Ocean Adventure, Subic Bay

Marine Park Advocacy
Ocean Adventure is not just an entertainment hub for marine animals. Visitors are educated on marine life and conservation. As part of this campaign, they address misunderstood concepts like why it's not wise to keep wildlife as pets...stuff like that kids (or us!) need to know. Through its parnership with NGO 'Wildlife in Need (WIN), they provide a rescue haven for injured animals. They are only released back into the wild when they have fully recovered.

Behind the Scene
It was a day of fun and adventure at Subic Bay's Ocean Adventure, thanks to my Empath Yoga bro, Carlo, who squeezed me through his tight schedule. Carlo works for the marine park as a dolphin trainer so I got the backstage ticket not just to watch behind the scenes, but interact with the dolphins too....how cool is that? He also introduced me to his colleagues who took some time explaining to me what they do. Being backstage, I saw just how much work is involved in keeping this huge complex running buttery smooth. On the dolphins alone, there's caring for sick dolphins, training them, cleaning up, research in their lab, logistics like dolphin food, etc. They run a tight ship. You don't see that when the Dolfin Friends Show runs. You just have a great time!

High Dive Show
Another high light of the day was the High Dive Show. Accomplished high divers run a comedy skit but all ultimately do dives from 70 feet into a 9-foot deep pool. It's both the height and the shallow depth of the pool that's petrifying. At only 9 feet, the cost for a split-second miscalculation is catastrophic. But these guys are professional who've been doing this for years. What you get is first rate entertainment and some high dive thrills!

Snorkeling
Later in the day, before it got dark, I managed to steal some time for snorkeling at the beachfront of the nearly resort. I'm just surprised to find corals there being so close to the facility. There were some sprinkling of marine life as well.

Night Life
That night, I was chilling out listening to Carlo as he jammed with the percussion players. A jambe crew from Palawan were doing their gig at the resort, complete with fire poi. Later, Dunia and the rest of the Jordana Yoga crew showed up. With an crew like that, cool ocean breeze, chill booze and live music, it was simply a fab night.

Carlo, YOU DA MAN!

--- TheLoneRider

Related Links:

• Ocean Adventure website (Subic Bay)

Reader Comments:

George Shader
(Sep 26, 2009) Awesome, always great to read your stories...

Dennis Manonog
(Sep 18, 2009) I always thought it cool seeing dolphins and other marine mammals up close in an aquarium. After I saw that eco-espionage documentary "The Cove" which I found very disturbing, I had this conflicting questions in my mind: do we need these animals in captivity in order to teach us how to conserve them, and in doing so, are we not encouraging dolphin "harvesting" to continue in Japan in order to fill the needs of marine aquariums all over the world?

...very good point, Dennis. If it were just me, all animals should be running wild and free. -- TheLoneRider

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