Another week has passed by in the blink of an eye here at Liquid. Time is flying when you’re having fun!
Diving diving diving! 16 dives including 3 trips to Apo Island in little more than a week. The rest of the time I’ve been diving at the local dive sites along Dauin Coast which, to be honest, are actually pretty..no, VERY good. Consider dive site Mainit for example. This great drift dive is right in front of Liquid Dumaguete you’re almost instantly in the blue and so many things to see!
As far as ‘Divemaster stuff’ goes I’ve been doing briefings for the guests, setting up gear and leading a few dives. It’s different leading a dive of course. Instead of being at the back or somewhere in the middle I’m in the front with everyone following me. So on the one hand it’s more freedom because I’m choosing the route. On the other hand, I’ll be looking back frequently to check if everyone is still there, having no problems, having enough air etc. Everyone as a qualified diver is free to pick their own route at the dive site, keeping currents, depths, air supply etc. in mind of course! In practice, most of the time the Dive Master will also be the Dive Guide and so will be leading the divers, meanwhile pointing out the cool stuff.
For all you fishie lovers out there, a little summary of what I’ve seen in the blue last week!
At Mainit, the house reef, are a bunch of different Frog Fish including an orange one! Google them, they’re freakishly awesome and in my opinion in a strange state of evolution since they have paw-like fins..weeeeird! Also at Mainit there are schools of barracuda that seem to follow us around, pretty nice! Usually there is some current going on there and the last few dives the blue-spotted ribbon tail rays seem to increase with every dive. Last dive we saw about 7 of them flying around or chilling in the sand.
A little treat yesterday at Apo Island, dive site Cogon! I hear some loud mumbling at the beginning of the dive, paired with pointing at the ocean floor. After some careful examination we discovered a stone fish, rejoice! Everyone taking pictures, making movies and enjoying it. They’re supposed to be pretty common, the only problem is they’re masters at disguising themselves. Hiding in the sand, just the skeleton-like head visible, lurking for a little treat.
If you don’t like fish (really?), there are turtles as well! Sweeeeet!
On some dives, when I am not officially guiding, I will be bringing my Go Pro camera as well, making some videos or taking pictures. You can check out some of the video’s here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mvanderveen84/
Meanwhile I’m mingling with the guests, the staff and having a few beers at The Lodge, but always after diving of course 😉
