“Open your heart, open your mind, open your wallet!” – the banana boat and catamaran ride seller passionately called out to us. But we decided to make a clever move and chose helmet diving. In a nutshell, helmet diving is a walk along the sea floor while wearing a special helmet connected to an oxygen tank, simply put, in a transparent glass bubble that resembles either an aquarium or a space suit helmet.
After setting off with the instructor on a boat, it took about 15 minutes before we saw the helmet station in the middle of the ocean and realized that we would have to dive quite deep. Deep enough to see marine life, but not so deep as to risk getting decompression sickness (we’re talking real diving and people without diving experience and certificates like us; sometimes in tourist areas, they let them into open water in too large groups under the supervision of only a few instructors, which is fraught with unpleasant consequences and incidents). But our Filipino instructors inspired confidence, and the walk promised to be easy and pleasant. Along the way, we racked our brains on how we would descend to the very bottom and even be able to walk around without resurfacing. The answer was received on the spot: when they put a 30-kilogram helmet on you, you inevitably submerge into the ocean depths whether you want to or not. 🙂
The instructors accompany us from the first to the last second of the dive: they help us put on the helmets, descend the ladder into the water and reach the bottom, give us fish feed, and take underwater photos. The ocean is teeming with life, and although there’s a resonant silence within our helmets, interrupted only by the gurgling of air bubbles, in our minds there’s simply a symphony of this magnificence! Corals, mollusks, seaweeds… a multitude of colorful fish swim right up to us, dart around, and peck bread balls from our hands. In general, you feel like both Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Neil Armstrong at the same time. Before you know it, the 20 minutes underwater have already flown by, and it’s time to return to the surface. The ascent also occurs under the careful guidance of our instructors, smoothly and easily. It is definitely one of the best walks of our lives!
Why: to see the underwater world of the Philippines with your own eyes!
Pros: If diving with scuba gear and tanks scares you, helmet diving is a great alternative. It is safe and suitable even for children, does not require careful preparation and training, swimming is not necessarily required, and you can walk on the sea floor without worrying about breathing and oxygen supply.
Cost: 1000 Filipino pesos (20 USD), including underwater photography.
Where to find: On the beach in the area of Station 3 (White Beach Station 3).
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