Diving at Subic...

Water...Swimming...My waterloo...

My apprehension for swimming has been well known amongst my close friends especially if it is deeper than 6 feet so one can understand when I went ahead with my friends for a weekend trip to Subic to try out diving...

Subic Bay is part of Luzon sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kms northwest of Manila Bay.Its shores were formerly the site of a major U.S Navy facility.

The experience of diving was mind blowing and something that has to be done atleast once in life irrespective of the fear for the sea.

It was a whole new world down there at the sea bed and though we just dived in to about 5 mts deep, it seemed much more than that in the claustrophobic attire in which we were. However the sights and life at the sea bed was beautiful.

At the start when I was on my way down to the sea bed, it felt as if I was dying a slow death. However that all changed once I got aclimatized to my surrounding and overcame my fear and dislike of water.

Within the first 30 seconds due to the change in air pressure, my ear drums started paining like hell, and the concept of equalizing which we learnt in one of our diving sessions prior to the dive was well exercised.

However once at the sea bed and at peace with my surroundings, it was time to appreciate the blue world at the bottom. I had seen so many diving videos, but the actual visual was just something different.

It was difficult roaming around in the water, with all the diving equipment tucked to me, and it even difficult to walk on the sea bed because of the diving flippers we were given to wear.

For me and my friends who were first timers just like me, it was an experience of a lifetime and something we plan to do more often, now that we have been bitten by the diving bug.

Emile was our man of the hour who planned and executed the entire trip and was also the one who took care of us during the entire trip.

The guys from "Boardwalk dive centre" were phenomenol and taught us everything that was needed to know in the water as well as saw to it that we survived our first experience of diving and came back alive from the short adventure.

All in all an awesome weekend, well spent with friends, drinking, eating, sleeping and doing new things.