Aquanaut at Portofino Beach Resort

Posted by: imaharot

Aquanaut? hmmm is that an astronaut underwater?

Well, Aquanaut derives from the Latin word aqua ("water") plus the Greek nautes ("sailor"), by analogy to the similar construction "astronaut". An Aquanaut is any individual who remains underwater, exposed to the ambient pressure, long enough to come into equilibrium with his or her breathing media. Usually this is done in an underwater habitat on the seafloor for a period equal to or greater than 24 continuous hours without returning to the surface. Aquanaut offers seawalking in Mactan.

During our stay at Portofino Beach Resort we tried walking underwater.

Underwater sea walking in Mactan island is one of the many fun adventures enjoyed by foreign tourists in the tropical island paradise. One can feel being one with nature as one will see live fishes in different sizes and radiant colors, gardens of corals and many other marine creatures.

It's amazing under seawater experience is now being customized and made affordable for local residents and domestic tourist by Aquanaut, a new company based at Portofino Beach Resort in Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City.

Naoki Ono, general manager of Aquanaut, said he had observed that mostly only foreign tourists in a packaged tour availed themselves of this life changing experience by just walking and breathing normally underwater.

“This is the Philippines, this is Cebu. So the locals must also enjoy the beauty of nature in this island which has long been shared and enjoyed by foreign guests,” said Ono, a Japanese national who has been residing in Cebu for more than a decade now.

He said Aquanaut offers safe and easy sea walker gadgets with each walker being guided by well-trained and experienced Filipino divers in a 15-minute walk on the seafloor of about four-meter deep just a few meters away from Portofino shoreline. The main sea walker gadget is a helmet with a hose connected to an equipment in the boat that supplies plain air (oxygen).

To experience this different kind of adventure in Mactan island. The entire experience will cost about P1,200 per person. If you want photos underwater just add P350 per CD.

My family took the opportunity since they are currently having a promo of P999 each.

My sisters, cousins and Bim avail the promo, thanks to our sponsor! hehe

First, we need to join a 5 minutes seminar with the guide.

They gave us 7D Mango Juice for FREE.

We need to ride this cute boat going to the bigger boat.

Safety first so we need to wear life jackets!

Rai Matieusz was really scared.

I got mixed emotions that time. I'm scared and excited to go underwater.

I was screaming to get my money back because I wanted to quit, honestly, I have a phobia on heights and fishes. That's the reason why I prefer swimming on pools than beaches. But with my family around who gave me courage to face my fears. :)

Photos taken under water: