How the sea is like pag-ibig: My first time to scuba dive

 

It was Valentine’s day, and I was heartbroken. And as many of you would know, being heartbroken on Valentine’s day is like putting drops of calamansi on a fresh wound, or being on the high school prom with the worst gown ever. It makes you want to make a music video, except you’d look horrendous and all teary while bingeing on Adele songs.

So with the last enthusiasm left in me, I decided to try scuba diving in Anilao for the first time. But here’s the catch: the deep blue sea scares me. I find the vast expanse of the blue unknown intimidating. I only know how to swim in comfortable depths that my feet can reach. But I only had two choices, drown in the sea or drown in misery? I chose the former.

I met with my Dutch diving instructor Jeroen Elout in Cubao and asked him, “Am I going to live?” And it wasn’t a #hugot. He laughed and said, “Oh maybe yes, maybe not.”



We arrived in Anilao early in the morning. Jeroen said I’d have to be comfortable in the sea first before I can dive. Panic is the diver’s worst enemy. I have to learn how to snorkel in the sea with no life vest on. He taught me what to do in case water gets into my snorkel and mask.

“You have to accept that there’s going to be water in your mask. There’s going to be water in your snorkel. Accept it, and let it go,” he said. I felt that it was a #hugot, but I was too adrenaline-pumped to process that at the time.

Jeroen swam with me like a mother dolphin to her calf. And then he let me go on my own. I was on mermaid mode, singing “Part of Your World” like Ariel to the dry land but meaning the other way around.


^{Photo courtesy: Padoy Fajermo}

My first time to actually scuba dive was less jubilant. There were six of us underwater, and we practiced drills that could save each others’ lives in case something goes wrong in a dive. We went from reef to reef, but I couldn’t appreciate the view. I felt nauseous, and my mouth felt like it hasn’t tasted water for a month. I can hear myself breathing and I had to control myself from freaking out. I thought of all the things that can go wrong but none of them happened.

We surfaced after an hour and I felt so hungry! I scoured for food like a cave man. I think I drank a liter of water and ate someone else’s bread on impulse.

After I regained composure, I approached Jeroen, who I just met that day, and asked him heart to heart, “Jeroen, is diving for everybody? Because I feel like diving isn’t for me.”

We were at a corner facing the sea. Jeroen looks to the sea first, as if searching for an answer to such a hard question. He tells me, “Uhmm, it will get better next time. You just have to try it again.”

I look back at that moment and smile. I did not only try it again, I actually went ahead to get an open water diving certification. Jeroen teased me about that conversation we had when I finished the course.


^{Photo courtesy: Padoy Fajermo}

I found myself diving for consecutive weekends because I realized that the only time I never thought about my heartbreak was when I was diving. When underwater, you have to be 100% conscious of your breathing, equalization, equipment, buoyancy, how much air you have left, and your surroundings. On top of these concerns, you have to remember to watch out for your dive buddy and enjoy the view too. Diving is a serious hobby, you need a sharp focus or you can die.


^{Photo courtesy: Padoy Fajermo}

A diver once told once me that not knowing how to scuba dive in the Philippines is like owning a Ferrari but never driving it. I’m going to sound cliche now, most of you should know that we are part of the “Coral Triangle,” a geographical region with more coral reef fish diversity than anywhere else in the world, also known as “The Amazon of the Sea.” We also have five of the seven sea turtle species in the world.

I have scanned through hundreds of amazing underwater footages as a segment producer for “Born to be Wild.” But the first time I saw a sea turtle up close, I was just blown away. I was star struck.

So did the sea heal my broken heart? No, I think it was “time” that did it. But the vast expanse of the blue unknown gave me ample snorkelling and diving space to heal. —BMS, GMA Public Affairs