Duka Bay is a beach resort located in a quiet town in Medina, Misamis Oriental. The town can be reached from Cagayan de Oro City for about 2 to 3 hour road trip. Duka Bay is hidden among century old trees. It faces two small islands, Mantigue and Sipaka and one bigger mother island, Camiguin. The resort is neatly arranged and organized. They have nice villas, a conference room, and an open air restaurant that is nestled behind a winding stream. They have picnic huts and areas especially built for visitors who want to prepare their own food. This is where we stayed for the day, grilling our own fish and pork that we brought along with us and eating at a gastronomic rate.
Duka offers a number of water fun sports. There were kayaks, wooden bancas and a glass-bottom boat which can be used to explore the little islands of Mantigue and Sipaka, snorkeling gears, surf board, and scuba diving sets. The latter is our purpose so we snubbed the other rides. Scuba diving courses are offered in Duka, but we came here for our first scuba diving explore adventure at a standard rate of 2,800 pesos for a 45- minute 40-feet dive in the Japanese Garden. The Japanese garden is just one of the diving sites in the area. The rest will be explored when we come back for our formal PADI Certification Training.
For first timers, our adventure began by filling ourselves with our basic need - food. We were not supposed to eat that much but who cannot be lured by the delicious aroma of our freshly grilled and juicy fish and pork chop? After lunch we rested a little as instructed. As our excitement was building up and after realizing that we have to take pictures of our first-time experience underwater, I headed urgently towards their souvenir shop to buy a disposal underwater camera. Fortunately there was one.
The explore scuba diving course starts with a basic orientation that explains everything from putting our wet suits on, which comes free with the course fee and up to our disembarkation at the diving site. The lecture was conducted in the Visayan language but since we have two Tagalog speaking guests the diving instructor has to awkwardly shift to his lilting Tagalog and realizing it won’t work delivered the orientation in straight English. The orientation slowly brought us to the water, as we were taught how to breathe, how to adjust the source of oxygen and stuff and how to make and make sense of hand signals because divers don’t talk underwater or else they drown.
We took the glass-bottom motorized boat to the dive site with our instructors and the rest of our pack, grinning from ear to ear, swapping jokes and unable to hide our excitement. The glass-bottom boat was made for the purpose of viewing the world from below. It was fantastic and I wondered what could be more underwater. They said there are friendly sharks in the area but my natural fear of the sight of the mammals do not keep me from doing what I’ve wanted to do, swimming underwater with a pretty wet suit, fins and an oxygen tank. That’s the picture I held for quite awhile and it will be realized.
I and my companion were scheduled to dive first with our two instructor guides. I tumbled head first on my back and gently swam slowly down 40 feet below. Our dive instructor was not just our guide, he also became our photographer. So he was kept busy tugging us along and clicking the camera. Of course he knows the excitement of a first-time diver and of course he knows the best views underwater. He understands. We explored the area for an eternal 45 minutes and when it is up we do not want to go back to the dry lands. Wishing that somebody comes with another oxygen tank to replace our empty ones and stay longer with the friendly creatures.
There were marine creatures I have not seen in my lifetime. But I cannot utter my ohhs and wows and smile and laugh with the breather stuck in my mouth. So, I busied my hands touching everything, while my guide, alarmed with my activity, was gesturing me, “No!” He explained after the dive that there are creatures that stings and half paralyzes the body for a time. Anyway we brought along fish food to up our excitement further. As soon as I exposed the food, schools of excited colorful fishes including a school of glaring blue fishes were devouring my food and picking on my empty hands. It was fun at the start but once they come in droves they block the whole view including a very important photo shoot. When I processed the picture, I only saw fishes swimming in a frenzy, and my fins and nothing else. That spoiled the purpose of the expensive underwater camera. So if my friends ask who the fin was, I say that’s me.
When we swam up and back to our boat, I was a happy and fulfilled individual. We went back ashore with my spirit up and alive. I strolled around the resort, it was clean and organized and the beauty was natural, not forced. At dusk, my companions were chatting about a big sea turtle beaching on the shore which I did not see but it was alright because I had a great time underwater.
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nice. .scuba diving :) any more pics of you diving?
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