king of bling…because deep down, you want the best

my gift to myself for passing the instructor’s course. i’ll copy Scubapro’s advert ‘coz they say it best. bling bling!

The MK25 teamed with our exceptional new A700, offers superior ultra-high airflow system for maximum performance in all temperatures and diving conditions. SCUBAPRO is synonymous with piston-controlled first stages. Our MK25 underscores this heritage with an array of patented features and ultra-stable intermediate pressure, for an extremely punctual and consistent high delivery of air, ensuring unfailing performance. The MK25 balanced piston first stage is our absolute top performer, making this system our very best!

• Air balanced flow-through piston provides constant and effortless air flow unaffected by changing tank pressure.
• Newly polished chrome edition, available uniquely with A700 system, with 5 low pressure and 2 high pressure ports plus swiveling turret for convenient arrangement and personalisation of your gear.
• Anti-freeze protection for all diving temperatures and externally adjustable intermediate pressure for easy maintenance.
• Available in either 232bar INT or 300bar DIN configuration.

For more details and some great video on the A700, visit http://www.scubapro.com/A700

 **  It’s always a good day to go diving!  **

learn to dive with me!

working on some PADI promotional posters! click on the thumbnails for a larger view. anyone interested in scuba instruction feel free to drop me a line. if you are not located in hong kong, let me know and perhaps we can work something out and arrange a class where you’re located. with my travel benefits as an airline pilot, it’s probably easier for me to come to you than for you to come to hong kong. my ideal places for instruction would be philippines, thailand, malaysia, and indonesia – the choicest diving spots by far in all of southeast asia.  so if that works out for you, let’s go diving!

PADI Instructor! OWSI-260021

after 10 grueling days of classroom, pool, and open-water training, i finally finished my PADI instructor development course (IDC) with Sea Fun Divers in Phuket, Thailand! my terrific course director from norway, Bent Posejpal (http://igotbent.com/) saw me through the intense course, culminating in a 3-day Instructor Exam (IE) administered by official PADI asia-pacific instructor examiners who flew up from Australia to conduct our final examination. after passing the written exam on day 1, confined (pool teaching exam), classroom presentation on day 2, and a final-open water (beach) examination on day 3 in the pouring rain, i successfully passed the IE and am now an official PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. that’s my PADI Pro number above - my identity has been stripped and i am now merely a number – but proud of it! congratulations to all the other candidates who passed the IE along with me on 18 October 2009 in Phuket! see you in the water someday.  thank goodness it’s over.  now, if only i had some students!!! the fun begins. dive safe!

divemaster success!

on 27th september 2009 i officially joined the ranks of one of PADI’s newest professional divers reaching Divemaster status! thanks to Tim Campbell, my instructor, and everyone i learned from down at Sea Bees Diving in Chalong, Phuket, Thailand (http://www.sea-bees.com/eng/index.htm) – i had a terrific time. i experienced everything from mantas and sharks to panicked divers and dealing with an actual dive emergency. i assisted and guided customers from all over the world. assisted someone who didn’t even know how to snorkel – become an avid and competent diver by the end of the course. it was truly a great experience that i wouldn’t trade for the world. i met and worked with some of the best people in the industry. if anyone wants to dive Thailand – definitely go with Sea Bees. they are hands down the best. contact me if you have any doubts. i am now on my way to becoming an instructor. hope to dive with you all again soon. to everyone i met in thailand and to all the customers who joined me ‘n Sea Bees from around the world…warm love and thanks and happy, SAFE diving!

going pro

i will be away for the entire month of september in phuket, thailand doing my first professional level scuba course – the PADI divemaster - with Sea Bees Dive Academy. i can be reached via email should you need to contact me. however, it may take me a while to reply as i will probably be underwater for most of the month! sending warm regards from sunny phuket, thailand. wish me luck.

African Safari – The Big 5…err, well, Big 3!

I just returned from my first trip to South Africa. Not only was it my first time in that part of the world but it was finally nice to be on an entire continent I’ve never visited before. The place is absolutely mesmorizing. You truly get a sense that this vast, but rich land was definitely among the first places that existed at the beginning of time. I went on a 2-day safari just around 2 hours north-west of Johannesburg and Pretoria – staying at Sable Ranch Thaba Khaya Lodge – run by a lovely couple (and new-found-friends), Storm and Ken. Shout out to both of you for a FANSTASTIC first-class stay! Highly recommended. The ranch has over 2600 head of game – among them leopard, buffalo, black and white rhino, giraffe, hippo, eland, kudu, and of course roan and the highly prized and rare sable antelope. Among the Big 5 african game animals (elephant, leopard, white rhino, cape buffalo, and lion) I was only able to see 3. I guess that means I’ll have to come back again! We ended our trip at Ukutula Lion Park where I was able to play, feed, and care for my own cub named Cash. You can see Cash’s photos and some of my other photos of the wild african game on my Multiply website (http://esguerra1.multiply.com/) Just click the photo album with Cash’s picture on it. You can’t miss him!

first video upload – diving with the ulua in anilao, philippines

School in session with the Jacks in Anilao, Philippines.

my cousin and i recently went to anilao and happened upon a huge school of jacks (known as “ulua” in hawaiian) as we swam along the depths of the TWIN ROCKS dive site in batangas, philippines. i was able to swim amidst the entire school and film them while my cousin was messin’ around in the background. we swam amongst these fish for around 30 minutes it was so relaxing. it’s among the only time i enjoy being in a school! (Sorry, you’ll have to click the Hyperlink above to view the video as I haven’t purchased a video upgrade account embed the video here).

esguerra 2nd annual dive trip 2009 – going phi phi in phuket!

over!

each time i fly to a new city, it is my tradition to capture a photo of the city and its international airport from overhead as seen from my office – the cockpit. it’s a view not many passengers get to see as we are quite fortunate our windows face forwards (a good thing!) rather than sideways like most travelling folks. ok, some of them i know aren’t airports but distinct landmarks nonetheless. i’ll try to post more when i’ve got time, but here are the ones i’ve collected so far. can you recognize some of these places?

mares carbon 42 first dive – anilao, philippines

 

just returned from Anilao, Batangas, Philippines after a 9 dive series with my cousin. we stayed at Planet Dive and since we arrived on a weekday, we had the ENTIRE RESORT to ourselves – not to mention all the dive sites as well. in 9 dives, we didn’t see a single human soul on the reefs. perfect! check out the sea creatures we DID see however on my photo website: http://esguerra1.multiply.com/ just click the ScubaJer dive flag album for Anilao dives. this was also my first dive with the new mares carbon 42 regulator. while i cannot say it performed flawlessly, it did do the job and despite one minor technical problem, i’m quite happy with it. i hope mares can help me troubleshoot my problem and then it will be just perfect! oh, and for you marine lovers, don’t worry about this poor pufferfish. i placed him back on the reef where he promptly relaxed. have a look at the photos. enjoy!