Tales of a Female Traveler: Stormy Dive in Moalboal, Philippines 2010

This view would have made a good photograph had it been a sunny day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Alas, it was not meant to be. We arrived in Moalboal with gray stormy clouds bringing lightning and thunder with it. But that didn't stop us from diving and having a good time. We went to Pescador Island and had a pretty good dive. The waves were big and sharp pellets of rain fell on us. Our dive operator assured us that a little storm is nothing to worry about. I decided to trust him since it was his own son who was to accompany us to the dive site and serve as our dive master. Once there, we were briefed about the highlights and dangers of diving the area. We were also instructed to go in a negative entry dive, immediately after hitting the water to avoid being swept away by strong currents. Once underwater, we weren't disappointed. There was plenty of awesome things to see. But it was the boat ride back to the resort which proved to be the most exciting. The big waves got even bigger, the rain got stronger and our boat got lifted and slammed against the waves over and over again. It felt like you were riding a very wet Six Flags roller coaster. Unfortunately, the same thing couldn't be said about our Japanese counterparts. The other diving group in our boat (consisted mostly of Japanese tourists) weren't pleased. Most of them went down to the sheltered sitting area and meditated all the way back to the resort. While our group (animals that we are) kept laughing and howling each time the boat slammed hard on a wave.

Stormy Seas

The Howling Animals

We couldn't even keep our eyes completely open due to the stinging rain that slapped us across the face.

Upon our return to the resort, I noticed everything was stored away to minimize damages caused by the storm.

The waves in person were a lot bigger than what the camera captured. It kept on hitting the seawall and splashing water all over the resort's seaside veranda.

After the stormy dive, I had a big bowl of steaming hot vegetable soup and half a sandwich for dinner. Yum! The bread was freshly baked too and all for less than $5US.