyways, we started to head SW and we swam around for 30mins and didn't find anything, but we did get to see a lot of neat fish and a thermal-cline (Where the temp changes rapidly and you get to see the wavy ripples in the water because of the temp change. It looks sort of like looking at a grill from the side when it is on in the summer and everything behind it is wavy.) Anyways, we ascended normally and did our safety stop. We got into the boat and headed back to the dock.
We got back and washed the gear again. We also ordered some chinese food. Well while we waited for that to arrive we hung the gear up and let it dry. We also did our logbooks and exchanged signatures. After the food came we had a late lunch then headed back to Busan. We all had a great weekend at Pohang and I hope that there is many more to come before I head off to Roatan in September.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Lazy Sunday Dives...
On Sunday May 20th we went out with an AOW course. It was Drew, Niko, JoLeen, and I. We went out there for Niko's AOW course. It was a beautiful day at Taejongdae. It was around 24C (75F) outside and sunny. We got there and the diving conditions were really good. There were no waves and the visibility in the water was around 3m (~10ft) and the water temp was around 18C (64.4F).
Well on the first dive JoLeen and I followed Drew and Niko around for the first half. JoLeen and I were just floating around 11m (36ft). We got to see a lot of fish out that day, well we found a baby cuttlefish and decided to play around with it. (watch it) Anyways, we ended up losing Drew and Niko, which was no big deal since we both had been to that dive site many times. So we just swam around and tried to see all the stuff that we could see in the nice visibility. We saw a lot of fish and other sea creatures. Well half way through the dive we found Drew and Niko, so we paired up with them. Well about 10 mins later JoLeen told me that she was running low on air, so I signaled to Drew that we were going to go back in, and then JoLeen and I started to swim back to the shore. We got out and took our gear up to the dive centre at the beach and we just warmed up and relaxed for a few hours.
On the second dive we told Drew that we were going to go on the left side of the bay. That part was a litte more dangerous, because of the boat traffic. We wanted to go over there and explore and since I had been over there a few times, but JoLeen hadn't I would be guiding us over there. Well we got into the water and we swam on the surface over to the buoys near the pier. We went down 8.4m (27.5ft) and swam around. There were significantly a lot more fish on this side of the bay. They reason for this is that the Korean speargun divers don't go on this side, because of the boat traffic. Well while we were under the water we saw a fish trapped on a fishing hook. I swam over and I looked it over. The fish was caught in the mouth by a hook. I grabbed the fish and I took the hook out and set it free. We swam around and found 3 more fish caught on hooks. This time they weren't that lucky. They were all tangled up in the line and the starfish had started to eat them. There was nothing that JoLeen or I could do for them. Well we continued on and started to go to the left more. Well we found a lot of fish in the rocks and the seaweed was beautiful over there. Well while we were swimming. We heard the ferry start up and the noise was bone chilling underwater. We swam low against the rocks, but by that time the boat had turned on the their props and there was a huge surge because of the rocks. I turned around and motioned to JoLeen to get down and hold on. The current the boat made was fast and strong, I started to laugh, but I don't think that JoLeen was too amused by what I had gotten us into. Well the boat when over us and I told her to move, but she was frozen in place. By the time that she started to move there was another boat above us, and the current continued. We finally got moving and we made our way back to safer water. After about 35 minutes JoLeen told me that she was cold so we headed back to the centre. We got out of that water and we ordered food and waited to go on the last dive of the day.
On the last dive of the night we all got into the water and we all went down together. We went down about 11m (36ft) Well we swam around and tried to see a lot of night life. I really do like night diving in Korea, because you can see a lot of different things come out at night that usually you can't see during the day. Well we saw cuttlefish, eels, octopus, and a lot of different types of fish, We went around the bottom for about 36 mins. The water was surprisingly not that cold and the visibility held up from during the day. Well we finished that dive with no problem and we all got out. We cleaned the saltwater off the gear and took warm showers. We packed up the van and we all headed back to the dive shop.
Overall it was a very good weekend of diving with good friends and I hope that there are many more to come. This weekend we are heading to Pohang for boat diving. I can't wait to go.
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