Puerto Galera during COVID: Day 2 Itinerary – Diving with Pacific Divers, White Beach
April 26, 2022
Today we dive. It was my whole family’s first time to go diving, so we were both really excited but also feeling rather apprehensive. I’ve heard all these horror stories where someone’s ear drum burst or someone kept vomiting etc, that I was a bit worried.
Diving with Pacific Divers
Thankfully, from the get-go, I felt very reassured! We booked with Pacific Divers, which is the only diving place along White Beach, and I loved how they really know their stuff! I thought their package was pretty reasonable too – PHP 3,000 per person for the introductory dive, inclusive of all equipment.
First off, Julian explained each part of the diving equipment and its usage. He even opened up the breathing apparatus for us to see how breathing in and out through it pushes water out, and sucks in air from the oxygen tank! How cool is that? He also walked us through the different functions of the apparatus, and we did a quality check of the equipment. Good thing too – because one of the oring was rusted, and one had a leaky hose. These were all replaced.
Afterwards, Crystal then walked us through the different signs you need to be familiar with when you’re underwater. Since you can’t talk, you need to make use of your hands to communicate with the dive instructors. The only ones I really bothered to remember was the sign for “Up,” “Down,” “Running low on air,” and “Danger.” None of us used any of the signs though, which is a good thing since it made for an uneventful dive.
Finally, it was time for us to practice diving in shallow water! So with other dive resorts, you start off in a pool. Here though, we just waded onto the shallow waters, and we practiced breathing in and out through the apparatus, how to use the air to sink or float faster, as well as how to get water out of the face mask and breathing apparatus in case it gets in.
It was rather weird at first, but I’ve always had a sinus problem so I was actually breathing through my mouth for the longest time, until repeated berating made me learn to breathe through my nose (although I still breathe through my mouth when sleeping), so I guess it wasn’t that different from what I normally do. The part I found a tad difficult was regulating my breathing to control my rise and dive, but I later realized that it really helps if I’m in an upright position.
From there, we were off! We had bought an underwater camera SPECIFICALLY for diving, except… dundundundun, we forgot to buy a memory card for it. Haha, ultimate fail. Thankfully Pacific Divers offered a camera service – PHP 1,500 for GoPro shots. Good deal, especially because that meant we were in all the shots. After all, that’s the main issue when you’re the camera woman, your face is missing from all the shots!
So during the actual dive, we went down to 8 meters. We stayed down there for 45 minutes – wow, time flies! I didn’t even realize we were down there for so long. I think not seeing the sun plays tricks on your brain too, and the fact that it felt like I was breathing not breathing? So was the dive nice?
Hmm it’s not the nicest I’ve seen. My snorkeling in Bohol and Coron were much nicer. But, I really liked not having to come up for air, and being able to chase after the fishes and really look at the corals and starfish in all its full close-up glory!
So Crystal was telling us that the deeper dive sites and the night dives are SO much better. Phew, exciting! Hoping I get to do that someday. Now that I’ve experienced diving, I find myself quite keen to get a diving certification now.
Lunch at Verandah Cafe
For lunch, we popped by The Verandah Café. The beauty of Pacific Divers is that it’s the only diving outfit on White Beach – all the others are at Sabang Beach. Well I thought Sabang Beach was super blah, and White Beach is where all the action happens. Anyway, The Verandah Café was ayt. I liked the Seafood Risotto with shaved parmesan, the curry wurst, and the Dorado served with Almonds. I will say that none of them were like, WOW that’s so good, I should come back for it, but it was acceptable homey filling food.
Water Sports at White Beach
Afterwards, we whiled away our time chilling by the beach, under the shade because damn it’s hot. Once the sun had gone down a bit, so around 4PM, we popped by the water sports area. I appreciate that Puerto Galera is actually quite structured for tourists (EXCEPT for the roro). All the water sports need to be booked centrally, which means a common price point for all, and a pretty efficient queueing system. I’m actually pretty impressed. Plus, the life vests and the condition of the water sports equipment were decent – not like other beaches where the equipment looks kind of beat up.
Anyway, we decided to go with the Flying Water Sports (PHP 2,000), and boy is it PAINFUL. So apparently, we learned (too late) that the best way to enjoy the ride is to lie flat on your back so that your neck and back doesn’t get jostled unnecessarily whenever the thing bounces. Well, I didn’t know that, so I was struggling to stay upright and I think I might have semi-sprained my wrist because I was hanging on like my life depended on it. Bah. Next time, I’ll just go parasailing (PHP 3,000 for 2 people). That activity sounds more fun and chill.
After that, we frolicked a bit in the waters. I like how clean the waters in Puerto Galera is – it’s so incredibly clear, you can see all the way to the bottom! The beach is rather rocky though, so I’m thankful we had water shoes on.
Dinner at The Beach Frog Cafe
For dinner, we popped by the Beach Frog Café, which I kid you not, has these amazing fish n’ chips, akin to what I used to had when I was traveling in the UK. SO SO GOOD. For dessert, I got apple pie ala mode, also delicious. Happy tummy!
And that, my friends, ends Day 2. Here’s a beautiful shot of White Beach as the sun was setting. Simply stunning
Need help planning your Puerto Galera trip? Check out my other articles!