Diving South - Davao 2010 Part 2
Click here for Diving South - Davao 2010 Part 1
Day 2:
So this is it, the very reason why I was convinced to go in Davao (aside from the free accommodation and food)...
"Discover Scuba or Intro Dives" @ http://cdc.e-davao.com
kelan pa na-involve ang kalabaw sa scuba diving?
Actually, I didn't expect that Alvin (our Davao sponsor) will take it seriously! 51% of me said "yes!" and the remaining 49% said "oh no...", and so we did it ;)).
We woke up very early as we need to be in the dive shop before 8AM to catch the boat that will bring us to the dive site. Alvin advised us to first buy our food at McDonalds (dapat talaga sa Mcdo?) for lunch as food stalls are limited in Talikud Island where the activity site is nearly located. We next headed to the dive shop to pay 750 for the Intro Dive package which includes the boat ride, snorkeling, diving gears and the underwater pictures.
At the port, we boarded a motorized boat with other divers both beginners and experts. The water here is opaque and dirty, mas malinaw pa yata ang Manila Bay. But it gets clearer as we sail. Don't worry it's definitely clean and clear at the actual snorkel/dive site ;).
one-hour calm travel; photo by Mitch
The dive masters first checked the underwater to make sure there's no shark it's safe to dive at the site. Everyone went on snorkeling at the moment.
floating muna, mamaya na ang diving; photo by Carlos
After the site was cleared, beginners were oriented on how to counter pressure through equalization and the proper hand signals underwater. Volunteers were asked next; at s'yempre hindi kami 'yun :p! Well, we didn't want to be the guinea pigs so we opted to be on the second and third batches. It's 1:1 dive master to student ratio, four pairs simultaneously diving at a time plus the photographer.
And so it's time to dress up. As you can see, we had to lean while buckling to support the scuba tank as it is quite heavy.
kuya pwede pa bang mag-back out? photo by Mitch
In no time, we didn't notice how they turned us into monsters!
diver or ghost buster? photo by Mitch
Have you noticed that we were not in diving suits? It's for us to easily recognize ourselves in the pictures as advised by the dive masters. The CD containing the pictures has everyone's including those that we don't know; kapag lahat daw kasi naka-suit parang iisa ang itsura considering na lahat naka-goggles at may nakasalpak sa bibig.
At this point, we were asked insisted to throw ourselves from the edge of the platform.
@Lovely: andami mo ng exposure ha; photo by Mitch
And if all else fails,
obvious ba kung ano ang ginawa ni kuya s'min? photo by Mitch
The oxygen supply lasts an average of 30 minutes depending on the consumption. FYI, the oxygen is not free flowing, it only gets excreted when the diver inhales. So the duration of the dive would depend on how you consume oxygen.
Now it's time...
warm up - less than 10 feet below, water surface still visible
showing us what we can touch
since we were very cooperative, the dive masters didn't hesitate to take us deeper :D
you don't need to be a swimmer; may tagahila naman, you see? :))
nice couple shot of Togz and Cez
ndi ako papatalo... I should also have my own Finding Nemo shot :D
What's with the hand sign?... In the underwater world, hand signal for Ok is like what I have in my Finding Nemo shot while thumbs up means you already want to go up. So if you do the latter, the dive master will think that you're NOT ok and wants to go up above the water. I admit, ilang beses din akong nalito ;)).
It's really a different experience. I actually thought that, since it was only an Intro Dive, it's gonna be like a 10-foot or so dive only. Well, we reached approximately 30 feet. It actually depends on the the person's cooperation and confidence. As long as you don't show the thumbs up sign, you're gonna be dragged to deeper yet more wonderful spots. Remember that thumbs up is not equivalent to ok sa mundo ng mga sirena at shokoy.
And if you let yourself be overwhelmed by fear of drowning and suffocation...
you'll end up snorkeling complete with diving gears
eto na yata ang pinakasosyal na snorkeling na nakita ko, my oxygen tank at fins pa!
seriously, sayang :(
Moving on, we had our lunch at Talikud Island with the food that we bought earlier at McDonald's.
there are cottages available in the island; photo by Mitch
Talikud Island is no Boracay, the sands make me ouch and you can't walk with bare foot. But what's interesting is that it's unlikely touched and is very virgin. It's trees all over and no noisy restaus. There are very few people and we took that chance to do our most awaited photo-ops. So here they are, ang makapigil-hiningang (or should I say walang-hingahang) shots namin:
anong meron sa poste?
walang hihinga! :p
Tic Tac Gang Talikud Edition; photos by Togz
We only had more than an hour to stay at the island 'coz there were still those who haven't dived yet. We arrived back at the port around 4PM and had some pizza inside a mall. We were so hungry that I didn't care what mall and pizza parlor did we have our merienda. We also didn't have the chance to change clothes anymore, buti na lang natuyo ang mga suot namin ;)).
We went back to Vin's place after merienda to freshen up. Around 6PM, we went to a church for a mass since it was a Sunday then proceeded to Jack's Ridge which is quite famous for their good food and location that is overlooking the city. Let me share with you some pictures from Cesz: (as usual, no food pics 'coz we were so hungry)
view from Jack's Ridge
sparkle edition
may sariling drama ang mga love birds
Vin's bwisitors from Manila
Day 2 Expenses:
Breakfast = FREE c/o Vin
Intro Dive = 750
Taxi from Port to Mall = 50
Merienda (Pizza) = FREE c/o Togz
Taxi from Mall to Vin's place = 50
Van from Vin's place to Church = FREE c/o VinVan from Church to Jack's Ridge = FREE c/o Vin
Dinner (Jack's Ridge) = FREE c/o Vin
Van from Jack's Ridge to Videoke house = FREE c/o Vin --> I didn't mention above that the Tic Tac Gang actually went videoke-ing to kill the night
Videoke = 65
Taxi from Videoke house to Vin's place = 30
Total = 945
Day 3:
This is our last day in Davao and we just spent the rest of the morning at Aldevinco which is a famous place for souvenir shopping. Most of the items there are clothes (t-shirts, sandos), accessories (necklaces, bracelets) and giveaway items (keychains, magnets). I bought three t-shirts which originally cost 110-120 but got them at 100 each; know how to haggle.
We had our lunch at Taps, a Pares and Silog house, which offers average tasting Pinoy meals for me. Finally, we returned to Vin's place just to get our things then headed to the airport for our flight to Manila.
Day 3 Expenses:
Breakfast = FREE c/o Vin
Taxi from Vin's place to Aldevinco = 30
T-shirts from Aldevinco = 300 for 3pcs
Giveaway items from Aldevinco = 230
Taxi from Aldevinco to Taps = 30
Lunch (Taps) = 89
Taxi from Taps to Vin's place to Davao airport = 60 --> naghapahintay na kami sa taxi habang naghahakot ng gamit
Davao airport terminal fee = 200
Total = 939
I just wish we had enough time (and money) for white water rafting and Pearl Farm. I'll try them when I return ;).
What I learned from this trip? The best things in life are FREE! :D
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