For the first time in my life I went out for another island to snorkel. Coming along with the team of Tom Smith, after a week a medical mission, the team decided to have an outing escapade to a remote island in Biliran province.

The team and the destination island ahead

The location is a little far from Ormoc, about 2 and a half hours drive, you will reach Almeria, Naval. There you will see in a distant several isolated islands where you can have a beautiful site of underwater picture of mother nature.

Being a first timer, my personal excitement of what I am about to see is beyond expression. But before we went out the sea, Tom first gave us some tips and facts about snorkeling. Here are some of the tips that you may want to consider if you will go out for a snorkeling escapade:

• Wear socks and sea shoes to protect your feet from sharp sea shells that you will step on.

• Wear darker colors. Don’t wear red or some shark (if there is) might interpret it to be blood. Don’t wear white or the shark will interpret it to be belly of a big fish. A wonderful meal for them.

• Wear good snorkeling goggles to ensure you’ll enjoy your time.

• When snorkeling, just relax your body and let the buoyant force uplift you. This will help you not to become tired while having fun.

• Clear the breathing tube by giving a big blow out of your mouth.

• If you want to dive, take a deep breath so that you’ll have enough breath for going up. Be sure to give a big blow again to your breathing tube.

• Be sure to put on sun block lotion to avoid sunburn.

Starfishes we caught but returned to the waters.

For the first time in my life, I was able to  swim for two hours straight, to swim in deep areas like swimming in water of 10-30 ft deep, and to see “aquarium material” fish live in open sea. I have seen ugly fish that is almost like a rock, so as the colorful fancy butterfly fish. Not to mention of finding Nemo and his father playing in one of the corals. The only difference is that I am seeing them live in an open sea.

To describe how clear the water was, I included here in this post a picture of the starfishes in the beach. In one of the pictures, you’ll see me with K. Tom Smith, my very first snorkeling buddy.

My first snorkeling buddy, K. Tom Smith. We've snorkel for 2 hours straight.

After two hours, I already felt very tired and feel that I already have burned enough fats for the day. My legs are already aching and my arms are shivering. I think that’s enough exercise for the day. The only regret that I have was that I don’t have an underwater camera.

The experience is unforgetable. Though I haven’t got any actual pictures of what I have seen, the picture of scenic underwater paradise is still very clear in my mind and will continue to share it to my son and my future children. For sure, I will be missing the small paradise, hiding beneath the waters.

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