at Aqua Venture Resort
My first dive experience here in the Philippines is
certainly different from any dive experience I have ever had. We went with some of Edi’s coworker
friends. We all met at his office
building at 5:45 A.M. – too early! – piled into two vans and were off. We made a pitstop at McDonald’s at a
travelstop and believe it or not, they did not have coffee! Lucky for us, there was a Starbuck’s right
next door, so we all breathed a sigh of relief.
After about two and a half hours of riding, we arrived. The resort itself is quite nice. It is rustic but in a nice way. It is multi-level and open air. There is a pool and a fantastic view. Guys from the resort met our vans and took
our dive equipment and we headed down to the dive area to get changed and
ready. After we were briefed, it was
time to get on the boat. There is no
dock, just a rocky shore meeting the crystal, clear water. The boats which were like giant canoes with
bamboo stabilizers were pulled to shore and a plank was leaned up against the
boat to make a ramp for us to get in.
The ride out to the site was about thirty minutes. The water was calm, the sun was shining, and
if felt great to be out on the water. We
got to the site, got suited up, and did a back roll off of the boat for our
first dive. What was waiting for us was
beautiful coral in colors I have never seen underwater. Mauves, fluorescent blue, yellow, black,
purple, orange – truly beautiful. There
were huge starfish and lots of little colorful fish swimming all around
us.
Back at the boat the wind had picked up, and the water had
become quite swollen. We headed back to
the main island where the waters were calmer to a site called Twin Rocks. The trip back was rough fighting the swells
that at times were about six feet. It was
crazy but so much fun! The boat going up
and down, spray continually hitting us right in the face – what an adventure!
We made it to the site and this dive presented huge deep
purple clams. The dive master actually
put his hand in one and it closed. Of
course it didn’t hurt him because of the flesh in the clam. We were also greeted by a huge school of
jacks – hundreds of them! We all got cold on that dive, so the warm showers
felt really good when we got back to the resort. Warmed up, we had a nice buffet lunch while
enjoying the beautiful view.
We took the scenic route back to Manila but should not have
as the traffic was atrocious. We did
stop at Starbuck’s in Tagaytay to stretch our stiff legs. From the shores of the West Philippine Sea to
the mountains of Tagaytay –what a day!
We had to stop for gas and barely made it back in time to pick up Kona
at Pup Culture – they were already locked up and waiting.
A great venture was had by all. We will definitely do more
diving while we are here J
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