How not to start your life of diving

How not to start your life of diving

Posted on 25. Apr, 2012 by in Blog, Philippines

One of the things I was most excited about while planning our trip to the Philippines was the chance to go diving again.  I completed my open water course this January and had done no diving since. That meant I had four dives logged in my book, all of which were part of the course.

The Philippines is known for having some very good dive sites and I was really looking forward to getting in the water.  It’s not however the cheapest hobby so Kirsty told me I was only allowed to go diving twice… Reading reviews I had settled on Malapascua island and Moal Boal the last two places on our trip.

However during our whale shark interaction trip one of the guys mentioned he had been diving in Donsol the day before and seen manta rays and whale sharks, now that does sound appealing.  It just so happened our guide that day had his own dive shop and was already taking a couple of people out the following day. I agreed to join them and signed up later that day letting Bobby, my guide turned divemaster, know that I had only just done my open water and these would be my first real dives, it didn’t seem to bother him.

The next morning we met at 7am, had a quick briefing mainly explaining how he had renamed all the dive sites to include his name, set up our equipment and headed out on the boat.

My dive companions included two chaps in their twenties who by the way they spoke had dived a lot all over the world and a couple living in Singapore who I overheard mention they had over sixty dives logged each other a number of years. I was very much the novice on this trip.

Philippines diving, Donsol

Going in!

The first dive began with a backwards role entry about 4 feet high, my first such entry.  No problems there, it’s nicer entering the water head first.  We descended down to around 10 meters in very clear water before swimming away from the boat towards ‘Bobbys Wall’ a gorgeous coral wall that immediately outdid anything I had seen on Koh Tao.  What I wasn’t expecting however was the current, Bobby had mentioned very briefly there is sometimes a very small current but this was different.

I stayed close to the wall to try and avoid getting caught too much but it was still very strong.  As the dive progressed the current frequently changed, one moment we would all be drifting uncontrollably and the next fighting against it and barely moving.  There were up and down currents to contend with too.  At some points I would be floating along upside down and had no way to control it.

By the time we made it back to the boat I was exhausted, more mentally than anything after dealing with situations I have never experienced before.  My more experienced companions even commented straight away on the difficulty of the currents which re-confirmed my suspicions that this probably wasn’t the dive I should have been doing directly after my open water course.

Despite checking my depth gauge during the dive it didn’t occur to me that I had exceeded my 18 metre limit by nearly 10 metres.  All round it had been quite an exciting but challenging dive and the next one Bobby had planned sounded even harder.

It was not only I who admitted to being nervous in the group. We would be diving ‘Manta Boal’ where the current could get even stronger than our last dive.  So much so that we would be using hooks to hold ourselves to the bottom in order to wait and hopefully see the manta rays and if we were especially lucky, whale sharks.

Diving Manta Bowl, Donsol

Down and out.

The plan was to sit at around 12m where it was apparently sometimes good enough to see what we had come for but when that didn’t work out we headed down to 20m (there goes my depth limit again).  Other than a roughly 20m head on swim between two sheltered areas the current wasn’t much of an issue.  I remained quite nervous throughout the dive expecting to swept away at any moment and my air consumption was showing it.

We drifted back out into the current and I searched for somewhere suitable to hook in and wait.  After a few moments holding on I began to relax  and we spent about 15 minutes out in the open on the look out for something coming towards us.  Unfortunately it seemed none of the big boys were out to play and I was running low on air so we had to begin our accent.

Climbing back onto the boat we told the snorkelers of our disappointment at seeing nothing but although I was disappointed I definitely felt like I had achieved something that day.  Dealing with the currents was a completely new experience and on the whole I was just happy to be diving again and have my first dives  after open water under my belt.

It was definitely a baptism of fire and despite diving lots more during our time in the Philippines I faced nothing nearly as hard.  An instructor who used to work in Donsol we met later in our trip looked horrified when I told her they were my first dives since getting certified.

It may not have been the best route to take so early on in my diving life but it definitely made me a better diver in the long run and now my air consumption is awesome ;)

 

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17 Responses to “How not to start your life of diving”

  1. Andi of My Beautiful Adventures

    25. Apr, 2012

    Diving is one the best things in life! Welcome to the club!!!

    Reply to this comment

  2. Steph (@ 20 Years Hence)

    25. Apr, 2012

    One of the things I most want to do when my husband and I set out on our RTW trip is to finally try scuba diving! I don’t think we’re planning to head out to the Philippines, but after hearing your story, I know that I’ll want to get much more diving experience under my belt before attempting the dives you did… My heart was racing just reading your account!

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi Deeble-Rogers

      26. Apr, 2012

      Make sure you do better than we did. It took us far too long to start diving and all I think about now is the diving sites we missed along the way. If you do think about heading to the Philippines give us a shout because Kirsty did her open water course there with a very good dive shop. Blog post coming soon!

      Reply to this comment

      • Steph (@20 Years Hence)

        27. Apr, 2012

        I think the first SEA country we’re going to hit is Vietnam, so I’d like to try getting certified in Nha Trang, and then if we like (and I can’t see how we wouldn’t!), we’ll do some diving in Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia as well!

        If we do make it to the Philippines, I will be sure to get in touch, but I’m looking forward to your post about Kirsty’s certification!

        Reply to this comment

        • Poi

          01. May, 2012

          Thats the best way, get it done as soon as possible. I remember Nha Trang having lots of dive shops so learning there shouldn’t be a problem.

          Reply to this comment

  3. Audrey | That Backpacker

    26. Apr, 2012

    Yikes, those currents sound strong. That’s one way to gain experience fast!

    Reply to this comment

  4. John

    27. Apr, 2012

    Excellent post. May ia sk you what is the average budget needed for such course ? And is Philippines better than Thailand regarding diving ? just curious here as I have been travelling many times in SE of Asia but never had a chance to dive ….

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      01. May, 2012

      My course on Koh Tao cost $310 while Kirsty paid $450 in the Philippines. It’s a big price difference but the service and diving was much better.

      Although the Philippines diving was great Thailand has a lot more to offer than just Koh Tao.

      Reply to this comment

  5. Island Hopes

    28. Apr, 2012

    Having experienced what you did- not being able to control my bouyancy due to the currents, I must say that your dive buddies have little respect for the ocean if they let you dive in those conditions having just completed your open water.

    Experience is absolutely necessary to stay calm and collected- diving is only safe if the diver is able to keep control of his senses.

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      01. May, 2012

      I don’t blame the dive buddies but more the instructor who I made clear to about my lack of experience. My dive buddies had never dived the area before and didn’t know the conditions.

      Reply to this comment

  6. Ben

    29. Apr, 2012

    Ahaha looks like not much has changed in Philippines, if it makes you feel any better when I was in Coron they took a guy out with us wreck diving on his 2nd open water dive

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      01. May, 2012

      Wow, that’s certainly not something most people get to see on their second ever dive. Can;t say it;s the best way to go about things though…

      Reply to this comment

  7. Chrissy Travels

    17. May, 2012

    I am getting certified this week and headed to the Phillipines later this Fall. Really excited! Thanks for the tips.

    Reply to this comment

  8. Andrew

    27. Nov, 2012

    Hey – any chance you still have Bobby’s contact details? Looking for a dive shop in Donsol… he wasn’t part of Giddy’s Place was he?

    Reply to this comment

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