Philippines and scuba dreams
Last month, I spent a week in Moalboal, Philippines. Moalboal is on Cebu Island, the 9th largest island of the Philippines. It might not be the most well-known place among travelers but it is well-known among scuba divers. It is actually identified as a site of “the highest marine biodiversity importance within the Coral Triangle.” I have wanted to learn to scuba dive for… honestly, I don’t know long. For some reason, earlier this year, I had the thought that if I didn’t learn soon, I never would.
So I did some research and booked an online course with an in-person certification. Some people do ‘discover dives’ which are great. You train for a couple of hours and do a guided open water dive that day. It’s a great way to decide if scuba diving is for you. I decided to just go for it and get PADI certified right from the start. I highly recommend both Savedra Dive Center and Cebu Fun Divers in Moalboal for a first time diving experience. Links to both centers are below. The online course was not too difficult, although it was much more time intensive than I anticipated. However, I finished a week before my trip and I was ready to dive… or so I thought! 🙂
Wander and explore
I arrived in Moalboal on Sunday. I had a relaxing day Monday just wandering and exploring the little town. It is definitely a ‘tourist spot’ but very laid back and safe. And in July, the wet season, it’s not very busy. (Travel tip: if you don’t mind humidity and a little rain, visit tropical places during the “shoulder” season. You will find better rates and it helps those catering to tourists by spreading out their income source.)
Back to my Monday – for me, there is nothing more relaxing and enjoyable than a ‘wander day.’ Walking aimlessly, getting lost, if I’m lucky stumbling across a museum or temple, people watching and listening. I love the mix of languages that you hear in different tourist destinations! And I always have my journal and a book for when I find the perfect cafe.
Learning to dive
Then I started my course Tuesday morning and by Tuesday lunch, I had almost cried once and thought about quitting twice. The in person ‘certification dives’ were incredibly challenging. Like “why would anyone pay to do this” challenging. Like “reminded me a little of childbirth’ challenging. You have to do things like take off your BCD underwater (the floatation device with weights attached to it), and put it back on. Then you have to take your mask off and swim for 60 seconds with your eyes closed (that was the worst for me). And pretend you have no air and do a 60 second emergency ascent. Everything that might go wrong – you have to do a simulation of it to get certified. It’s good in theory but terrifying in reality. Especially on your first day!
But I am so glad I persevered. Not only did I get certified, I got to swim with sea turtles, clown fish and thousands of sardines. It’s hard to explain but once you get the hang of it, you feel weightless. And for the most part, you can only hear your own breathing which feels strangely meditative (and a little Star War-ish). It is both the most relaxing and most exciting thing all at once.
Watching the clown fish dart among the coral, playing what I am sure was a game of tag, made me feel completely differently about fish. They definitely were playing and it made me wonder what they were thinking. Then seeing the sardine run – it was like the most incredible well-choreographed underwater dance. Watching the giant, old sea turtles cruise along so gracefully, knowing they live for up to 100 years, gave me an unexpected feeling of admiration.
Over and over, I saw wildly, bright and colorful fish and other strange, bizarre creatures that looked like they came from a child’s imagination. I kept thinking of when adults tell children to ‘color realistically’ but the iridescent silver, teal and purple fish made me realize that some children maybe color what they have not yet seen. Videos of diving often look dark and muted and some places definitely were but some spots, with the sunlight streaming down shining on the colorful creatures – well it looked like a technicolor dream. I only wish my diving skills were stronger so I might have taken some photos. For now, the pictures in my head are enough.
Lessons from learning to dive
Learning to scuba dive also made me remember that I can do very really hard things, even when I am terrified. These are things that life in general, and solo travel recently, have taught me again and again. But I often forget… again and again. I encourage everyone to do or learn something new and scary at least once a year – just so you remember that you can.
I also remembered the feeling you get when you make your own damn dream come true – when it is you and you alone responsible for doing the thing you always wanted to do – when you do it alone and you do it scared – well that is an incredible feeling. In fact, it also reminds me a little of childbirth but the other end of the spectrum. The wonderful, magical, “who knew a heart could feel so many good things all at once?!?” side of childbirth.
Reflecting on my lessons from scuba diving, solo travel, trying new things and being brave – I have realized it is a wonderful cycle. When I first started to solo travel, I was terrified all of the time. But I kept going, exploring new places and meeting new people and I got a little less scared. Since I was a little less scared, I tried new things, like hiking a volcano, running a half-marathon and walking a couple hundred kilometers in Spain. And the more new things I tried, whether I failed miserably or barely made it or crushed it, well it made me braver. So I keep travelling and trying new things – like moving to Hong Kong. And honestly, Hong Kong has been so hard and I lost a little of my confidence and bravery. But I ‘just keep swimming.’
Anyway, I had wanted to scuba dive for so long and I wondered why I waited until I was 53 but I think I needed 53 years of both fear and confidence to try it. 53 years of building confidence to do it and 53 years of overcoming fear to fully and deeply appreciate it. (And a side of realizing I deserve to have my dreams come true.) And now I can’t wait to do it again.
Solo in the Philippines
Also, someone asked me if I would recommend the Philippines for solo female travelers. Apparently, there is a lot of information out there about the Philippines not being safe. First, I only visited Moalboal and like any country, there are places that are more and less safe within each country. And honestly, as with many countries I have visited, I think messages about safety are often conflated with levels of poverty.
For me, in Moalboal and during my commute, I felt completely safe and found everyone helpful and friendly. I think as a solo traveler you must always be careful and sometimes even hyper-aware, especially in bigger cities, but overall I felt completely safe. And I did wander around after dark on my own – not that I recommend that for everyone but for me, it felt safe and I was.
I might have been feeling like a superhero after conquering so many fears on my first day of scuba training 😉
As always, feel free to share or ask questions about learning to dive. And please check out my Facebook page for videos of the famous ‘sardine run’ which was so much cooler than it sounds. My instructor was so kind and took some videos for me with his GoPro. And in true ‘analog nomad’ style, I cannot get the videos to load on my blog 😉
https://www.facebook.com/pamela.grant.392986/videos
