Freedive Bogo | Fun Dive with Northside Adventurers in Marangog Cove

It has been more than 2 months since the last time I was able to freedive. Typhoon Odette made it impossible to do so then I had a month to settle back into reality. February came and everything became so stagnant so I planned out a week of freediving adventure with @ybanezkim26 2 weeks ago. This time our destination was up north of Cebu where the places wasn't been hit by the super typhoon. As I was unfamiliar with where to freedive on the north side of the island, I searched for a local group where we could join in for fun dives. That's when I stumbled on Northside adventurers who go on regular dives every Sunday.

After reaching out and details were exchanged, we got ready and went to meet up with them last February 13. Since we were coming from our house from San Remegio, it was just a short journey to get to Marangog Cove in Bogo, Cebu. Some friends of @ybanezkim26 came to join us too. One of which knew the way. We bought supplies from the market, then rode on a tricycle to get to the location. The road going to Marangog Cove was filled with trees and mountains. It was a breath of fresh air going through the rural side of Cebu.

We only paid Php 10.00 for the entrance fee and the tricycle driver dropped us at the nearest spot where the beach was accessible. And just seeing the sea already filled me with excitement and energy. Our call time was 9:00 am unfortunately the people we were going to meet up with weren't there yet and we were at the wrong spot. We had to find the other beachfront which was supposed to be our meet-up location. And while finding our way, we can't help but notice that Marangog Cove was an underdeveloped private property. Roads and slope protections were already built and a few structures were found. Grass and vegetation were filled the vacant spaces. They said construction stopped years ago.

We found a small path leading to a beautiful beach with a wide-open space. Locals were tending to their boats and families enjoying their time. The sun was out and the sea seemed calm. An hour passed, members of the Northside Adventurers showed up one by one. It was great meeting new (handsome) faces. While waiting for the rest to arrive, I and @ybanezkim26 explored the underwater first and practiced our equalization as we became rusty for those past 2 months. I could no longer go beyond 1 minute holding my breath! 😭 It was ok though as this was already expected. Nonetheless, seeing the few corals and fishes made me happy.

We went back to the shore and the guys were already grilling up delicious meat and fish for lunch. I started to get to know and socialize with some of them. I almost forgot how to mingle with people in real life because I already got used to virtual meet-ups and staying at home most of the time. They were cool and made us feel welcome. They were funny too. It was already drizzling midway through our lunch so I was kind of nervous if it would rain hard that day. We waited for about 40 minutes before diving in the waters to give way for our food to digest. It's not fun freediving right after a meal and not being able to breathe well because of full and heavy tummies. 😅

Then just when we were about to go underwater, the clouds were starting to fill the skies. The wind became stronger and the waves bigger. Nonetheless, we had to pursue it since we were already there. Can't miss a great opportunity to freedive even just for an hour. So what happened during our freedive? Better watch this video then. Enjoy!