me, the certified scuba diver

If you can't believe it, neither can I. I could not even believe my ears, or my eyes, when I read the text message from my diving instructor informing me that my ID has arrived. It was yesterday, unmindful of the rain, I quickly went to his place—which is just a bike away from mine--just to get the proof of my being a certified diver. (insert "yay! yay!" here) And there it was, in a very small brown envelope enough to fit the ordinary-sized ID was my license (there is also a certificate in a separate envelope, see pic below). And did it feel good? It sure did! I’m still feeling the high, honestly. Yeah, me the dakilang mabaw, bow!

So how did I get it? Of course, I took the lessons. It was two weeks ago, for 2 straight days I woke up early in the morning to attend the classes, it was really bad for my work schedules since it was around this time when I was moved to another assignment, which unluckily required me to get there before noontime. It was really a full schedule on my part.

All lessons during the first day were accomplished in the swimming pool. It was back to square one for me since I’ve done this part twice already. But I had to do it, as it was already the formal lesson, and also to build my confidence before going down to the bottom of the ocean, which we did on the following day.

Practically the same lessons were taught on the second day, but this time in the open sea, actually 30 feet below. Been there, done that, yeah. But still, I almost freaked out when I started my descend. Because I deflated my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), or the vest where everything is attached to it, at once…that I went down quickly when it should have been a slow-motion activity. So I was attacked by the pressure, that I experienced mask squeeze that my eyes were close to popping out from their sockets, and my left ear started to hurt, which later on hurt like it was going to explode (a first in my many dives) that I had to stop, and contemplate of going back to the surface to correct everything. But when my instructor asked if I was “okay” (doing the hand sign, of course) I pointed my left ear, which means there’s trouble in that part. I tried the equalizing technique, went up a few feet to do it, as advised, but everytime I went down again, the pain would come back. But after a few minutes of doing the same exercise a few more times, the ear pressure disappeared. The same happened with the mask squeeze that during the first few minutes I was feeling it, it was really hurting not only my eye sockets but also all over my face where the mask's edges had touched. I just learnt a few days ago from a workmate—who is also a scuba diving instructor, that a Japanese guy had died three weeks ago after diving in Gilutongan. According to him, the guy’s eyes were actually out of their sockets when his body was recovered, most probably bec of the pressure. Can you imagine that??? But it could be because he went down to as far as 97 meters! It registered in his dive computer. My god! That’s about 290 feet. He might have emptied his tank before he could even resurface, we don’t know. But Jesus Christ, you don’t dive that deep, and unaccompanied.

So back to the lesson. On the third and final day, which is all about surviving the worst case scenarios, like, running out of air, emergency ascending, etc. But I had a very important assignment that day, that I missed it. There were three of us in that lesson, one was a 21-year old and the other was her father. So sweet! =) And it was only she and the dad who finished the lesson, diving 60 feet, they even reached 70 ft, I was told. All those time they were doing it, I was sitting at a session hall, bored to death.

But they still give me my ID despite my not completing the course, I still have to do it, though. Hopefully this Monday, and I’m not holding my breath. What’s scary about Lagundi, seriously, is its almost lack of visibility, that you have to be closer to the floor for you to see the marine lives there, otherwise all that’s before you are what they call particulates or what to me are “dusts” in the water. In here also are the jellyfish that never fail to see me, and further scar me for life. If I had my way and money, I would prefer doing deep dives in white sandy ocean floors like that in Pescador where you can already see what’s there even while you’re still in the surface. But, just take away the infamous white tip shark there, and drop-offs, if you can, hahaha!

The license, by the way, is not expensive, if you may ask. This is actually the reason why I was lured into getting one. It is right that famous names, like, PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) ask P10,000-P18,000 for the lessons. But CMAS, it is an international name in the scuba diving world, yes, but is here to give a very fair price to all those who’d like to join their team. I’m stingy, and here, I got a CMAS license! ;)


PS. I had to change the photo, alright. Bec halloween is already over. :P