How did you get in to diving and how long have you been doing it?
R: It is ironic that we learned to scuba dive in UAE – a land more known for the dry desert rather than the sea. We started scuba diving in 2009. We have friends who were also divers and they encouraged us to try out scuba diving through a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) event conducted by the Filipino Scuba Divers Club (FSDC). We tried it out, liked it and proceeded to take the Open water course.
Are your kids joining you on your dives, too (if yes, mention how old they were when they started diving)?
G&R: Our eldest son, Sebastian, 19 is also scuba diver who started diving 3 years ago. Our youngest, Diego, 13 just had a DSD last month and is very keen to learn and start diving with us. He will be taking the Open Water course next year. Kids can start as early as 10 years old.
How frequent have been going on diving trips?
G&R: We dive at least once a month in UAE and go to an international destination at least once a year.Fun dives are organized by FSDC’s instructors to locations such as Fujeirah, Ras Al Khaima, and Mussandam, Oman. Sometimes, wreck diving is also organized in sites off the coast of Dubai. Other times, we go to Jumeirah Open Beach to practice or test new equipment. On the last weekend of every month for the past 2 years, health and weather permitting, we organize Clean-Up dives at Jumeirah Open Beach as part of Project: AWARE’s Dive Against Debris. After collecting garbage underwater, we weigh and count them and submit the data to Project: AWARE.
How’s the diving scene here in the UAE?
G&R: It is very convenient to dive in the UAE. Within Dubai, you can already go to Jumeira beach for scuba diving. We are fortunate enough to live only 15 minutes away from the nearest beach entry dive site.It is unfortunate though, that this is now closed due to construction of the new Dubai creek. There is also a host of wrecks found off the coast of Dubai only 30 minutes away by speed boat.
For better sites, we go to Fujairah or Musandam, Oman which is a two-hour drive away. So we can leave in the morning, go for 2 dives and be back in Dubai for dinner. This is something you cannot easily do in Manila since the nearest site is in Batangas and you would have to deal with all the traffic back and forth.
Have you been to other destinations outside the UAE when going on diving trips?
G&R: The FSDC organizes international dives every year where members can join at group rates. Previous diving destinations have been Jordan, Maldives, and Seychelles. This year, FSDC went to Zanzibar. When we visit the Philippines, we also make it a point to include a trip to a dive site like Anilao or Puerto Galera. For this year, we were fortunate enough to go to Tubbataha reef in Palawan.
Where is your favorite diving destination and what makes it so special?
G&R: For us, the best dive sites are still in the Philippines because of the marine biodiversity and clear waters. The waters in UAE are not as clear and the underwater life is not as varied. The dive site depends on what you are interested in. There are choices if one prefers small creatures (for macro photography) or large fishes (for wide angle).
What was your most challenging dive and what made it tough?
R: My most challenging dive was a shark dive in the Maldives. Usually, divers deployed from a boat and waited for each other at the surface before going down together. In this case, we had to enter the water with negative buoyancy, meaning we went straight down without waiting for the others because the dive site had a very strong current. Thus, there was a good chance one might get lost from the group and be forced to abort the dive. The second factor was that we had to go very deep – at 30 meters. This meant that we had to watch our time and air very closely. There is a limited time to keep to avoid decompression and going deeper means you consume air faster. We were holding the edge of a plateau while the current was constantly pushing us. It was then that we were greeted by an inspiring sight of 8-9 sharks swimming around. The sight of the sharks made it all worthwhile. The dive was not tough because of the sharks. The sharks were the reward for the tough dive.
G: I was a novice diver then, and we were in a Fujeirah dive site called “Shark Island”. Visibility was very bad, about 3 metersor less. We were about 12 meters deep when I became fascinated with a sea creature. I followed it for a while and before I knew it, I looked back and could not see my buddy or anyone in our dive group. I could hear my buddy’s rattle but could not seem to pinpoint the direction the sound was coming from (as the law of acoustics underwater). Then I remembered the name of the site and it made me a tad nervous. What I love about scuba diving is that it trains you to keep calm and recall your training to solve problems in emergency situations. In my case, I was a lost diver in Shark Island! I slowly ascended to 5 meters and spent the longest 3 minute safety stop of my life, turning around every 5 seconds to watch out for sharks that could creep up from behind me! When I finally surfaced, I was relieved to see the boat only a couple of meters away from me. My buddy also surfaced but found them at least 20 meters away!
Your message for those who want to try diving.
R: If you live in Dubai, this is the best place to learn since its more convenient than learning it back home. It has opened a new world for us. It has enriched our family since it is something that we enjoy doing together. It has also developed us as individuals since we have learned new skills and it has augmented our other passions such as photography and environmental awareness.
Like other activities, the more you do it, the better you get. But in Scuba Diving, unlike cycling or other hobbies, if you get better, you can level up and get officially certified. Later on, one can go become a professional and probably even reach instructor level.
G: Scuba Diving is one activity that teaches you to relax in order to act accordingly in the face of emergency situations… to stop and think of your training, and to anticipate what could go wrong in order to plan ahead. These are skills we all need even in the surface.
What puts a smile on my face though, is that moment when I got my buoyancy right in crystal clear water… I felt like I was flying, like I do in my dreams. When I am soaring above the coral and sea urchin, all the stress in the world is taken away at that moment. Then when I get to see and even swim with the most magnificent creatures, it is truly exhilarating. With the diversity of marine life, you never know what you’ll see underwater even in the same dive site over and over again, every day could be different. Jumeirah Open Beach for example, on average, you don’t see much but we have been lucky to see sting rays, cuttlefish, nudibranch and marble shrimp on certain days. Some friends even got to swim with a whale shark one Saturday morning. Even on bad days with almost zero visibility and all we see is sand, we still manage to have fun. There is a saying “A bad day in the water is better than a good day in the office.”
