TXT's Soobin Completes Scuba Training on Return Trip to the Philippines

Three dives turn a Philippine holiday into a personal milestone

TOMORROW X TOGETHER leader Choi Soobin completed scuba diving training during his second visit to the Philippines in 2026, finishing three ocean dives after confronting a fear of deep water. In a travel vlog posted on the group's YouTube channel on Saturday, October 17, 2026, the singer described seeing a depth gauge reading of around 17 meters during his first dive.

The trip combined time in Manila, meals at Filipino restaurants and shopping at SM Mall of Asia with a more demanding goal: working toward an Open Water Diver certification alongside a friend. Soobin completed his course, although the available accounts do not confirm whether he received formal Open Water Diver certification or give a date for any award.

For the TXT leader, the hardest part was moving from shallow water, where he could stand on the bottom, into deeper water while practicing how to remove and replace diving equipment. He described becoming frightened and tensing up, then later expressed pride in being able to swim underwater on his own.

Soobin set out the purpose of the visit at the start of the trip:

Let's enjoy the Philippines again. This time, our goal is to get our scuba diving certification.

His account followed the experience from an exhausting first training session to the afternoon ocean dives on his second training day. Along the way, the vlog also showed familiar parts of a Philippine holiday: ordering local dishes, buying clothes and arranging transportation. The diving lessons gave the visit a clear personal goal, with progress measured in skills learned and fears faced.

Why the first lessons felt demanding

Soobin quickly discovered that scuba training involved more work than he had expected. After his first session, he described both physical tiredness and the amount of information he needed to remember before returning for another session after lunch.

The singer explained his reaction to the opening lesson:

Our first training session is done. We'll have lunch, then do the second session. This is no joke. It's exhausting, and there's more to do than I expected. There's so much to memorize too.

An Open Water Diver course teaches the basic knowledge and practical skills used in recreational scuba diving. Scuba equipment allows a person to breathe underwater from a cylinder of compressed breathing gas. Learning to use that equipment includes practicing what to do when a mask or breathing mouthpiece is removed or displaced.

For Soobin, remembering the steps was only part of the task. He also had to carry them out while managing his reaction to being underwater. His description shows why a skill that feels manageable while standing in shallow water can become much harder when the bottom is out of reach.

Deep water made familiar exercises harder

Soobin practiced removing and replacing his regulator and mask. A regulator is the device that supplies breathing gas from the cylinder through a mouthpiece. A diving mask creates an air space in front of the eyes so a diver can see clearly underwater.

The TXT leader described how his response changed when the training moved into deeper water:

We practiced taking our regulators out and putting them back in and taking our masks off and putting them back on. I did really well in shallow water where my feet touched the bottom but when we went down to deep water where they couldn't every time I took off a piece of equipment I got scared and tensed up without realizing it.

Soobin said the fear sometimes affected his breathing and caused his body to tense. The difficulty he identified was concrete: he could perform the exercises when he could stand, but losing that contact with the bottom changed how comfortable he felt.

He described both the problem and his reason for continuing:

I'd breathe through my nose even though I wasn't supposed to or my whole body would tense up before I knew it so it was dangerous. But I'll do my best. I came here to overcome it.

A gauge reading around 17 meters

Soobin went diving in the ocean on the afternoon of his second training day. After the first dive, he recalled a depth gauge reading of around 17 meters, roughly 56 feet, and explained that the reading had been shown after they had already moved upward.

The singer described the moment this way:

I just finished my first dive. When he showed us the gauge earlier, it was around 17 meters. But he showed it after we'd come up a bit.

The 17 meter figure was therefore the reading Soobin remembered seeing during the ascent. His account gives readers a sense of the depth he experienced while preserving his own qualification about when he saw the gauge.

By the end of that day's diving, he had completed three dives. The progression was substantial in personal terms: earlier, he had described fear whenever he removed equipment beyond standing depth; afterward, he was celebrating having moved through deep water himself.

Manila meals and shopping framed the training trip

Before the lessons began, Soobin spent time in Manila enjoying Filipino food and visiting SM Mall of Asia. He shopped for clothes at the mall a day before starting his scuba training.

At Manam, he tried ube sago, sisig, crispy pancit palabok, beef pares and garlic rice. The dishes brought together several distinct flavors and textures: ube is purple yam, sago refers to small starch pearls, and pancit palabok is a noodle dish served with a savory sauce and toppings.

His meals during the visit also included halo-halo, a dessert made with shaved ice and a mixture of sweet ingredients, and seafood at his final dinner in Manila. Food remained a recurring pleasure around the more tiring training sessions.

Soobin summed up his experience of eating in the city:

Since coming to Manila, I haven't had a single bad dish. Everything has been delicious.

The restaurant stops and shopping provided another side of the visit. Alongside the concentration required underwater, the vlog showed him spending time with a friend and returning to a country he had already visited earlier in the year.

A return visit after an April taxi incident

Soobin used a ride booking app for transportation on this visit, recalling an alleged taxi overcharging incident during his April trip to Cebu. He said he had been unable to add his payment card to the app on the earlier visit and had hailed a taxi himself.

The singer referred to that experience as he began the new journey:

The taxi scene returns in the Philippines, but today, we used an app.

He explained why he had not used the app during the April visit:

"Last time, I couldn't add my card so I couldn't use the app and had to hail one myself," he added.

His return followed several public glimpses of his connection with the Philippines during 2026:

• April: Soobin visited Cebu and became involved in an alleged taxi overcharging incident.
• May: He said he missed Cebu and shared photographs from his earlier visit.
• Saturday, October 17: TXT's YouTube channel published the vlog showing his return, Manila outings and scuba training.

The October publication date marks when the vlog appeared. Within the trip itself, the sequence was more specific: shopping and restaurant visits came before the lessons, followed by ocean diving on the afternoon of the second training day.

Pride replaced the worry about finishing

Soobin said he had worried about whether he would earn his certification right up until the diving experience. After completing the three dives, his focus shifted to what he had managed to do despite his fear of water.

The TXT leader described the achievement in personal terms:

I'm so proud of myself for swimming around all by myself like that. I never thought I'd do anything like this in my life. It feels good to know I've accomplished something else. I feel like I completed another challenge.

His account traces a clear change across the training: tiredness after the first lesson, tension during equipment exercises, then satisfaction after the ocean dives. The lasting milestone he described was being able to take part in an activity he once could not imagine himself doing.

Key Points

• Soobin completed scuba training during his second Philippine visit of 2026, traveling with a friend. The available accounts do not confirm whether he received formal Open Water Diver certification or give a date for any award.
• He finished three ocean dives on the afternoon of his second training day.
• He recalled seeing a depth gauge reading of around 17 meters after beginning to ascend during his first dive.
• The hardest exercises involved removing and replacing equipment in water too deep to stand in.
• His Manila stops included Manam, SM Mall of Asia and meals featuring Filipino dishes and desserts.
• The vlog appeared on TXT's YouTube channel on Saturday, October 17, 2026.