Homeless Diver

A guy lost on Boracay

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A few days ago, a dive instructor asked why I’ve only gone diving with Blue Mango during my two years on Boracay:  They treat me like a family friend, not like a customer. Simple as that.

Went on a excellent dive at Friday’s Rock with a young Australian couple, Dustin, and myself. We back-rolled down the line. Dustin took us around the south face for a nice, relaxed viewing. Found a few large eels and the clown fish, of course,  were trying to pick a fight with me. No-one else, just me… there’s bad blood between us, my ancestors used to own theirs.

Fish Feeding:  Tons of fish and visibility was at least 30 meters. Everyone was playing nice then the sea bass got aggressive and turned red, but they slowed as well. Some fast nips and small fighting – lasted for a while. Out of the blue, a tandem couple of crevalle jacks darted in blazing fast to snatch some smaller fish! They did this over the next 5 minutes and were fairly successful. I would estimate about 100 various mid-sized/smaller fish, a dozen parrot fish, 25 large sea bass (1 meter long), and a few pairs of these crevalle jacks.

Moving on, there were the usual suspects of blue/yellow nudis, some more eels, a stonefish the size of a basketball, etc…

Trying out the new gear I found the gloves good, the low-cut anklet booties fitting better than any I’ve had before, and the Jet Fins… well, they fit great and certainly have power… but it’s different than using other types of fins. Practice is what I need. They have some extra weight so I might find myself getting a wetsuit for standardized buoyancy. For starters, I can easily drop 2 or 3 kilos of lead.

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1. 

   JD

   I cant express enough how much I like those low-cut booties that Dustin got me. I want to wear them everyday instead of sandals, but of course they weren’t meant for land.

   Jun 25, 2009 at 9:46 AM

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2. 

   Chad

   I’ve been a big fan of jet fins with spring heels for a while with the low cut booties. A few more dives with the fins is all you need. Something with current, like yapak, is a nice way to train with them! lol Your legs will be burning all day after fighting the current in jet fins if your legs are not trained for them.

   There’s not a better dive, other than crocodile with no current and good vis, than Fridays Rock with 30M vis. Exploring around away from the rock is always fun. I would like to strap on doubles, with a buoy and the boat following, and the video running.

   I remember me and Dustin doing video there for way over an hour with no current shooting some stock footage. I still can’t find that bamboo shark there.

   As for the Instructor who can’t grasp the concept of a family ran diveshop, he should open his eyes a little more. Those little shops like that have a solid customer base because of treating people like friends. Plus I think you have done more than put your time in there to say the least.

   Jun 24, 2009 at 4:12 PM

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