The Great Poseidon Adventure

CEBU, Philippines - Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has always been an all time favorite read of mine. The exciting adventures of Captain Nemo aboard the Nautilus have kept my wild imaginations of the mysteries of the deep enthralled. The general idea of riding a submarine is quite reserved for the highly trained sailors, which leaves us ordinary citizens to just do some wishful thinking, and settle for the sci-fi movies or NatGeo and Discovery channel episodes. But then nothing could be far more worth it than to experience it for yourselves, right? Impossible?

Well, not anymore. Here’s the answer to your wildest childhood dreams. - The Poseidon Sea Adventure!

The M/V Poseidon is the Philippines’ only semi-submersible vessel that offers everyone the chance of a lifetime to see the beautiful world under the sea, without getting wet and gasping for dear air. And oh yes, it’s all here in lovely Cebu!

Poseidon is a sturdy boat with a viewing hull underneath the sea level. The inside, however, is not like those ordinary glass bottom boats. What you get to experience is the breathtaking feel of being inside a real mini submarine, only better, and obviously with more pampering. With you seating comfortably in cushioned seats, while the crew gives an educational tour around the beautiful reefs of Mactan Island. Now, you get to go diving without having to undergo diving classes and the physical burden of carrying those heavy diving apparatus. What’s more blissful about the whole trip is that the boat is airconditioned. Poseidon provides an English introduction to the marine life in the Philippines as a narrator explains the sights, the creatures and anything in between during the cruise.

The boat was constructed in Australia. It is 15 meters in length and weighs about 10 tons. It has a special tempered and thick laminated glass, and the hull is made of aluminum. It was specially designed that even if, though impossible, the hull is breached with water, the compartment will not be completely flooded. Poseidon is a hundred percent safe vessel, with Marina accreditation and compliance with all safety tests.

My trip together with other lucky passengers was just amazing as we were blessed with a good sunny weather. With a good sun comes a good view. Our cruise was greeted with a swarm of fishes of different size shapes and colors, a good view of different coral and rock formations and the scary feel of seeing drop-outs wherein one side is covered with marine life and the other side is completely nothing but blue and the abyss. With my imagination running wild, I turned to my camera and began taking pictures. Oh yes, this is underwater photography in business class! But even with a camera, it’s hard for you to take photos because the view on your LCD screen is nothing compared to the things you actually see out the window. I ended up with just a few shots. My bad! But the experience was just way worth it.

You don’t have to travel to Manila to sea fishes inside aquariums. Inside the Poseidon, the whole ocean is your aquarium. Honestly speaking, the whole trip is not cheap and the 30 minute cruising time is quite not enough. But the experience was sure one less item in my bucket list of must dos in this lifetime, and definitely a childhood dream finally achieved.

Grab your gears, your cameras and save for this once in a lifetime trip. Poseidon guarantees that every trip is a different experience. For Inquiries look for Jerlyn (09179111011), Tom(09177255555) or Monica (09173081380).