A Traveller’s Abyssal Depth Of Azure (SCUBA DIVING)

ARMIE YUSON ADVENTURES - SCUBA DIVING AT ANILAO BATANGAS

            Eversince I was a kid, everytime I watch someone doing Scuba Diving on TV, I just can’t help but dream that I was doing it too. Scuba Diving has always been on top of my bucketlist. I love the ocean and its world below so much, "It’s as if I feel that I’m one of the lost sons of Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, that I’m a DemiGod who gets his strength and powers from the sea. Every single time I get back to the beach, only one feeling exists in my body and that is the sense of relaxation. The wind massaging my physique, the sand scrubbing my feet like footspa, the ocean bringing me into another world within the Earth, an even better world wherein those creatures living there knows how to value and appreciate what they have, compared to us humans from our world above."

            Finally, another dream has been met, your Pambansang Manlalakbay, Armie “Happy Loner Traveller” Yuson will do scuba diving in Anilao Batangas! Finally, he can visit his friends in the underwater world and broaden his knowledge about them.

            So my friends Davidson Santos and Rachel Villahermosa organized a Scuba Trip for us because it’s their newest hobby. The night before our Scuba, I stayed at their place in BF Homes Parañaque reuniting with my other friends for 23 years Jobie Doria who is now residing in the U.S.A and Aurora Del Mundo. After resting for a few hours, at dawn, we already headed in Anilao Batangas to this partially opened new establishment named HALO DIVE RESORT, there I met my cool Scuba Instructor Gage Veridiano and Divemaster & also my Divebuddy Melo Sabitsana. Gage Veridiano briefed me a short course about SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) and has taught me techniques & sign languages that I would use when I’m in the deep. It’s my 1st Open Water Dive and I would journey to a maximum depth of 67 feet! And the excitement and curiosity is with me. Finally! I could already see it in my own two eyes what I’ve always been hearing from people who have already tried this…

            So our 1st Dive Site is called Dead Palm, I would be at a maximum depth of about 35 to 40 feet and it would take us 45 minutes to check out the corals and fishes of the underwater world. As I entered the gates of the hidden world below, I felt the peacefulness and quietness that their world has to offer. They really welcomed me with open arms. On my 1st ever Open Water Dive, I saw a hunchback Sea Turtle, School of Barracudas and 2 Triggerfishes to name a few. It’s really a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle from our world. If you want to hear the most beautiful music your ears could ever hear which is silence, then better try SCUBA DIVING! So before reaching the surface, we need to have safety stops, 3 minutes for every 15 feet. And we need to rest for about an hour before diving again so that we could let out the accumulated nitrogen in our body.

            I felt so happy on my 1st dive, I can’t believe that I was actually experiencing what I’m just watching on the Television. It’s really one of the “Must do’s” in your life before you die. The best way to explain the feeling is to experience it.

            Our second Dive Site is in the Twin Rocks, here we can see Schools of Jacks (Talakitok in Tagalog) where you will get amazed coz’ you can witness tens of thousands of fishes in just one area. And I will be going to a maximum depth of 67 feet with expected strong currents. So as I was entering inside the territory of the Schools of Jacks, I suddenly had a problem with my breathing pattern, I hyperventilated and felt nauseous and then I panicked, so right away I did the “UP” sign because I already wanted to abort my dive but good thing, Gage Veridiano, my Scuba Instructor, approached me and calmed me down, and so I felt okay again and continued exploring Twin Rocks Dive Site… I saw more species like the Trumpetfish and better views from deep underwater… Another great thing is, my friend Davidson Santos has all of these high technology underwater gadgets where it has allowed me to document all of my adventures in the deep blue sea or Abyssal Depth of Azure as I call it…

            I would like to give my special thanks to my Divemaster & Divebuddy Mr. Melo Sabitsana who owns AGTA BEACH RESORT and my Dive Instructor Mr. Gage Veridiano who owns SCUBANOX STUDIOS and heads the Scubanox Diveteam. Of course, to my friends Davidson Santos and Rachel Villahermosa for making my Scuba Diving dream possible. And thank you to my friends Ms. Jobie Doria and Aurora Del Mundo for paying our hotel room for the evening.

                All in all, Happy Loner Traveller had a tremendous and unforgettable day for he has finally fulfilled his dream of visiting his friends from the underwater world…

- Happy Loner Traveller