When I told my mom I wanted to get dive certified, she laughed because she had just seen a TV show talking about how a lot of Korean movie stars are always getting certified for this or that. (This is also after I told her I signed up to take a Thai massage course, which I guess is a bit random.) Anyways, I’d been wanting to get dive certified almost since I arrived in country. I had been snorkeling and was already blown away by what I could see. I thought, it must be even more amazing if you go down deeper.
So, I set off for Dumaguete City. Even though my original travel buddies ended up not being able to go, I decided that it’s worth going solo, even though I hate traveling by myself.
Dumaguete Belfry by St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral
Luckily, there were some Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in that area, so I was able to meet up with them. Akesa, a fellow volunteer, showed me around town. I got to see her school and site. I always liked seeing other people’s sites, just to see the different places PCVs end up. We had a delicious burrito dinner party, where we made our own tortillas.
Making tortillas from scratch!
I was a bit anxious about the diving because I had a cold that week (of all weeks to get a cold), and was worried I wouldn’t be able to equalize. FYI, if you’re thinking of taking a dive certification course, there’s actually a lot of reading! I was surprised that we had 200+ pages to read. It felt like I was in college again. You can skim a lot of it, but there is an exam at the end.
I did my 3-day PADI certification through Harold’s Mansion for about $300 USD (which included room/breakfast/lunch). If you are down to stay in a hostel, I highly recommend the place. It’s legit; the staff is friendly, the place is clean, and it’s a great place to meet other travelers.
Rooftop at Harold's Mansion
View from the rooftop
My dive instructor, a French couple taking the course with me, and I drove out to Dauin for our dives, a beach area not too far from Dumaguete. I did have a bit of trouble equalizing at first, but I’m glad my dive instructor, Laura, encouraged me to stick with it. After overcoming a despairing moment where I thought I wouldn’t be able to dive that day, I was eventually able to get down to about 30 meters. I found that I just had to take my time. People have told me that sometimes it takes time to get used to equalizing.
Beach at Dauin, a bit crowded because of the holiday weekend
Sadly, I didn’t get to experience Apo Island, which is supposed to be a top dive spot near by, because we didn’t have enough divers interested on the day I could’ve gone, but Laura said Dauin has been voted one of the top muck dive spots. Muck diving is when you’re diving in an area that has a lot of sand and some trash thrown in and looks like there’s nothing there at first, but if you look closely, you can see some cool things. We saw a colony of lionfish, a single seahorse, and later in a more coral abundant part, we saw a sea turtle!
With my dive group
If you’re thinking of getting certified, the Philippines is a great place to do it. It’s cheap and has some of the most amazing dive spots in the world. Despite my anxieties, I’m glad I did it.
I spent a little over two years living in the Philippines as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm writing a short series with my top five favorite spots in the Philippines (in no particular order). If you'd like to read about my first two favorite places, you can check out the posts here:
Post 1: Surfing at San Juan
Post 2: Swimming with whale sharks in Donsol