Day 11:

With an early wake-up call, I was well rested for the day ahead. Upon meeting up with the dive group, I was informed that my dive partner would not be joining for the remainder of the course. An apparent injury sustained while doing yoga a few days prior was forcing her to abandon the class.

After a couple of additional pool dives, we completed the confined water portion. Ready to progress towards our ocean dives. After a light lunch break, we boarded a Jeepney to a nearby beach. Here, we would complete our first two dives using the shore entry method.

My initial descent didn’t go as planned. I was having serious issues equalizing my ears. The pain was nearly unbearable, I contemplated giving up.

For those who haven’t been diving before. The following chart illustrates how the atmospheric pressure accumulates:

(Source: https://www.idc-guide.com/physics/)

For every 10 feet you descend, it’s equivalent to another atmosphere worth of pressure on your body. Being 60 feet deep, equates to having 7x the standard atmospheric pressure exerted on you. This puts an incredible amount of pressure on your organs & requires extreme caution to ensure you don’t rupture your lungs or ears. After a couple of dives, we made the trip back to the resort. I didn’t realize how physically taxing scuba diving was.

Day 12:

Today was the big day! I officially certified as a PADI open water diver. I would describe in detail the beautiful flora & fauna. However, the dives they take you on during the course aren’t anything special, they’d rather have you focus on your technique than your surroundings.

Once certified, I went back to the resort to talk with family & friends before taking a quick nap. Tonight, we were going to celebrate! I made friends with some Germans, Australians, Canadians & Israeli’s who all joined me at the local bar. After a few drinks, I retreated to the room to edit some video footage. My goal was to post a new video every 3-4 days & I was falling seriously behind.

To be continued…

Make sure to check out the video on YouTube: Exploring the Philippines – Backpacking Asia