Diving with the Angels of the Deep in Socorro Islands

The Angel of the Deep at El Boiler (photo by Jiggy Santillian)

Shout out to all divers! If you want to see action, this is the place to be.  Socorro Island is one of the four volcanic islands in the Pacific that includes San Benedicto, Roca Partida,  Clarion. The four islands comprise the Revillagigedo National Park, Mexico’s largest fully protected marine reserve. 

It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.  And in 2017, the last Mexican President Enrique Nieto signed a decree protecting the area, 14.8 million hectares (148,087 square kms), from all forms of fishing and extractive activities. 

The sign in El Boiler in San Benedicto Island (photo by Hilda Tolentino)

Our very own Tubbataha Reef Natural Park, also a World Heritage Site, is less than 1% in size compared to Revillagigedo at 97,030 hectares .

The islands are located where the cold waters of the California current converge with the warm waters of the North Equatorial current. This creates upwellings that bring nutrients from the bottom of the ocean to the surface which help feed about 366 species of fish, 26 of which are endemic, and 37 species of sharks and rays. So you can just imagine how amazingly beautiful the marine life is.

The Nautilus Undersea Hunter (drone shot  by Lilian Cobia)

The only way to get to the park is on a liveaboard  We were a cozy group of 18 divers – 12 Filipinos (Hilda, Jiggy, Marivi, Doris, Lilliane, Kelda, Ryan, Erica, Willard, Jackson and Michael), a couple from Shanghai (Ron and Vivi), a Malaysian based in Beijing (Josh), a micro biologist from Costa Rica (Monica) and two federal park rangers - the director of the park, Alejandro Gonzalez and park ranger Fernando Perez.  We were onboard the Nautilus Undersea Hunter led by Captain Vicente and his crew were first mate Gilberto, hostess Karen, Chef Filipe, Engineer Daniel and Dive Masters Juan from Belize, Awei Tawianese-American and Ramon from Mexico.

Half the group with the Park rangers Fernando and Alejandro at the foreground (photo by Liliane Cobia)

We boarded the boat at Cabo San Lucas at 8pm on February 8 (Friday) and sailed after midnight.  It took us 24 hours to cross the open sea in rough waters. The boat has dramamine available which will last for 24 hours.

San Benedicto Island

Our first stop was San Benedicto, a dormant volcano that erupted in 1950s. We spent two days here. The first dive was at El Canyon where huge lava rocks appear at 12m, gradually sloping down. There are two cleaning stations here. The first is at 24m depth and the second one, deeper at 35m.  We spotted  hammer heads and galapagos sharks. 

Juan briefing us about El Canyon

After the first dive, Juan announced that we were moving to the opposite side of the island to dive El Boiler since the conditions were favorable,  calm waters and manageable current.  

El Boiler  is a large pinnacle that goes down to depths of more than 40m.  This is one of my favorite sites! We spotted a school of hammerheads here and encountered the majestic giant oceanic mantas in each dive. 

The second day, we moved the boat back to El Canyon. This was our first encounter with dolphins underwater. The current was strong so ended up hanging out at the shallow cleaning station. There's usually some action here with silvertips, oceanic white tips, galapagos sharks and mantas. Don't forget to look inside the rocks for octopus.   

The third day we anchored at Roca Partida, a pinnacle that splits into two separate peaks and plunges down to depths of over 60m. The water was very rough, 10-15 feet surge and strong currents.  We were greeted with a pod of 12 dolphins, schools of jacks,  giant yellow fin tunas, and all kinds of sharks.  In one dive, Juan led us out to the blue where we spotted a school of hammerheads at 35m. Don't t miss spotting the school of white tips sleeping on top of each other on the ledge of the rocks, and look for yellow butterfly fishes which seerve as cleaning stations of sharks and during your safety stop, watch out for mobilas (devil rays).

The fourth day we were at the main island, Socorro Island, where the navy is based. We anchored first in Roca O’Neal. The underwater topography is known for its arches.  During the safety stop of the second dive, a friendly dolphin swam up close to each diver.  There’s a strict rule in the Park not to touch or harass the animals.  But this one would nudge it’s nose so everyone ended up petting the dolphin. 

This is the day that the Navy inspected the boat. So we had three diving days here, the last one was at Punta Tosca, and a snorkel after dinner with the silky shark.  I skipped this activity. I'm not too comfortable swimming with silkies. In 1997, I was diving on a rebreather in Cocos Island. It as a night dive, I felt somebody bumping me underwater. I thought it was the diver in front of me.  When I looked to the side of my mask, I saw the divemaster climb the ladder with her fins. Since then, I try not to night dive when there are silkies. 

The last day, we were on the Southern side of Socorro, on Cabo Pierce where on the safety stop of the second dive, we watched a manta being chased by a galapagos shark. It was zigzagging in the water and did a double barrel.  I thought it was being attacked but Juan said that the shark wanted to rub its skin on the belly of the manta to rid it off parasites.

If you want to see fish action, this is the place to be!  Try to go early. Josh spent four days in Cabo and swam with the bull sharks and seals.  To get to Socorro, it’s a 12-hour flight from Manila to Los Angeles and then a two-hour flight to Cabo San Lucas.  The water was cold. I was wearing a 5mm wet suit, a vest and a head cover.  We were on nitrox 30-32 mix so we could stay longer underwater and swim with the mantas on shallower depths.  Next stop this trip is another bucket list, diving the Cenotes in Tulum.

Happy campers on the way back to Cabo (photo by Lilian Cobiao)

Growing Your Relationship New Elective Course with Vianna Stibal in Switzerland

The 7th century old city of Saint Gallen.

It's full circle for me in Switzerland. This is where I took my internship in a pharmaceutical company based in Basel, called Ciba Geigy (it merged with Sandoz in 1996, then  acquired by Novartis in 1997 and BASF in 2008).

I just finished my bachelors degree in Sociology and I was assigned in the Economic Policy department under Dr. Itschner. My task was to study the development of the World Health's Organization (WHO) Essential Drugs Policy (generics) and its effects on the pharmaceutical industry. I frequented WHO headquarters in Geneva and conducted intensive research. The findings was compiled into a compendium.

with Theta Healing founder Vianna Stibal and her husband Guy.

After several decades, here I am back in Switzerland to study with my teacher, Theta Healing founder Vianna Stibal.

The country is tiny with land area of 38,516 square kilometers and population of 8,528,912 (as of April  12, 2018) versus the 342,353 square kilometers and 100 million population of the Philippines.  The instructor course was held in 7th-century old Saint Gallen, an hour from Zurich by train.

What I like most about being in Switzerland is everything is walkable and there's no traffic! I love too the organic markets where they sell fresh fruits, vegetables and cheese and shops selling freshly baked chocolates!

Freshly baked Laderach chocolates

This is my third year with Vianna, the first was in Tokyo, Japan where I took my Basic, Advanced, Dig Deeper instructor courses. Then in her hometown in Montana, where I studied Manifesting and Abundance, Soul Mate and Rhythm to a Perfect Weight instructor courses. And now, in St. Gallen to study the new elective courses Growing Your Relationship Part 1: You and Your Significant Other and Growing Your Relationship Part 2: You and God.

You and Your Significant Other is a course designed not only for couples but for all types of relationships. It's about learning how to set the ground rules to make the relationship work. While You and God  answers all the questions that is going on in one's life. Specifically, the motivation behind actions, reactions and patterns.

with my Hormone Symphony elective teacher Jurta Wirth

Since I've been doing theta healing,  a lot of people have asked me What is Theta Healing? I've studied several energy healing modalities - Inner Space Technique under Samuel Sagan in 2005, Reiki in 2010, Be Well Science under Master del Pe in 2012 - and I find Theta Healing more simple and the result is fast.

Theta Healing is a meditation technique created by Vianna in 1995. She underwent her own personal journey back to health and healed from a 9-inch tumor in her leg. The technique generates physical, psychological and spiritual healing with focused prayer through the Creator.

She said "When we connect to the Creator of All That Is, our brainwaves  go into Theta state of mind. In this mind state, you can create anything and change reality instantly. " In the Theta state, one can  clear limiting beliefs and replace negative programs with positive ones, developing virtues to create a positive lifestyle.

I'm excited to be teaching Growing Your Relationships Part 1 and 2. The prerequisites are Basic and Advanced DNA2 courses. If you're interested in taking the course or doing a theta healing session with me, message me! :-)

Finding Happiness in Bhutan

Takstang Monastery behind us

Om Mane Padme Hum. I’m grateful to have visited this happy land-locked country in the Himalayas called Bhutan. This is the last standing Buddhist kingdom and ranked one of the happiest country in the world. This is the only country where the Gross National Happiness (GNH) is more important than Gross National Product and they have a Minister of Happiness to make sure that the people are happy.  

I've never heard of GNH before and don't know of any other country that measures it's value based on Happiness. The reigning monarchy has decreed that the well-being of its people is the priority, promoting the values of love, love of country, respect and protection of the environment over economic growth. Here's Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay on TED Talk where he explains how Bhutan puts happiness first and how Bhutan has set a world standard for environmental preservation. 

 
Are the people happy? I asked our guide Namgyi and with a beaming smile, he said "definitely!" He said that health care and education is free and he works six months a year and the rest of the year he travels and explores other destinations and visits his son who studying in New York. He himself was given the opportunity to study in Austria to hone his skills in tourism. 
 
The visit for me is sublimely healing. 

All 13 of us at the entrance of Punakha Dzhong

We visited monasteries in Thimphu but the most engaging one was in Punakha. We were there for the opening of the three day Punakha Festival where the monks and townsfolk performed rituals and sacred dances in colorful, swirling costumers and elaborate headdresses, scarves, hats, gold crowns and head masks depicting animals. The festivalgoers were also colorful in their traditional garb, the Kira and Ghos.

The highlight was the Black Hat dance performed only by monks wearing heavy brocade gown with kimono-like sleeves. The dance is a ritual done on the first day to ward off evil spirits. 

It is said that watching  the sacred dances during a festival removes five obstacles, illnesses and secret delusions. Kenzing Namgay described this "The five outer obstacles are caused by the planet of the upper world, mountain Gods of the intermediate world, earth spirits, serpents and death spirits. The five illnesses arise from obstructions  in psychic nerves that transmit vital energies; the energy flow in the motions, breath, air and wind; the seed essence and the empty nature of energy. The five secret delusions are desire, anger, ignorance, pride and jealousy." 

The Black Hat dance

Mingling with the colorful festivalgoers at Punakha

From there we went to the Chimi Lhaklang village, which was adorned with phalluses all over - yes, phalluses! Our guide actually warned us not to be offended by these sightings. He said that the phallus is known as the "Thunderbold of Flaming Wisdom" a symbol of Lama Drukpa Kunley referred to as the "Divine Madman". The symbol represents both fertility and the power to bring enlightenment and to ward off evil to those who seek his teachings. 

Phallus symbols adorn the walls of this village

Spotted a lady with her offering

We hiked 20-minutes through the rice fields to the temple which is famous for blessing childless couples. When we got to the temple, we spotted a lady carrying a 20-inch wooden phallus with a white ribbon tied to it and was was walking around the temple three times.  

We went inside the temple and set our intentions. After which, the monk blessed us with a wooden phallus and a bow and arrow. The couple in our group refused to enter the temple since they are already blessed with three children aged 17, 9 and 1 years old. 

Connecting wtih nature
In Punakha, we were billeted in an ultra-modern resort called Dhensa in the mountains. It was so beautiful that we decided to do some yoga and meditation early the next day. I led a yin class and Karla led a gratitude circle to give thanks to everything that we have in our lives. After breakfast, we did a KQ dance called "opening the lotus of your aura" to clear our auric field of negativities, connect to the elements and connect with our surroundings.

Early morning yoga exercise to op;en the lotus of our aura

Blessed by Guru Rinpoche's Tiger's Nest.
The last day was special, the highlight of the trip. We hiked all the way up to the sacred Takstang (Tiger's Nest) monastery. I felt like I dissolved into the serenity and beauty of the monastery as it is fused to the sheer-rock cliff face, 900 meters off the ground. The climb was steep on a dirt trail surrounded by pine trees. 

The trail 

Communing with nature

The monastery was devoid of prayer flags. Our guide, Nam, explained that they no longer allow putting prayer flags after a Thai tourist fell off the cliff after taking a selfie. Apparently, the tourist leaned over the prayer flags thinking it was safe to do so. Now, there are railings in place.  I don’t mind not having the colorful flags fluttering with the wind as is typical in sacred grounds in the Himalayas. I prefer viewing the monastery in its natural environment, perched on a cliff of granite walls surrounded by the evergreen forest.

Tiger's Nest Monastery

To keep the place in its pristine state, we weren't allowed to take photos inside the monastery. We were able to sit and meditate in the same place where great Tibetan saints meditated including Milarepa. The monaster is where Guru Rinpoche is believed to have descended on a flying tiger in the 8th century bearing the Nyingma Tantric teachings.

My best takeaway in this beautiful country is all it takes is to live simply and be kind and respectful of ourselves, of others and especially of our environment. I'll be forever chanting the mantra of the mountains Om Mane Padme Hum which means 'Hail to the Jewel of the Lotus!'