Wednesday, April 1

Scuba Diving - Day 2

WE DID IT!! Sam & I are both now PADI certified scuba divers!

(Photo - L to R: Sam, Caden, our dive instructor Dean, John & Amberly)

Our second day of diving went MUCH better than the first for me. Although I started having fears of another panic attack, it never happened! YEA! I was able to relax more during our dives on Sunday and enjoy the beauty of the underwater world. I am constantly amazed by all the colorful, tropical fish & interesting creatures I witness in their habitat. Diving will never cease to thrill me!

On these last two dives, we first explored a sunken barge. Our second dive was down to the sunken San Quentin wreck. This site gives some history on the San Quentin wreck:

"Meanwhile, the wreckage of the Spanish gunboat San Quentin is considered the oldest among the sunken vessels in Subic, dating back to the Spanish-American War at the turn of the 20th century. A veritable symbol of the Spanish Galleon era, the San Quentin was sunk in 1898 as a last ditch effort to prevent US Naval forces from gaining access to the strategic channel passing through the islands of Grande and Chiquita. Easily one of the most popular wreck dive sites in the Philippines, the San Quentin continues to draw many divers because of its historical significance."


We were privileged once again to see the following fantastic aquatic life:

* Several stone fish
* More cool sea slugs and/or sea cucumbers. They were the size of a loaf of bread! And, slimy as snot! And, yet, it was amazing to be able to hold them!
* Giant clams - In 1999, the University of the Philippines secretly introduced giant clams to this dive site as part of a special project. They are huge & beautiful! We were able to stick our hands in the middle of the clam & watch as it automatically closed around our fingers. So fun!
* More anemone with clownfish
* More poisonous lionfish

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to get my diving license & feel especially privileged that I did it in the Philippines! Such an amazing, beautiful & perfect place to dive! We can't wait to go again... if my ears ever get back to normal!!

Snorkeling above Sam

Jellyfish


John & Caden riding on the outrigger on the way back to the beach

Enjoying the boat ride back

Sam the Man

3 comments:

Mimi said...

Congratulations!

Kris Hardy said...

Congratulations on your certification!!! You're now hooked for life... Sorry. =)

Feeny Family said...

Wow! That looks like it's incredibly fun! It's always so neat to see the life under the sea.:-) Congratulations on being certified too!

~Meagan~