Into The Blue

Oh look! a seal!

A few days ago I was sleep deprived. My paranoia got me going nuts about this whole scuba thing and I was afraid that I wouldn't make it out alive and if I did, what if I had a traumatic emergency?- I'd be scarred for life. If you could only imagine the horror I felt before leaving this trip. I could barely move. I spent a lot of time praying I'd get back from the trip alright.

We stayed at DIVER'S SANCTUARY in Bauan, Batangas. ( Such a beautiful, relaxing place. The room has a beautiful view and is easy to get from the resort to the dive site) We had a quick lesson in a saltwater pool learning the basic how-tos and exercises on scuba diving. It took some getting used to but was very easy to get the hang of anyway as long as you relax. 

"relax" - one of the short yet most essential words to a scuba diver.

By the time we finished, we head on to the ocean. I shrieked as I sat myself on the edge of a stair at the first sight of a fish. Between you and me (but not really), fishes have been a great fear for only so long. I thought twice. I was ready to walk away but I didn't when I told myself It was either I overcome it now or waste more time afraid of something I've never even tried to experience.

So I pushed myself to it. I started off busy with an "as long as these fish keep their distance, I keep mine" phase but eventually forgot all about it when I was stricken by the breathtaking(Literally.You need a regulator to dive and see this kind of stuff anyway) view. I started getting teary as I thought to myself "How could I ever let anything, even FEAR rob me of experiencing one of the best things in life?" I saw different species of fishes, corals, and creatures I never even thought existed beyond the waters we so casually swim on the surface of. You'd never expect that when you swim in the ocean, right below you is a whole other world! And so, my first dive went great and the 2nd did either.

The next day, we took on another site-another view with much more to offer. It was crazy because you could actually see how deeper things were below, it felt like you were flying. It was shocking at first and uneasy to look at but you'd be distracted at all the other amazing things to see such as a coral banded sea snake and even a sea turtle(a rare thing to see while diving)swimming around hunting for some food! Although I almost finished the air in my tank, it's always easy to share air with a fellow diver! See! Scuba isn't scary nor tricky at all.

Later on during the day, I started getting crazy thoughts again and I knew it was just the devil trying to rain on my parade. So I prayed and I asked God to show me if this was something He really wanted me to spend the rest of my life associated with. I asked that He would keep me safe and show me a sign of covenant-that I would see a sea turtle up close just as He did a rainbow with Noah.

I'd say our last dive was the best because this felt like the most legit open water dive I've gone on since we had to take a boat and exit the water through a back roll.  It got us first timers nervous but then again the Lord just kept the adrenaline pumping in me, I couldn't wait to get in.

We dove past 'coral gardens' into an underwater pinnacle (I was doing my equalization wrong so I couldn't go deeper) that had to be about 100 feet at which my heart started pumping faster and faster at sight of. I started getting worried about things going wrong and not being able to make it up to the surface in time to survive. I know these were thoughts satan had implanted on my mind to keep me from experiencing the great things I was about to see so I took deep breaths, prayed, held tight to my father and pressed on. Would you believe, we were able to spot not just one but 2 sea turtles at rare states! Just as I was saying, seeing them at all is rare but it's even rare-ER when you see them stationary and rare-EST when they're feeding which was just what we saw during that dive. I was even able to get up close with it and it was just so busy it didn't mind!

Me (in yellow fins) and my stepmom (black fins, puffy hair) drawing near the turtle. (I was losing air this time so I had to hold her hand)

The ocean has made me realize just so much about life. Such as the fact that there really must be a great big God out there as to be the cause for such wonders to exist. Another is that God really answers prayers and when He blesses you, He doesn't hold anything back. ( Imagine, 3 turtles! All I asked for was 1 and I didn't even ask for them to be doing these things rare to see) and the cold, hard truth that billions of people in the world have never even experienced seeing it with their own eyes and in time, it won't be as beautiful as it is today if we don't learn to take responsibility in keeping our oceans clean. If we could only stop dumping trash into the ocean, killing rare marine life such as sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, rays etc. for their meat (God had already given us other seafoood to eat!), preventing oil spills, even doing just simply not collecting seashells from the ocean floor to take home (because these things become homes for little creatures to live in, food to some of them and in the end, decompose into sand.) If the ocean's really as marvelous as it is now, all the more was it before. There's that sad truth that the oceans are slowly dying, let's respect it. Keep it clean and don't take out anything that belongs to it. Make it a habit as well to pick up trash whenever you see any because after all, man is responsible for his own mess.

You know, we are so privileged with some of the best oceans in the world. I urge you to make it an item in your bucketlist to dive even at least once in your life. We humans don't know how much we miss out on. The ocean was made for us to enjoy and experience God's power. While we're already having fun crusing or swimming on the surface, what more when we're below! Being the wanderlust I am, I'm always so eager to visit so many different countries but I realize all those places will never compare to what you're seeing when you dive. (Plus, it's nearer and cheaper too!)

Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less. He could have left the world flat and grey; we wouldn't have known the differnece. But he didn't.

He splashes orange in the sunrise and cast the sky in blue.
And if you love to see geese as they gather, chances are you'll see that too.
Did he have to make the squirrel's tail furry? Was he obliged to make the birds sing? And the funny way that chickens scurry or the majesty of thunder when it rings? 
Why give a flower fragrance? Why give food its taste? Could it be he loves to see that look upon your face? 
Every gift reveals Gods love... but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion. Not placed around a tree but a cross. And not covered with ribbons but sprinkled with blood.
- Max Lucado, He chose the nails.

Learn more about what you can do on your part in saving the oceans at Project Aware!

What are you waiting for? Schedule your diving lesson NOW! Contact John Mateos Ong at 0917-811-1471