We’ve always known Bela Padilla as a brilliant actress. But outside the limelight, away from all the scripts and set lights, she finds a different kind of rhythm beneath the waves. Turns out, Bela is a water baby, too. On days when she’s not working, she slips into her wetsuit and dives into the open sea, now with even more confidence after earning her freediving certification.

“Bata pa lang ako, binabato na ako sa tubig,” shard Bela, who learned how to swim early on, thanks to her dad and brother who were both swimmers. “Hindi ko maalala na may time sa buhay ko na hindi ako marunong lumangoy.” In fact, her family loved to joke about how that she’d survive anywhere as long as there was water. 

Other sports were never really her thing, but swimming was always her comfort zone. Even as a little girl, she already knew how to dive deep, although she didn’t know back then that it was actually considered a real sport. “Basta ang alam ko lang, sumisisid ako. Hindi ko alam dati na freediving pala ang tawag sa kanya. Alam ko lang lahat ng tao ganu’n lumangoy,” she said. 

At first, Bela thought she could do it solo since she already had the core skills. But she was told that diving alone is discouraged because of the risks—it’s important to have someone watching your back in case something goes wrong underwater. So she looked for a freediving group to join, not for lessons, but just to have people to dive with. She already had her own gear and knew what she was doing; all she needed was company.

Eventually, a friend from Boracay told her about “Deep Week,” an annual freediving festival held every April in Coron. “Sumali ako without expectations,” she said. It was through that event that she officially became a freediver. Because she already had the basics down, and even reached 18 meters deep just on her first week, she quickly surpassed Wave 1 certification, which covers the beginner level and foundational skills, making her a certified freediver. As it turns out, divers like her are called “dolphins”—they’re natural swimmers who didn’t need the intro classes anymore.

What Bela loves most about freediving is the calm it brings, which is why she encourages others to experience it for themselves especially with how stunning the beaches and dive spots are in the Philippines. In fact, she mentioned that even foreign divers make the trip here just to explore our waters. 

“Sa mga naghahanap ng bagong sport or hobby na ibang mundo ang makikita n’yo, ‘yung tumatahimik ang utak n’yo, for me that’s freediving,” she shared. She knows people have different ways of finding calm—like her best friend Kim Chiu, who turns to running, something Bela admits she could never do—but for her, peace will always be underwater, where everything slows down and the world feels weightless.