Above, another video I made of my latest underwater sojourn. We were extremely lucky as we saw so many things: several octopus, white and black tip sharks, eels, flamboyant cuttlefish, crabs, a puffed up blowfish and lots of nudibranchs. No mantas though but still! (Watch the video!)
Below, some stills I took from Bahura, Beatrice Rock, Mainit Point and Toro Point. I did an overnight trip with three friends — Kara was home for the holidays so what better way to enjoy the countryside than diving and camping out right beside the ocean in Anilao, Batangas.
Essentially, dives #44 – 47. I’ll be celebrating my 50th dive next!
Months ago I brought a Sony Cybershot W230 underwater with its appropriate casing. This weekend, I was able to borrow an INON strobe light courtesy of Jan. Since the Achilles’ heel of Sony cameras is the inability to customize your white balance underwater (it only has 3 presets), shooting with a strobe really changes the game.
So my Tuesday was particularly interesting. Gabe Mercado (@gabemercado) called the day previous inviting me to sample a new Magsaysay Group product offering for Tantin, our common friend from PhilMUG.
Corregidor is an underrated wonder, being stereotyped as an “old” tourist spot that brings back the memories of MacArthur’s folly. I remember experiencing the gun battery and Malinta Tunnel tours when I was younger and really, this is what Corregidor has been stereotyped into. There’s so much potential!
As it turns out, the recent turnover of operations to the Magsaysay group in the past two years (I sure hope I got these facts right) allowed them to rebrand Corregidor into something more than the “Rock” of Manila, adding other recreational activities apart from team building activities and historical tours.
Nothing final yet but imagine this: a true one hour journey (while sleeping!) from Manila Bay is an island park where you can bike, hike, jog, run, camp, bird watch, dive, snorkel, surf, sail to your hearts content. The exact words: we are turning Corregidor into a “central park” for Manila. The zip line is almost complete and will open in November.
You know what would be cool? Airsoft!! (as long as you use biodegradable bullets)
Stay tuned! This is Corregidor 2.0, a good reason to say “I shall return!”
Perhaps the only “bad” thing I can say about this dive computer is it’s apparent awkwardness if worn casually. But that’s the price of P20,000.00 for an Aladin Tec 2G, acquired several weeks ago. This purchase completes my dive gear. It also saves lives.
Unlike other fashionable dive computers that double as casual wrist watches, the Tec 2G is not only more affordable: it is also built to last. The UWATEC Tec 2G is a standard diving computer with two H2O sensors at the bottom of the LCD to detect whether I’m submerged in water. There are only two buttons, and that serves as more than enough simplicity to navigate through the entire menu using a combination of short and long button presses.
The Tec 2G which I have, although brand new, already has scratches on the protective casing due to my own negligence, probably from wrecks or hanging on to rocks when diving in strong current. The added bulk on the real estate doesn’t help at all. But if we’re talking about performance, this dive computer is world class allowing dual oxygen mixture settings, an altimeter (it tells you if you’re climbing a mountain that’s too high after diving), 15 ft safety stop monitor, and many more. Plus, battery is user replaceable!
The Tec 2G has an optional IrDA cable that you can purchase via Nautilus (in Pasay Road) allowing you to transmit your dive logs onto your computer. This is on order basis only.
What a weekend! I’m in the process of completing my open water diving certification under PADI (yay a blog!). I’ve always wanted to launch into the deep, so now that I have the time and a little more savings, I decided to invest slowly in dives. I dragged Juned into taking lessons under Jan Acosta thanks to MJ, a friend I’ve known since college. Here are three reasons why I made the choice to go dive:
