DIR Explorers - View Single Post - Tech 1 Course Report (Puerto Galera, Philippines)

OkiMike · March 25th, 2008, 04:16 AM

INTRODUCTION

It’s already been a year since I took the Tech 1 course through GUE, but I wanted to do a write-up of my experiences for the benefit of anyone else considering undergoing the training and before I forget any more of the details. Prior to taking the course, I tried reading up on it as much as possible but was surprised by how little I could find in the way of personal stories besides the occasional summary under 3 pages.

After much searching and failed attempts at bringing in a teacher to teach the class in Okinawa, Japan where I live, I finally settled on flying to Puerto Galera in the Philippines in order to attend an already scheduled class that Gideon Liew was teaching that was still trying to find a third diver.

I’m one of those people who like to have all the specifics of a trip nailed down well before I leave for the airport. Having traveled on vacation to Thailand before and “winging it” where hotel accommodations, travel and expenses were concerned, I knew that the situation in the Phillipines would be different--there were deadlines and I knew others would be on a tight schedule at the destination—so I wanted to make sure everything was in place before I left home. I, no doubt, bugged the hell out of fellow classmates Michael Puz, Paul Nielson and teacher Gideon with my question-filled emails, but I was already a bit paranoid about my performance going into the class having heard the “horror stories” and didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Plus, it seemed like I just couldn’t get concrete information on transfers to and from the Manila hotel, from the hotel to Batangas (the port where you catch a boat to islands like the one where Puerto Galera is located) and transfers from Sabang to the LLBC hotel in Puerto Galera despite emails from classmates trying to be helpful. Despite the difficulty in getting everything arranged, eventually it all worked out.

Anyway, not to belabor the point, but, in the end, I learned that a diver going into the Philippines for the first time has to have a bit of a taste for adventure and cannot allow himself to get caught up in too many of the details. Carry extra cash, leave a bit earlier than planned and don’t be afraid to ask questions of the various friendly official guides along the way—typical travel advice, I suppose.

So I arrived, at last, on the beach of the La Laguna Beach Club hotel in one of the many little rickshaw-type boats that handle all of the main traffic in and around the islands. I had four rather sizable pieces of luggage (gear, backpack, canister light case and clothing) and stepped off the beach with all eyes on me, the pale white guy, feeling a bit like Ferdinand Magellan must have felt when he first beached in the Philippine settlement of Homonhon.

Upon hauling my gear up the steps leading from the beach to the hotel and not seeing any familiar faces (or faces looking out for a long lost diver), I approached the girl at the front desk who said that she was expecting me. She gave me my room assignment and, at this point, some guys from a nearby table called out to me and asked me if I was Michael. I replied in the affirmative and, after shaking hands I told them that I’d drop my things off in my room and come back out. When I did, I was met by an even larger group, approximately six guys. Graham (who I’d first mistaken for classmate Michael Puz) told me that three of them were the Tech 2 class and would be back the following weekend to finish their studies. Mike Taylor was also there from the Atlantis dive shop (from the Big La Laguna Beach over the hill that separated the two beaches) and said he’d be working the camera for our training dives.

Eventually my classmates, Michael and Paul, trailed in and the five of us (Gideon, Mike, Michael, Paul and myself) sat down for introductions and a brief overview of the class. After the introductions and a bit to eat, Michael gave me a tour around the place and handed me my very own Aladin Tec2G computer (timed ascents be damned!) which he was gracious enough to pick up for me in Hong Kong on his way in. Over at the fill station, Graham showed up and brought over the doubles (11L/80cf) and deco bottle (5.5L/40cf) that he lent me and was also kind enough to lend me his deco reg with an SPG in BAR (we use PSI in our particular location of Japan) as well as another SPG in BAR for my backgas. After making sure we had the basics of our gear sorted out, Michael and Paul asked if I wouldn’t be up for a dive with just the three of us students to get used to the dive site and where we could also work on some of the drills together before Gideon ripped us to shreds the next morning! I thought it was a great idea and we eventually entered the water which was VERY convenient because it was straight off the steps of the hotel.

A short kick out and we dropped to a spot about 15 meters in depth. The visibility seemed really low, the water a sort-of “nuclear” green and the currents were insane. This, coming from Okinawa where the color is a light blue and the strongest currents at most dive spots only require you to change from a modified frog-kick to an actual frog-kick! So there I was, huffing and puffing trying to follow Paul and Michael around and yet stay in form all the while trying to make sense of my new gauges in BAR and my new dive computer in METERS!!! The current was, by far, the worst and I remember a general feeling of just not being able to mesh my laid back “putt-putting” in the water with this all-out vigorous swimming that diving in the Philippines seemed to require. I became a bit nervous at the thought of doing all the ascent drills and no-mask ascents in such conditions. On top of all of this, everyone seemed to be on separate pages in terms of experience and diving style, something that I knew would come back to bite us in the ass once the real scenarios began. After our drills, we did a swim into the current for a few minutes and then cut diagonally away from the beach in order to let the current take us to some rusted out something-or-other that had come to attract some fan-coral growth and fish on it. Then we angled ourselves diagonally towards the shore and eventually ended up near where we’d started. We exited the water and I scrambled up the steps feeling perhaps a lot less reassured than when I’d first entered the water.

After getting cleaned up and grabbing some drinks/snacks, we made our way over to the classroom (a hotel room that had been outfitted with desks, a whiteboard and some other materials) where we sat through our first lecture and went over a more detailed outline of the class, its requirements and ourselves. Then it was off to bed.

March 25th, 2008, 04:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
OkiMike(Offline) New Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Okinawa, Japan Posts: 77	Tech 1 Course Report (Puerto Galera, Philippines) INTRODUCTION It’s already been a year since I took the Tech 1 course through GUE, but I wanted to do a write-up of my experiences for the benefit of anyone else considering undergoing the training and before I forget any more of the details. Prior to taking the course, I tried reading up on it as much as possible but was surprised by how little I could find in the way of personal stories besides the occasional summary under 3 pages. After much searching and failed attempts at bringing in a teacher to teach the class in Okinawa, Japan where I live, I finally settled on flying to Puerto Galera in the Philippines in order to attend an already scheduled class that Gideon Liew was teaching that was still trying to find a third diver. I’m one of those people who like to have all the specifics of a trip nailed down well before I leave for the airport. Having traveled on vacation to Thailand before and “winging it” where hotel accommodations, travel and expenses were concerned, I knew that the situation in the Phillipines would be different--there were deadlines and I knew others would be on a tight schedule at the destination—so I wanted to make sure everything was in place before I left home. I, no doubt, bugged the hell out of fellow classmates Michael Puz, Paul Nielson and teacher Gideon with my question-filled emails, but I was already a bit paranoid about my performance going into the class having heard the “horror stories” and didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Plus, it seemed like I just couldn’t get concrete information on transfers to and from the Manila hotel, from the hotel to Batangas (the port where you catch a boat to islands like the one where Puerto Galera is located) and transfers from Sabang to the LLBC hotel in Puerto Galera despite emails from classmates trying to be helpful. Despite the difficulty in getting everything arranged, eventually it all worked out. Anyway, not to belabor the point, but, in the end, I learned that a diver going into the Philippines for the first time has to have a bit of a taste for adventure and cannot allow himself to get caught up in too many of the details. Carry extra cash, leave a bit earlier than planned and don’t be afraid to ask questions of the various friendly official guides along the way—typical travel advice, I suppose. So I arrived, at last, on the beach of the La Laguna Beach Club hotel in one of the many little rickshaw-type boats that handle all of the main traffic in and around the islands. I had four rather sizable pieces of luggage (gear, backpack, canister light case and clothing) and stepped off the beach with all eyes on me, the pale white guy, feeling a bit like Ferdinand Magellan must have felt when he first beached in the Philippine settlement of Homonhon. Upon hauling my gear up the steps leading from the beach to the hotel and not seeing any familiar faces (or faces looking out for a long lost diver), I approached the girl at the front desk who said that she was expecting me. She gave me my room assignment and, at this point, some guys from a nearby table called out to me and asked me if I was Michael. I replied in the affirmative and, after shaking hands I told them that I’d drop my things off in my room and come back out. When I did, I was met by an even larger group, approximately six guys. Graham (who I’d first mistaken for classmate Michael Puz) told me that three of them were the Tech 2 class and would be back the following weekend to finish their studies. Mike Taylor was also there from the Atlantis dive shop (from the Big La Laguna Beach over the hill that separated the two beaches) and said he’d be working the camera for our training dives. Eventually my classmates, Michael and Paul, trailed in and the five of us (Gideon, Mike, Michael, Paul and myself) sat down for introductions and a brief overview of the class. After the introductions and a bit to eat, Michael gave me a tour around the place and handed me my very own Aladin Tec2G computer (timed ascents be damned!) which he was gracious enough to pick up for me in Hong Kong on his way in. Over at the fill station, Graham showed up and brought over the doubles (11L/80cf) and deco bottle (5.5L/40cf) that he lent me and was also kind enough to lend me his deco reg with an SPG in BAR (we use PSI in our particular location of Japan) as well as another SPG in BAR for my backgas. After making sure we had the basics of our gear sorted out, Michael and Paul asked if I wouldn’t be up for a dive with just the three of us students to get used to the dive site and where we could also work on some of the drills together before Gideon ripped us to shreds the next morning! I thought it was a great idea and we eventually entered the water which was VERY convenient because it was straight off the steps of the hotel. A short kick out and we dropped to a spot about 15 meters in depth. The visibility seemed really low, the water a sort-of “nuclear” green and the currents were insane. This, coming from Okinawa where the color is a light blue and the strongest currents at most dive spots only require you to change from a modified frog-kick to an actual frog-kick! So there I was, huffing and puffing trying to follow Paul and Michael around and yet stay in form all the while trying to make sense of my new gauges in BAR and my new dive computer in METERS!!! The current was, by far, the worst and I remember a general feeling of just not being able to mesh my laid back “putt-putting” in the water with this all-out vigorous swimming that diving in the Philippines seemed to require. I became a bit nervous at the thought of doing all the ascent drills and no-mask ascents in such conditions. On top of all of this, everyone seemed to be on separate pages in terms of experience and diving style, something that I knew would come back to bite us in the ass once the real scenarios began. After our drills, we did a swim into the current for a few minutes and then cut diagonally away from the beach in order to let the current take us to some rusted out something-or-other that had come to attract some fan-coral growth and fish on it. Then we angled ourselves diagonally towards the shore and eventually ended up near where we’d started. We exited the water and I scrambled up the steps feeling perhaps a lot less reassured than when I’d first entered the water. After getting cleaned up and grabbing some drinks/snacks, we made our way over to the classroom (a hotel room that had been outfitted with desks, a whiteboard and some other materials) where we sat through our first lecture and went over a more detailed outline of the class, its requirements and ourselves. Then it was off to bed.