Lomography

Diver's Sanctuary
written by halfawakehaiku on June 3rd, 2009 , 8 comments (13 votes)

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I remember watching the Jaws movies when I was in the 2nd grade. They did a series of film showing at school once a month and for some reason, decided to scare the living daylights out of would be swimmers. That irrational fear was carried over years after. It was only last year, in my late twenties that I was able to summon my courage and go snorkeling. I wanted to try something new and Lomography has taken me places, but I had no Idea it would take me 60 feet below the sea.

The Philippines is known the world over for its diving spots. In fact aside from great dive sites with ship wrecks and corals it was found that we boast of the highest marine biodiversity in the world. And despite my irrational fear of sharks that Discovery and NatGeo has failed to cure I knew it would be a shame not to try this bountiful resource that my country has. One such site is Diver’s Sanctuary in Bauan, Batangas. It was here that I would get to taste what it was like to go scuba diving. We got up at around three in the morning, eager for the adventure that awaited us. It would take about three and a half hours from Manila for us to reach the dock where a small outrigger boat would take us to the resort. Our instructor wasted no time and before we could rest on the beds we were asked to suit up and jump into the water.

The shore was very rocky and I found it hard to control my weight in the water. After some basic instructions and safety reminders we were off. With my brand spanking new LCA+ in hand in its gleaming Krab Case we set of to discover the natural wonders of the sea. There were a lot of corals, some soft and some hard. We got to see really cool blue starfish, the crown of thorns which is a poisonous spiked star fish, a Nudi Branch and most of the cast members of Finding Nemo. But what took my breath away was an underwater cross. It was put up as an altar for divers in commemoration of the owner’s 25th wedding anniversary. We spent 45USD on the resort which included boat transfers, welcome drinks and a buffet meal. It was the day trip rate which included the use of a room and the resorts facilities and dive gear. There are also turtles & rays near the area and if you’re lucky maybe the gigantic whale shark, the biggest fish in the sea, would swim with you. I’ll definitely be back ,still afraid of sharks, but no less willing to take the plunge.