Deep blue sea.

I so miss diving. Remembering my first breath of oxygen under water wayback year 2000, I was so afraid to touch the sea grass. Being under the sea for about 30 minutes or so gives me peace. It is as if I am in another world, the sea creatures' world. I have loved the beach since I was little, but through diving, I realized how wonderful it was underneath that I even swam like Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

Since I was so fearless back then, I kept diving and diving until 2008. Boat dives, night dives, wall dives, drift dives at Tinoto, Camiguin, Davao, Maasim, Glan, and Gensan. With all these dives, I always brought a net bag with me, where I pick up garbage underwater. Can you imagine how people can dare to leave their trash in the sea while swimming? Junk food wrappers, bottles, cans, combs, juice packs, etc. This is why divers organize an annual underwater clean up to lessen underwater garbage that can cause death to the fishes and destruct the coral reef. We usually do this clean up at |Lion's Beach, Maharlika Beach, Tropicana, and London Beach. Among these beaches, I must say that Maharlika Beach has the most beautiful coral reef in Gensan. There is a vast array of staghorn corals underneath that attracts fishes to make it their home. I have seen rare kinds of fishes here. But the problem is the water has a lot of silt, making the corals and fishes not so visible from afar. Some fishermen also tend to destruct the corals by using nets to catch fishes. I hope the management at Maharlika Beach would take effort in taking care of their beautiful reef. I always loved diving here because I see different kinds of species every time I dive. I have even seen a sea turtle swimming around one time, and also a big octopus which was hiding under the reef dome. This and all that gives me delight when diving. It makes me appreciate nature even more. And I do hope that all of us will give importance to our beautiful beaches. So that our children's children will also have a chance to glimpse what is underneath the deep blue sea.
Lion's Beach, Gensan (those red ones are soft tree corals)

Frogfish at Maharlika Beach, Gensan

A diving mishap I wil never forget..

September 2, 2007... How could I ever forget this day... it was a Sunday, the 2nd diving day for the Dive Fest at Tinoto... it was just an ordinary diving day... doing the usual stuffs, preparing for the dive... at the sandbar... Idove there before and experienced the strong current that won't even let us surface and get to the boat...but i was able to get back to the shore.. But that day was different... well, i knew it after the day has ended. The current brought us down to a 100 feet and deeper... the last time i saw my depth gauge, i was on 120 feet... and the other 9 divers were a few feet deeper than where i was.. My Dad and brother were one of the divers too. I won't dive there without my dad. I feel safe knowing that I am diving with him... i keep a watch on him coz he had several seizure episodes already. Hmmmm... at that particular depth, I was struggling... my mind was telling me that something was wrong.. A few minutes before, I was happily looking at the school of Jacks that went pass us, and I was taking pictures of my co-divers. Then after a few minutes, my mind was telling me to get my knife and bang my tank to call attention... I could hardly breathe even if my regulator or oxygen supply wasok...my dad went near me, i did not know how to hand signal that i had a problem.. He quickly brought me up, it was an emergency ascent from 120 feet to the surface... while my dad was holding me tight rushing me up to the surface, my mind was slowly getting black...as if the curtains were closing in a theatre...my mind was slowly closing, getting dim...but i thought of Tonn-tonn, that i don't wanna leave him. I said to myself, "Lord, help me please....yoko pa mamatay.." The next thing I could remember was that my mind was telling me to breathe, just breathe, and breathe. As if the Lord was instructing me what to do to hold on... when my Dad and I reached the surface, the only thing I could remember was I was breathing hard with a wheezing sound, I can hear my dad's voice in a panic, calling out the boat.. When we reached the boat, I was quite ok...Sir Ton Ramos was telling me to continue breathing thru theregulator. I can hardly open my eyes... i felt cold in my hands and feet, as if blood could not pass through my veins anymore...but i wasok...i was alive...Thank God I was alive...and still am right now.. Lying at the boat, in my father's arms I was silently crying... thinking of what just happened underwater and why I am still alive, breathing... i thanked God He helped me get out of the water... I thanked God I could still talk to Tonn-tonn...and tell him i love him so much. I know I never fail to tell him that everyday but I always wanted to tell and show him how much I do love him while I am in his arms. in his warm embrace. A thing we hardly do everyday because we're apart. I thanked God my Dad was there to rescue me. My dad has always been my hero. For if not, I would not be writing this story anymore. I thanked God for my life, and I will always will for the rest of my life.... at the sandbar... I dove there before and experienced the strong current that won't even let us surface and get to the boat...but i was able to get back to the shore.. But that day was different... well, i knew it after the day has ended. The current brought us down to a 100 feet and deeper... the last time i saw my depth gauge, i was on 120 feet... and the other 9 divers were a few feet deeper than where i was.. My Dad and brother were one of the divers too. I won't dive there without my dad. I feel safe knowing that I am diving with him... i keep a watch on him coz he had several seizure episodes already. Hmmmm... at that particular depth, I was struggling... my mind was telling me that something was wrong.. A few minutes before, I was happily looking at the school of Jacks that went pass us, and I was taking pictures of my co-divers. Then after a few minutes, my mind was telling me to get my knife and bang my tank to call attention... I could hardly breathe even if my regulator or oxygen supply was ok...my dad went near me, i did not know how to hand signal that i had a problem.. He quickly brought me up, it was an emergency ascent from 120 feet to the surface... while my dad was holding me tight rushing me up to the surface, my mind was slowly getting black...as if the curtains were closing in a theatre...my mind was slowly closing, getting dim...but i thought of Tonn-tonn, that i don't wanna leave him. I said to myself, "Lord, help me please....yoko pa mamatay.." The next thing I could remember was that my mind was telling me to breathe, just breathe, and breathe. As if the Lord was instructing me what to do to hold on... when my Dad and I reached the surface, the only thing I could remember was I was breathing hard with a wheezing sound, I can hear my dad's voice in a panic, calling out the boat.. When we reached the boat, I was quite ok...Sir Ton Ramos was telling me to continue breathing thru the regulator. I can hardly open my eyes... i felt cold in my hands and feet, as if blood could not pass through my veins anymore...but i was ok...i was alive...Thank God I was alive...and still am right now.. Lying at the boat, in my father's arms I was silently crying... thinking of what just happened underwater and why I am still alive, breathing... i thanked God He helped me get out of the water... I thanked God I could still talk to Tonn-tonn...and tell him i love him so much. I know I never fail to tell him that everyday but I always wanted to tell and show him how much I do love him while I am in his arms. in his warm embrace. A thing we hardly do everyday because we're apart. I thanked God my Dad was there to rescue me. My dad has always been my hero. For if not, I would not be writing this story anymore. I thanked God for my life, and I will always will for the rest of my life.