How I became Aquaboy...

Part 2

Even if that incident happened to me I still didnt fear the water, what I learned was that you have to respect the ocean. The ocean can be calm and soothing and the ocean can become a monster in a second.

It was in Cebu that I started diving and grabbing my dads reg and dive at 10 feet. Another cool thing in Cebu was the beach was like 20-30 minutes away, so sometimes my dad would pick me up from school and take me to the beach so he could dive and I could swim.

We did a lot of dive trips and going to the beaches around the Visayas when we lived in Cebu. We would spend New Year's eve in Bohol, we went to Camiguin, Bacolod and Dumaguete.

After Grade 3 we moved to my moms hometown, Bacolod. Bacolod is different from Cebu since there isint much beaches there because of the many rivers that lead to the ocean the water and sand are color brown. So instead of the beaches my parents put us kids in a swimming program. We would be swimming every afternoon after school and early mornings during Saturday. I also started competing in swimming meets and one time even made it to the Nationals.

To go diving in Bacolod you would have to drive 4-6 hours to go to Dumaguete or Sipalay. I learned how to formally dive in Bacolod when I was 11, and of course my dad was my instructor. My classmate for the Open Water class was my uncle Gabby Gonzaga. We stayed in Danjugan Island in Sipalay which was run by another Uncle of mine Gerry Ledesma. My mom was excited for my O/w class that she had a wetsuit made for me and dove with me during the 4 check out dives needed to complete the course. Since I was just a beginner in Diving Im sure I looked like an idiot underwater with very awkward movements and consuming my 3000psi in a very short time.

The summer after I learned how to dive my family all went to Tubbataha Reefs in Palawan. This was my first Live Aboard experience. We rode the M/V Aquastar (which doesnt exist anymore). During the first dive I already was amazed with the place seeing sharks for the first time and the largest turtle Ive seen. We spent 5 days on the reefs diving every single day with sharks and turtles and the occasional Manta.

I've gone back to Tubbataha maybe 4-5 times already but the two best ones would have to be the time we went after my mom passed away. Before the trip started I told my cousins that I would like to see a Hammerhead shark which is pretty rare for Tubbataha. On the last day 2nd to the last dive we were at Blackrock,everyone had gone shallower already to look at a huge school of Jacks while I stayed a little deeper but still by the reef because during the start of the dive I said a silent prayer to my mom that I wanted to see a Hammerhead shark. I think she heard my prayer coz as I looked into the blue I saw a huge silhouette of something, so I went a way from the reef and swam towards the blue as I got nearer I realized that it was a huge 8-9 foot hammerhead swimming solo. I couldnt believe my eyes and had to clear my mask just to make sure that I wasnt imagining things. I took a second look and it was still there, this is the point when I started screaming (yes, its possible underwater) and signaling to my dad and to my cousin that there was a hammerhead. That was one hell of a dive for me.

The second most memorable was when I took guests that frequent our resort, Dive Solana, to Tubbataha for a "Solana Trip" (Tubbataha Diving with the Solana service). I took the group of French guests down, I forgot the site already. I was in the lead and the Belgian boat manager was in the back. During the dive I looked back and noticed the boat manager out in the blue with his arms out like he was calling a dog and I was like "WTF is this guy doing?". After a few seconds something appeared which I thought was HUGE shark but then it went sideways and I realized it was a pilot whale (I shit you not) it started doing flips and swimming around the group and everyone was just amazed with what they were seeing. When we got up everyone was ecstatic with what we had just seen.