By guest blogger, Evolution Instructor Angel Cortes
Diving is all about practice and experience, but nothing substitutes for good training – having somebody to show us the best way to do it, and hopefully that will save us a few complications along the way.
Young Singaporean Malcolm Kee decided to go the best way and came to Evolution as an advance open water diver with a small number of dives but big goals to improve. His aim was to become a Master Scuba Diver – trained in EFR and Rescue as well as excelling in 5 PADI Specialties. He spent long days in practice, learning new techniques sometimes starting with the Thresher sharks (5am) and still going for the Mandarin fish dive (7pm). He started with one of the most important and challenging skills in diving, the buoyancy. Dannie took him through the rigorous PADI buoyancy specialty class and this prepared him for the sidemount course next where Malcolm dived with two tanks for the first time and learned about using a long hose.
The Deep Course is a specialty of Evolution, and since we have the best Technical training in the Philippines we like to give that tech flavor to the Deep specialty training dives.
During the last training dive at Monad shoal, Angel and Malcolm went to 40 m and spotted a thresher shark. It was an incredible dive and everything went according to the plan. But the best way to dive with the threshers is on nitrox, which will give you that extra time for good pictures and video when most of the other divers are gone.
The last dive was the Wreck specialty, where Malcolm had to put in practice all the new skills together. After making the plan and assessing the conditions for the penetration in the Dona Marilyn Malcolm analyzed and assembled his sidemount equipment. The ride took an hour and a half to the wreck. That boat sunk in 1988 during a typhoon, lying on its port side in 32m, the boat is still intact and is covered in soft corals. It’s a perfect place for wreck diving at all levels. We set the line and went inside for about 20m; this corridor runs through the whole boat. The total length of the boat is almost 100m, there’s some natural light so it’s not totally dark and is possible to appreciate all the piping, doors and the structure inside the ship.
Time to turn around and go back to the mooring line for the safety stop, mission accomplish, happy and one piece. Although we would like to go all the way to the end of the ship but that’s another story, for my side I can’t wait to go back and see the rest of it or start the advance wreck course!
Malcolm achieved his goal and is now a proud Master Scuba Diver, capable of diving in different environments and configurations and still just 17!
We hope to see you soon for more diving.
