D-logging Coron
Tangat Wreck: Initiation
Lessons learned: 1) Don't go four months without diving, and 2) If you are going to wait that long between dives, you should at least physically, psychologically, and mentally prepare yourself for what lies ahead - or in this case, beneath.
So our first dive was definitely memorable, and I'm still vacillating between loving and hating it :) For starters, it took me what felt like two million years to equalize. I wasn't checking my air but I bet I used a lot of it up just trying to get down the line. As I attempted to make my ears pop, I was simultaneously praying (I think I did one rosary decade), cussing myself out for not bugging Kuya Bobby for pooltime, and questioning my decision to take up diving in the first place. It was THAT bad! To compound that, I felt really, really guilty about slowing Kuya Bob down. But being the "special child" of diving, I needed utmost attention, so the poor guy was stuck with me. His patience is nothing short of heroic.
5-15 (I really have no idea) miserable minutes later, we finally closed in on the Tangat wreck. We were probably somewhere between 40-50 feet deep, and the rest of our group was nowhere in sight. But if you're going to be alone on a dive with someone, you can bet your butt you want it to be Bobby, so I wasn't worried. So about that boat, I honestly don't remember seeing any interesting marine life on or around it, even though the write-ups say there's an enormous amount of fish life there. I guess I was kinda oblivious, having focused more on the beginner stuff - buoyancy, breathing, not panicking. I vaguely remember seeing orange soft corals.
We eventually came across the advanced divers in our group, who were already on their way back. A couple of twists and turns later, Kuya Bob was a few meters ahead of me and swimming towards what pretty much looked like an abyss. It was a grey square of water amidst the blue. I hovered over it, shook my head, and thought to myself, "Oh, HELL no." Come to think of it, I actually SAID that to myself, regulator in mouth. Thinking I had no other choice but to follow him, well, I did. Into the grey I swam and into an opening maybe 3x3 meters wide, nearly scared out of my wits and with my buddy nowhere in sight. I was pretty pissed when Bobby showed up, tapping me from behind. So pissed I couldn't even look at him. But of course, in hindsight, I should've known he'd had my back all along. As he later put it, he was just stretching my capabilities and toadally knew what he was doing.
Apparently, we then explored the whole length of the wreck. I was so out of it that everything looked the same and I thought we were circling just one section of it. The rest of the new divers, led by Bryan Kim, were already at the line by the time we got there. I got to borrow a glove, a little belatedly though, as I could feel my hands stinging as soon as we hit the surface. Note to self: buy gloves, anyway mura lang naman.
I survived Tangat Wreck, and even though the first dive bordered on harrowing, I can claim bragging rights to having penetrated it and having reached a max depth of 82 feet, while the other new divers swam around the surface and bottomed out in the 60s or 70s. Worth it naman.
Olympia Maru: Gloria Gets Her Groove Back
Now THIS is what I signed up for! Having refreshed my skills at the Tangat Wreck, I was a little more confident I could handle this next one. That bit of confidence made loads of difference, as I got through the freighter with relative ease. All of us got to penetrate the wreck, often times one after the other, as some of the openings were only narrow enough for one. It was dark and twisty, and I surprisingly loved every minute of it! I'd never gotten such an adrenalin rush out of diving. I think we spent roughly the same amount of time underwater for both dives, but this one felt so much shorter. Kahit takot akong makakita ng mumu o bungo (siguro naman, walang na-preserve), gusto ko siyang balikan.
East Tangat Gunboat: ANUVAH!!!
After diving two large cargo boats, our DMs decided to wind down with a small gunboat located near a reef. The boat is just 40 meters long and starts at 3 meters, so it's visible from the surface. This last dive was a super easy one, so imagine my frustration at not having been able to equalize past 10 feet! FEET! Hindi man lang METERS! &!^@!*&@^!!#*(!#^%!@!&^!&*!&!!!
I had to abort. Gave Bobby the thumbs-up sign, which in diving means... I'm done. Fortunately, good snorkeling was to be had. Not exactly inclined to play BlockBreaker on my cellphone for 50 minutes (walang signal ang Globe), I ditched my BCD and tank (at 2600psi) and kept the wetsuit, fins, mask, and .... snorkel. The reef was extensive enough and had a good variety of small fish, so I didn't get bored. It was actually pretty relaxing, so I wasn't too bummed about missing the wreck (which I could see from above anyway).
Marcel, our Swiss DM, surfaced a bit after I did. I expressed my frustration at not being underwater with everyone else, not fully understanding what had just happened to me. I didn't have the sniffles, didn't feel any congestion. He, as did Gunter later, said that sometimes these things just happen and when they do, it's best not to force it.
Lessons learned: 1) Don't go four months without diving, and 2) If you are going to wait that long between dives, you should at least physically, psychologically, and mentally prepare yourself for what lies ahead - or in this case, beneath.
So our first dive was definitely memorable, and I'm still vacillating between loving and hating it :) For starters, it took me what felt like two million years to equalize. I wasn't checking my air but I bet I used a lot of it up just trying to get down the line. As I attempted to make my ears pop, I was simultaneously praying (I think I did one rosary decade), cussing myself out for not bugging Kuya Bobby for pooltime, and questioning my decision to take up diving in the first place. It was THAT bad! To compound that, I felt really, really guilty about slowing Kuya Bob down. But being the "special child" of diving, I needed utmost attention, so the poor guy was stuck with me. His patience is nothing short of heroic.
5-15 (I really have no idea) miserable minutes later, we finally closed in on the Tangat wreck. We were probably somewhere between 40-50 feet deep, and the rest of our group was nowhere in sight. But if you're going to be alone on a dive with someone, you can bet your butt you want it to be Bobby, so I wasn't worried. So about that boat, I honestly don't remember seeing any interesting marine life on or around it, even though the write-ups say there's an enormous amount of fish life there. I guess I was kinda oblivious, having focused more on the beginner stuff - buoyancy, breathing, not panicking. I vaguely remember seeing orange soft corals.
We eventually came across the advanced divers in our group, who were already on their way back. A couple of twists and turns later, Kuya Bob was a few meters ahead of me and swimming towards what pretty much looked like an abyss. It was a grey square of water amidst the blue. I hovered over it, shook my head, and thought to myself, "Oh, HELL no." Come to think of it, I actually SAID that to myself, regulator in mouth. Thinking I had no other choice but to follow him, well, I did. Into the grey I swam and into an opening maybe 3x3 meters wide, nearly scared out of my wits and with my buddy nowhere in sight. I was pretty pissed when Bobby showed up, tapping me from behind. So pissed I couldn't even look at him. But of course, in hindsight, I should've known he'd had my back all along. As he later put it, he was just stretching my capabilities and toadally knew what he was doing.
Apparently, we then explored the whole length of the wreck. I was so out of it that everything looked the same and I thought we were circling just one section of it. The rest of the new divers, led by Bryan Kim, were already at the line by the time we got there. I got to borrow a glove, a little belatedly though, as I could feel my hands stinging as soon as we hit the surface. Note to self: buy gloves, anyway mura lang naman.
I survived Tangat Wreck, and even though the first dive bordered on harrowing, I can claim bragging rights to having penetrated it and having reached a max depth of 82 feet, while the other new divers swam around the surface and bottomed out in the 60s or 70s. Worth it naman.
Olympia Maru: Gloria Gets Her Groove Back
Now THIS is what I signed up for! Having refreshed my skills at the Tangat Wreck, I was a little more confident I could handle this next one. That bit of confidence made loads of difference, as I got through the freighter with relative ease. All of us got to penetrate the wreck, often times one after the other, as some of the openings were only narrow enough for one. It was dark and twisty, and I surprisingly loved every minute of it! I'd never gotten such an adrenalin rush out of diving. I think we spent roughly the same amount of time underwater for both dives, but this one felt so much shorter. Kahit takot akong makakita ng mumu o bungo (siguro naman, walang na-preserve), gusto ko siyang balikan.
East Tangat Gunboat: ANUVAH!!!
After diving two large cargo boats, our DMs decided to wind down with a small gunboat located near a reef. The boat is just 40 meters long and starts at 3 meters, so it's visible from the surface. This last dive was a super easy one, so imagine my frustration at not having been able to equalize past 10 feet! FEET! Hindi man lang METERS! &!^@!*&@^!!#*(!#^%!@!&^!&*!&!!!
I had to abort. Gave Bobby the thumbs-up sign, which in diving means... I'm done. Fortunately, good snorkeling was to be had. Not exactly inclined to play BlockBreaker on my cellphone for 50 minutes (walang signal ang Globe), I ditched my BCD and tank (at 2600psi) and kept the wetsuit, fins, mask, and .... snorkel. The reef was extensive enough and had a good variety of small fish, so I didn't get bored. It was actually pretty relaxing, so I wasn't too bummed about missing the wreck (which I could see from above anyway).
Marcel, our Swiss DM, surfaced a bit after I did. I expressed my frustration at not being underwater with everyone else, not fully understanding what had just happened to me. I didn't have the sniffles, didn't feel any congestion. He, as did Gunter later, said that sometimes these things just happen and when they do, it's best not to force it.
posted by gloriagiselle at 11:13 PM
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