DIVING FANTASTICO

I was taught how to breathe underwater by a friend in Moalboal, Cebu, quite excited but with full reservations to go down underwater, though.

My mentor is Bitok,a world-class PADI Instructor with a lean built, about 5'4" in height but very sharp in all the details he would want me to remember before, during and after diving.

It was such a long mind-boggling and physically demanding tutorial session because I'm so apprehensive to do the diving thing.

Bitok was so focused when he said to me the very first word in diving, "RELAX", and I replied, "OK doki".

He handed me my mask after I have all the gears fixed to my self, wet suit, bootie, weights about 5 kilos of metal thing I hooked up around my waist like a belt, BCD with tank and regulators and lastly the fins, of course it's the last thing you have to do or else you cannot move your feet even an inch away.

I immediately tucked the mask to my slimy face and ohh it sucked right away, then he told me to go down underwater slowly. I screamed and told him, I cannot breathe, ahh, it is so because I did not bite the mouthpiece of the 2nd stage regulator.

Here we go, ohhhhh! cooooool! I can breath underwater like a fish, HAAAH!

Bitok towed me down to about ten feet below, and ahhhh! my ear was like being poked. He let me read the slate, "equalize pre" ahhh!, so I pinched my nose and blow some air out to stabilized the pressure that pushed the diaphragm of my eardrums.

After I have equalized,again, back in business, at first I was uncomfortable with my situation trying to familiarize the breathing apparatus, but after having done so with the SCUBA orientation underwater, Bitok then taught me how to distinguish the pelagic and benthic seawater species swimming around me.

Pelagic-sa lawom, while benthic-sa mabaw, hehehe.
I told my self WOW, this is it, living and enjoying the vanity life of a fish-THE SCUBA DIVING.

Therafter, countless dives i had and counting more.

COME JOIN SCUBA DIVING!