Deep diving in the Marigondon Cave

CEBU, Philippines - My anticipation was spiced up by little nervousness. What with thoughts of the 30-meter depth and 200-Bar air pressure.  And yet the feeling of excitement prevailed.

I had with me my torch and knife, and I was ready to explore the mysterious underwater Marigondon Cave, off Mactan. Sir Emi Bonghanoy, the CMAS Course Director for Scuba Diving in the Visayas and Mindanao, was reciting safety reminders. I could feel he was getting a little more worried now, as compared with the other dives we had done together.  I was prompted to ask him, “Are you worried, Sir?”

“No I’m not that worried,” he replied. “I know you can make it; you have been trained well.”

“Well, don’t worry, Sir, ” I said, “we’re going to be alright, you’ll see.”

“The Actual Bottom Time was 15 minutes, 30 minutes Total Bottom Time, Safety Stop at 5 meters deep for 5 minutes, do no forget to equalize and do not hold your breath.” These are the typical reminders a dive instructor would give prior to the plunge in deep diving.

We were finally making our descent, slowly and gently equalizing. The weather was great, visibility excellent, vertical 30 meters, horizontal 40 meters, the current was mild, and I thought there was no basis for Sir Emi to worry.  But it felt like the longest 30 minutes of my diving life.

It was such a different feeling as we were gaining depth. I was being drifted away – not by the water current but by the experience itself.  In a while, the Marigondon Cave emerged. The cave was bigger than I previously thought – dark, cold and mysterious.

Marigondon Cave is a one-way cave. The cave opens at 30 feet below, 27 meters deep from cave ceiling down to its bottom, with 10 meters penetration from the entrance to the other wall.  Corals hanged at the cave’s interior, mostly fan corals.

The light from the entrance began to disappear; things were only visible with my torch. 

We were to stay inside for 15 minutes. The darkness of the cave was disorienting. Several thoughts ran in my mind: What if something bad would happen? What would it say of me as a dive instructor? How would it strike me personally?

As I tried to distract myself from those thoughts, I noticed that fishes inside the cave had a different orientation. They were somewhat swimming upside down, as they position themselves ventrally on the cave’s ceiling and wall.

It felt weird as I continued to explore inside. There was slight apprehension of what lay ahead in the dark and at the same time I was experiencing an adrenaline rush. And yet I was calm and focused. It was kind of eerily peaceful inside.

Then Sir Emi signaled; it was time to start our way out.  We had stayed in the cave for 25 minutes. Now we were heading back to the surface.

When we were at the ledge, I could see the sunlight reflected on the clear water through my mask. The powdery white sand at the seabed was still visible, and all the colorful corals too.  I noticed other divers nearby with their Nitrox tanks; stationary safety stop, I presumed. 

But my mind was still mostly with the beauty I saw below – the different species of marine life, my first sight of a solitary big sharp-edged Unicorn File fish and a very huge Barrel or Basket Sponge Coral that must be around six feet in height. I almost couldn’t resist the impulse of embracing the coral, amazed that it had grown that big since I knew it had taken many, many years. There were other corals too – both of the soft and hard varieties, including fire corals, which could literally burn a diver’s skin if touched.

Colorful fishes swam around freely – Chevron Barracudas and Snappers, Jacks, Longtom and Moorish Idols and many more.

Cavern or cave diving is a distinct specialty in scuba diving; the discipline is different, especially concerning finning, trim, and buoyancy.  And the diver could easily get confused and, thus, make mistakes inside the cave. In my case, it has taken solid determination and bold attitude to get me there. Of course