First Dive

I just got back from my checkout dive in Anilao, Batangas. Me and diving classmates (and my friend Joel) went there last Saturday and did two dives per day. On the first day we went to the reefs in front of Dive & Trek (we stayed at Leisure Resort, about a 15-minute boat ride away). Dive & Trek is a very memorable place for me which is an added bonus.

We are supposed to do some exercises on the first dive, but we didn't. Instead we just swam around the reefs, playing with the school of fishes and ogling at the giant clams. On the second dive we did some exercises, such as BCD and weight removal, mask clearing and the like. 

The second day was even more enjoyable for us. First we went to the Cathedral, two huge rock formations about 55 feet deep. There is a cross between the narrow "alley" between the rocks, put there by the former Philippine president Fidel Ramos. Just before we get to the cathedral we passed by the "castle," an wrought-iron structure installed by some divers from UP about 25 years ago. The first dive is also a "fun" dive because we did not do any exercises, but rather we just swam around admiring the view. After about 40 minutes under the water, we went to a rocky beach to rest and let the dissolved nitrogen to be released from our bodies. 

On the second was in a dive site  called Koala, and we dove at around 40 feet. The reef is more expansive and we saw some fire corals even. We did some more exercises such as no-mask breathing and CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent). After diving, I went snorkeling and took some pictures underwater.