Batangas
2008-1011
If there is something I must do before I die, it would be to dive into the deep blue sea.
One weekend, I accepted an invitation from friends to go with them to Anilao, Batangas. As a fish sanctuary, Anilao was teeming with vibrant marine life. I stayed near the surface, having no diving license to speak of.
It is easy to ignore, or dismiss things that are not obvious.
Who could ever know that beneath that shimmering and otherwise featureless surface of the sea, lies another world - a very different world, with very different rules. Of course, we all have seen underwater footage, but nothing can compare to the plethora and interplay of sensations that we experience when we really are there - living amidst an experience as it unfolds. It is one thing to look at a photograph of a scene, and quite another to push against it and have it push back.
Snorkeling around coral heads and following divers until I could no longer see them, had convinced me to take up scuba diving. It was hard to accept that I can only go to a certain level - limited by the time I could hold my breath.
It was dishearthening to see divers continue to drift further and further out of sight, until the only indication that they were below me was the disordered layers of fine bubbles vibrating up to the surface from the opaqueness of the deep.
My friends went down to 110 feet, traced underwater channels, drifted along underwater currents, cavorted with large fishes and other creatures of the deep, explored and from what I can tell, had an extremely wonderful time. As for me, I can only watch them excitedly tell their stories to each other, while I sat there in the boat, feeling dejected.
There is a whole world underneath the surface of the ocean. What I didn't know had allowed me to comfortably ignore that fact. But now, after having been given a taste, the irresistible call of the deep now reverberates with utmost urgency.
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