—John Updike, Rabbit Redux
Hello Hive!
I know many of us don’t like conversations that lead to age. I, for one, am not particularly fond of talking about it. Not because age makes me feel older but it’s just that, at times, I don’t think I gained the right to be in that bracket — yet. Hehe.
You see, society tells us that by 30 we should have our lives “figured” out. That having lived three decades, we should have had a stable career, a family of our own, multiple investments, and so on. Of course, I know these are just unrealistic — and more importantly unhealthy — social expectations. But I’m only human (cue Christina Perri). There are moments when these thoughts creep on my mind too. Especially around birthdays.
This is why, when I turned 30, I made myself a special promise. Every year, I would do one thing I have always wanted to do. Consider it a personal birthday gift.
First on the list was getting a tattoo. The stigma around these permanent bodily marks is not limited in my country, but I won’t elaborate on that for we all entitled to our opinion on the matter. What’s important is I do not regret my decision nor the lifetime marks I’ve chosen.
The second on the list, which is the also point of this blog post, is freediving. Come join me as I relive our fun experience.
Moalboal weekend getaway
Moalboal is one of the go-to getaway destinations in the southwestern tip of Cebu. Aside from canyoneering adventures, the town is also known for its triple threat of white sand beach, rich underwater world, and lively nightlife.
There are two main beaches in Moalboal — White Beach and Panagsama Beach. White Beach, also known as Basdaku, features a kilometer-long stretch of white powdery sand. If you’re into swimming, sunbathing and lazing in the sand, this is the place to be.
Meanwhile if you’re into scuba diving, snorkeling, freediving, and other water adventures, Panagsama Beach is the spot. It is located in a section called Basdiot which is a combination of two Cebuano words: “bas” (sand) and “diot” (little or small). There is literally little to no sand on its shorelines, but its pride lies in its underwater sceneries. And that’s where my friends and I went to two weekends ago.
A friendly introduction to freediving
As I’ve shared earlier, this year’s birthday gift is to have myself learn freediving. I originally want to take a beginner’s freediving course first, but one thing led to another and so here I am on fun weekend dive in Moalboal.
Two of our hiker friends @iamcjestrada and @ybanezkim26 are freediving enthusiasts. When they are not climbing mountains, they are probably swimming with turtles, barracudas, or whatever marine lifeform one could find in the deep sea. The rest of us are simply content with looking at their awesome underwater arwas and videos. But that is not enough for CJ. He wanted to convert (haha, strong word) or introduce us to freediving and let us experience for ourselves the beauty of this lifestyle (Kim’s choice of word). His efforts finally came to fruition this June.
After checking in at Indino’s Guest House, we immediately started our Freediving 101. Truth is, I thought the orientation will be brief and informal. But CJ went the extra mile and prepared slides with videos, photos and links for us. I must say this is a different side of CJ I haven’t seen before. On the mountains, CJ is our go-with-the-flow guy who easily blends with the group. This time, he stood out and really took charge of everything. And he has a knack in teaching too!
CJ discussed the basics of freediving, with Kim on the side for added comments and insights. From the philosophy and physiology of freediving, the importance of equalization, different breathing and finning techniques, duck dives, etc., the two covered the fundamentals to make our experience safe and enjoyable.
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At 4 PM, we finished the Freediving 101 and decided to go the waters. But what we thought as a fun line dive turned into a battle with the big waves.
We tried swimming to the floating cottage where the edge of the reef is but the current was just too strong. Diving in that weather was unsafe. Hence, we went back to Indino’s.
Moalboal Nightlife
Despite our failed practice dive earlier, I wasn't feeling downcast since we still had the next day. We were tired though — and hungry. So we went out to the center where restaurants, bars, and cafes line up.
We had dinner at Venz Kitchen whose pork sisig gets a 10/10 from me.
Then, we went to Isla Bar whose server lured us with their Buy-1-Take-1 promo for all cocktail drinks. My friends tried their different selection of cocktails while I suited myself with the good ol' strawberry daiquiri.
After briefly enjoying the music and drinks, we left the bar and went back to our room. It was still 8PM — too early to cap the nightlife. But we went to bed anyway.Old people, huh? Lol.
My "freediving" adventures and misadventures
We woke to a sunny morning which was perfect for a freedive. Finally, a chance to apply what we've learned from yesterday's lesson.
At 8 AM, my friends and I headed to coastline with our guides. It was one of those "this is it" moments and we were all excited. The weather was fine, the waves were calm — a perfect combination which drew many people out to the sea. The only downside to a rather perfect day.
Still, our spirit and excitement were high. We swam out 30 meters (+/-) from the shore where the reef wall vertically drops almost to a hundred meters. Here, we saw a huge school of sardines just beneath our feet. They group together forming a ball where one could swim in and out and take that photos.
A word of caution, I do not have proper pictures of me underwater — and you'll know why in the next paragraphs — but if you'd like to see Moalboal's rich marine life, you can check out CJ's and Kim's posts.
Sardine run and the sea of humans
As I was saying, our first stop was to see the sardine run. I still don't get why they refer to it as "run" when the fishes were obviously not running. Perhaps it's because whenever someone dives into the ball, the sardines disperse and then get back together. Like playing a game of tag with humans.
Freediving 10-15 meters deep was a piece of cake for CJ and Kim. @kev.incredible and Bon were amazing too as they fin away from the surface. Meanwhile, Jovy, Chiarra and I found ourselves simply snorkeling, immersed in the cacophony of an open sea full of swimming sardines and human feet.
I did try to dive but I had an unfortunate accident which awakened my fear of depths. Kim and I were taking turns recording videos of ourselves underwater. However, when it was my turn, a boat passed the surface where l was attempting to duck dive. It came too close and I was panicking! Thankfully, Kim used his hands to prevent my head from hitting the keel. He grabbed me back to the surface where I choked on salty seawater. It was all captured on video and we were laughing at my "Final Destination" moment. Here are some screenshots.
From then on, my courage went down the drain. I tried to dive again but, at the back of my mind, the alarms were on. I couldn't go deep or move far away.
Still, I was satisfied just snorkeling. I was happy admiring the beauty of the underwater world. And I was proud seeing my friends reach new depths.
An "almost" encounter with the mermaid
After swimming with the sardines and navigating the sea of people, we decided to go to the next dive spot.
The underwater mermaid statue.
It was located closer to shoreline and was just about seven meters deep. Although I enjoyed looking at CJ, Kim, Ser arc and Bon dive, I was slightly frustrated with myself here. I knew I could do it, the mermaid was close, and the seabed was in sight. But I was still scared.
So instead, Jovy, Chiarra and I asked our guides to take videos of us in the shallow water for memory's sake. Haha.
Overall, it was a fulfilling experience. I got to see the other side of Moalboal and spent a fun weekend with these people. Even if I didn’t get the chance to dive, I still got to see the sardines. Will I give freediving a try again ? Yes, definitely. Mag Club Kontiki na ba @cjestrada? 😅
Maria is a hopeless romantic who travels in pages and places. She is an INFP who loves sunrises and moonlight nights and reading books in between. On weekdays, she works for a self-publishing company as a copywriter. On weekends, she lives for life as a poet or hiker. She hopes to share her love for words and the world with you here on HIVE.
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