Siargao – Day 4: Freediver on the Road
SIARGAO
Day 4: Freediver on the Road
October 29, 2024
Last day of the Molchanovs Wave 1 course. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to go underwater and finally get my certification.
Joining as Jen’s assistant would be Micah, along with Sparky the dog, who usually tagged along and just floated on the buoy. On the way to the beach, we gave Rotem a good ol’ pep talk. She had managed to get to ten metres the previous day, so two more metres were definitely achievable.Â
Though we were all rooting for her, it took almost an hour for her to get through the free immersion session, an hour during which we had to wait on the side. Much like the previous day, I continued practising on my own, with Micah keeping a watchful eye all throughout. When she finally did manage, we were all ecstatic.Â
Baby Freedivers!
Then came the hard part: the rescue and safety skills. With Micah simulating an unresponsive diver at ten metres, I had to go down to his level and tow him up to the surface, at which point I performed the surface rescue skills we had practised the previous day. Somehow, despite my initial concerns, I managed to do it on my first try. Ophir did it after a few more tries. Rotem too.
With Ophir and me being done with our skills, we were practically done with our courses. This just left Rotem with one final skill to achieve, the constant weight dive she couldn’t manage the day before. We still had another few minutes at our disposal before having to go back, but unfortunately, she just couldn’t do it. Jen told her that it was no big deal and that she just needed to practise more in order to become more comfortable underwater.Â
To Rotem, however, it was a big deal. It was her last day on the island and she wouldn’t get certified if she wouldn’t make it in time, so she wanted a full refund. With Micah, Jen and me side-eyeing each other, I was just glad I didn’t have to deal with it myself. Luckily, Ophir mediated the whole thing, and Rotem accepted the fact that she could finish her certification elsewhere at another time. Phew.
And with that, Ophir and I got our celebratory Ozen tees and our official certification. We were now officially baby freedivers!
Northbound
This left me with a day and a half in Siargao. Feeling all beat after all the freediving, Micah and I decided to go on a day trip to the north of the island and stay overnight.
We rented a motorbike and started on our way, with me at the back once again not having to worry about anything. I gotta admit, I like being a passenger princess. Especially with Micah being so knowledgeable about the island. In fact, we’d make regular stops along the way for him to show me one thing or another that most tourists would probably skip over, like viewpoints where we could admire vast banana and coconut plantations surrounded by jungle, as well as a couple of beaches here and there, like San Isidro and Pacifico Beach, where we could admire pro surfers doing their thing while we chilled on the sand.Â
One of the main highlights was meant to be the Magpupungko Rock Pools, one of Siargao’s most famous natural attractions, located in Pilar. These stunning tidal rock pools are naturally formed basins surrounded by rugged limestone cliffs and smooth rock formations, something we couldn’t quite appreciate given that it was high tide, meaning the pools were hidden by the sea. Instead of snorkelling and swimming, we spent our time here trying out local delicacies at one of the beachside restaurants.
My goal was to reach Santa Monica Pier in time for sunset. According to a few blogs I had encountered when planning my itinerary, sunset here was meant to be spectacular. Despite rushing to get there in time, the universe decided to mess around with us and threw in a complimentary storm, while the sun pulled off a no-show. All drenched and soaking, we then made our way to an eco-lodge where we’d be spending the night.Â