Life after getting your Open Water Certification is one where every moment you spend on land makes you long more for the sea. It’s almost like you can’t breathe- unless it’s through your regulator or octo.
After my certification, I was spending what I thought would be months-long surface interval in the city, consuming SCUBA-related media. I’ve been playing SCUBA youtube channels and playing seascape ASMR while on transit or doing chores at home. It’s the honeymoon phase between me and this recreational sport and I was, and still am, in love and obsessed with it.
Lucky for me, I did not have to wait too long to feel my distant lover’s watery embrace. A dear friend heard I got certified and offered to take me on a leisure dive trip. I did a little dance of joy and immediately packed my gear. I was so excited for my first recreational dive trip.
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- Me at 4:30 AM, ready for the 3 hour ride to Anilao, Batangas
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- Of course I had to make an attempt at making SCUBA sexy
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- Without my jacket AND holding my jacket 😉 (scuba joke, sorry)
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- For those who love my feet
At this point in my dive adventures, I did not feel comfortable enough yet to bring a camera with me. Although my instructor made sure my buoyancy and trim are decent before certifying me, I knew I was still wet behind the gills and shouldn’t consider bringing a camera along. My dive buddy thought so too. I felt better knowing he has all his attention on me and both his hands are free in case something happens. It’s my first leisure dive after all. No more instructor and assistant instructor now to catch me when I fa- err, do a rapid ascent. So forgive me if my dive log at this point does not contain videos and photos of the underwater world I so love. I’m afraid all I have are my photos of my swimwear, my gear, wine, and the sunset.
Do you remember your first time? My heart was in my mouth. I couldn’t tell if it’s sweat or seawater on my skin. The fear mixed with excitement, all that looking forward to the promise of a good time.
Do you remember the awkward, clumsy moments? My first time was definitely clumsy, I could not go down with my buddy at all.
It was a bit frustrating that could not go down the first time I was doing it for fun. Don’t get me wrong, I knew what to do but I just could not stay still during the descent. Plus, I was training with 10lbs on and I thought we should try to see if I can descend with just 8. Needless to say, the way down was a struggle till I remembered to be calm and to stay still. Descent was easy after that. As for me going down ON my buddy after the day has ended- well, that’s another story.
Dives 11-12 were great!!!! Yes, there were still constant adjustments on my part but I was no longer focused on the skills. This time around, I got to relax, take the view in and enjoy the dive. I did enjoy my 13th dive as well, but this was the dive where I couldn’t equalize my right ear for the first time and I had a fright. From what I remembered, I called the dive and we had to ascend. My dive buddy soothed me in our room after we cleaned our gear- using his mouth. I may have reciprocated by cleaning his long hose when he least expected it. 😉
We woke up early the next day so we could warm (each other) up before breakfast. A proper warm-up is important for your muscles especially when you’re doing something as strenuous as scuba diving. This time, my buddy and I did two shore dives! Our resort is right in front of a marine sanctuary called Arthur’s Rock, a popular dive site with corals in the shade of pink, where groupers, barracudas, snappers, morays, sponges, etc., live and thrive. It is also known to have a moderate to strong current, which is why I insisted we stretch (on each other) before we head to breakfast.
The highlight of that day aside from my special morning regiment that I shared with my buddy, was seeing and observing turtles for the first time!!! A privilege I never had when I was just free diving. Ah. I was finally reaping the fruits of my labor. It was such a great day. It was such a great weekend. It was such a great “first time.”