Open Water Dive, Cold and Tired

Today, I tried something new—I made oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. It may seem painfully boring to eat but I actually still enjoy it. Its simple to make, tasty with brown sugar and butter, is good for you (without the brown sugar and butter), and gives me a good amount of energy. After breakfast, I went with Kenny to Alona Beach.

I hung out with Kenny at Coco Vida to go on the Internet while he was watching the PADI Open Water video. We had some time before his Open Water Dive One at 1 PM. For lunch, I ate noodle soup at Genesis which was quite good and cheap. It really hit the spot because it was a slightly cool day. Just before I went out with Kenny on his Open Water dive, I briefed him on what we will do. The purpose of the first Open Water dive is just to get the student used to the water so there really isn’t any skills; it’s a fun dive.

The dive was great. We went to the Sanctuary dive site a minute boat ride from Genesis. There was a lot of fish and visibility was great; among other things, we saw a school of barracuda, a large grouper, and a needlefish. Kenny of course had no problems underwater. When we got out of the dive, I was actually a little cold because the sun wasn’t out and it was raining a little. I think it was the first time I’ve ever felt cold in the Philippines. I didn’t bring a towel to dry off with nor an extra set of shorts.

While waiting around Genesis trying to dry off, I was pleasantly surprised to see Greg visit me. The last time I saw Greg was in Puerto Galera while I was getting my instructor certification and internship. Greg left Puerto Galera to start up his own dive resort in Malapascua. Unfortunately, there was management issues with the owners of the resort and Greg had to close shop. Now he is planning on living in Bohol as a dive instructor with his girlfriend Emma. It was great to catch up on things. Its also nice have a good friend that is staying around more long term as opposed to traveler friends that leave after a couple weeks or months.

Kenny and I decided to drive back home to clean up and dry off. I never like sitting around wet despite it being hot or cold. After we cleaned up at home, we went back to Alona Beach where we ate dinner at Kamalig with Greg and Kerstin. After dinner we went to Oops for a few happy hour drinks and then to Coco Vida where I began falling asleep.

- jason