Our recent trip to the Philippines was filled with great diving (both macro as well as the big pelagic), spectacular land tour and many wonderful new friends.
Apri1 1st:
We flew by SIA flight at 0945 from Singapore, landed in Manila at 1315, cleared customs and were met by our friend, Kiko who drove us to Anilao, Batangas. After a 3 hours car ride, we arrived at Aquaventure Reef Club. As usual, Kiko had everything taken care of, ensuring our safety and comfort. We spent some time catching up and meeting some new friends, had few ice cold San Miguel, a delightful dinner before retiring for the day.
April 2nd 4th:
We did a total of 14 dives in Anilao, Ligpo Island and Verde Island, with Ren and Norman taking turns as our dive masters. Dive sites include Kirbys Rock, Cathedral, Mainit, Koala, Basura (Nite), Dead Palm, Eagle Point, WWF House Reef (Nite), Batok, Pinnacle, Dive and Trek House Reef and San Agapito.
Anilao never fails to awake a sense of wonder in me. Diving was fantastic as usual, most sites with beautiful reefs lined with colorful soft corals, coral tables and feather stars, home to many marine critters of different shapes and size, truly a macro haven for photographers. We saw many nudibranchs, anemone and emperor shrimps, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters in the feather stars, frogfishes, moray eels, a pair of dragon sea moths, lion fishes and scorpion fishes, numerous gobies and blennies, schools of colorful fusiliers, anthias, cardinal fishes, butterfly fishes and many more. This time round, the visibility wasn't so good ~15 m and the water temperature was unusually cold, clocking 26°C in most dives Burr...rrrrrrrrr.. U call this SUMMER!!
I had a perplexing encounter with a diver from another group during the night dive at WWF House Reef. I was taking photos of a frogfish hiding under the tyres, in a rather awkward position and this diver came by, attempting to snatch my strobe light. I resisted and he put his hand around the tyre and brought the frogfish onto the sandy bottom. I was shocked by his action, banged furiously on his tank using my pointer and then he simply swam off. Could the nitrogen bubbles built-up from too much diving caused this kind of stupidity in him?
April 5th~6th:
Together with Norman and JP, we took an overnight coach (~10 hours) to Legaspi for the much anticipated whale shark (locally know as butanding) encounter. We were picked up by Conz, founder of the Manta Bowl after arriving at the bus terminal, had breakfast and proceeded to Donsol where these gentle giants are known to congregate in its municipal waters from as early as November until end of May. Upon arrival at the butanding center, we signed up for the whale shark interaction program, attended a presentation of rules and regulations to be observed during the agenda, such as no underwater flash photography, no riding or harassment of the animals etc. Then, we were assigned to a bangka with a BIO (butanding interaction officer) and two other boat crews.
The whole butanding encounter starts with our BIO, Jerry and the boat crew looking out for these elusive creatures. Nothing quite prepare us for that massive rush of adrenaline as we slipped over the side of the boat into the water and see a monster of the deep, with gigantic shark fins, seemingly rushing straight at us, mouth agape. We swam with the gentle giants 10 times, at times more than 15 minutes, dead tired but definitely well worth it! MAGICAL!
April 7th~8th:
The next two days were spent diving in Ticao Island with our dive master, Conz. We did 4 dives at the Manta Bowl where big pelagic were known to be spotted. The dive sites reminded me of the Shark Point in Malapascua where its reef is at around 30 meters. The current was swift, water temperature around 26°C and the visibility wasn't so good, 10 meters due to the greenish water. I saw a small school of barracudas, two cuttlefishes, few nudibranchs and just one manta but lucky Aili and Norman saw five mantas, having lost the group during the 2nd dive. We made our last dive at a dive site called San Miguel. It is a magnificent site with its reef lined with overhangs teemed with many beautiful and colorful soft corals. Plenty of nudibranchs and anemone shrimps too. Another great site for macro!
April 10th~16th:
Our final leg of the trip was on a live a board to the well-known World Heritage site, the Tubbataha Reef with Tristar. Tristar is a large and comfortable vessel with spacious cabins and plenty of space for 20+ divers and 10+ crews. There is no one moment that I felt over-crowded and the layout of the boat provide us with lots of space for interaction, both with the crew and guests, which resulted in some special friendship bonding.
April 10th:
We took an hour flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa, Palawan together with Kiko, JP, Mario and a group of Filipino divers. We had few hours to spare before boarding the boat and were booked on a spectacular land tour to a World Heritage site - an underground river under St. Paul mountain range. The trip was enjoyable with some really great company, Susann and Arlene. We boarded Tristar before dusk and get to know Geggy, owner of the boat and the rest of the guest. We had dinner, followed by a brief plan on what is expected on the next day by Keith, co-owner of the boat.
Our itinerary for the next 5 days went like this:
April 11th
Wake up call at 0700. Light breakfast. Check-out dive #1 at Shark Airport.
Dive briefing with detailed map and gearing up. We were divided into three groups, with each group leaving for the dive site at 15 minutes interval by the chase boat. My group consists of two dive masters, Geggy and Keith, Steward, Ross, Aili, myself, with JP and Kiko, joining us only for the first two days. Due to the strong surge at the surface, the routine normally was to have all divers ready at the same time and enter the water simultaneously via backward roll after the DM called out Ready 3, 2, 1, Go! After the dive, the boatmen will be on lookout for surfaced divers and moored the boat near to them. First, hand up the weight belt, BCD and tank, fins, and then pulled yourself over the boat or climbed up the ladder.
Breakfast and dive #2 at Shark Point.
Lunch and dive #3 at Terraces.
Dive #4 and night dive #5 at Malayan Wreck
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 12th
Wake up call at 0700. Dive #4 at Malayan Wreck.
Breakfast and dive #5 at Wall Street
Lunch, long surface interval before dive #6 at Amos Rock .
Visit to the lighthouse, barbecue dinner on the beach.
April 13th
Wake up call at 0700. Dive #7 and #8 at Black Rock.
Lunch, followed by dive #9 at East Black Rock and night dive #10 at Black Rock.
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 14th
Wake up call at o600. Dive #11 and #12 at Delsan Wreck.
Lunch, followed by dive #13 at South Wall and dive #14 at the Big Drop Off.
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 15th
Wake up call at 0630. Dive #15 at Triggerfish City and then final dive #16 at KO-OK.
Lunch. Rest and Relax. Boat departs for Puerto Princesa.
The Diving:
The diving was good but not as great as Ive anticipated. There has been some coral bleaching on the very shallow reefs. All these reefs consist of vertical walls or steep drop-offs, rising from great depths and in some sites, lined with spectacular giant sea fans. Currents were strong in some sites and often reverse during a dive so it takes an experience dive master (which Tristar has) to be able to make the dive comfortable and safe for the divers. The water visibility was considered poor for our trip, averaging at 10-15 meters and water temperature at around 28-30°C.
The interaction with the pelagic did not give me the kind of adrenaline rush that Ive encountered in the Galapagos. Nevertheless, we did see a number of gray reef sharks (counted maximum 13 at one time), white-tip sharks mostly resting on the sandy area, 4 mantas, couple of giant trevallies and tunas, schools of jacks and barracudas, turtles, moray eels, sweet lips, few species of nudibranchs, trumpet fishes and so on.
The Crew and Service:
This Tristar team has made my trip an enjoyable and safe one. The dives were well planned and coordinated. The guides are very knowledgeable and provide detailed and informative briefings. Rest of the crew is also proactive and helpful. The boat was kept clean the entire week. Towels were provided after each dive. The food was varied and plentiful, with enough drinking water, both hot (coffee, tea, cocoa) and cold (mineral and soft drinks) to last us throughout the entire week.
FANTASTIC JOB! :thumbs_up :thumbs_up :thumbs_up
I will definitely be back to dive Apo Reef with you guys this Nov.
Finally, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who made my trip an unforgettable one. Till my next BIG SPLASH
Link to my pix gallery: http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Under-the-stars,-Tristar-Deeper
Useful links:
Scuba1.net: http://www.scuba1.net/
Adventurebound: http://www.adventurebound.com.ph/index.html
Tristar: http://www.divetristar.net/ourvessel.asp
happy bubbles,
Jovin-
Apri1 1st:
We flew by SIA flight at 0945 from Singapore, landed in Manila at 1315, cleared customs and were met by our friend, Kiko who drove us to Anilao, Batangas. After a 3 hours car ride, we arrived at Aquaventure Reef Club. As usual, Kiko had everything taken care of, ensuring our safety and comfort. We spent some time catching up and meeting some new friends, had few ice cold San Miguel, a delightful dinner before retiring for the day.
April 2nd 4th:
We did a total of 14 dives in Anilao, Ligpo Island and Verde Island, with Ren and Norman taking turns as our dive masters. Dive sites include Kirbys Rock, Cathedral, Mainit, Koala, Basura (Nite), Dead Palm, Eagle Point, WWF House Reef (Nite), Batok, Pinnacle, Dive and Trek House Reef and San Agapito.
Anilao never fails to awake a sense of wonder in me. Diving was fantastic as usual, most sites with beautiful reefs lined with colorful soft corals, coral tables and feather stars, home to many marine critters of different shapes and size, truly a macro haven for photographers. We saw many nudibranchs, anemone and emperor shrimps, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters in the feather stars, frogfishes, moray eels, a pair of dragon sea moths, lion fishes and scorpion fishes, numerous gobies and blennies, schools of colorful fusiliers, anthias, cardinal fishes, butterfly fishes and many more. This time round, the visibility wasn't so good ~15 m and the water temperature was unusually cold, clocking 26°C in most dives Burr...rrrrrrrrr.. U call this SUMMER!!
I had a perplexing encounter with a diver from another group during the night dive at WWF House Reef. I was taking photos of a frogfish hiding under the tyres, in a rather awkward position and this diver came by, attempting to snatch my strobe light. I resisted and he put his hand around the tyre and brought the frogfish onto the sandy bottom. I was shocked by his action, banged furiously on his tank using my pointer and then he simply swam off. Could the nitrogen bubbles built-up from too much diving caused this kind of stupidity in him?
April 5th~6th:
Together with Norman and JP, we took an overnight coach (~10 hours) to Legaspi for the much anticipated whale shark (locally know as butanding) encounter. We were picked up by Conz, founder of the Manta Bowl after arriving at the bus terminal, had breakfast and proceeded to Donsol where these gentle giants are known to congregate in its municipal waters from as early as November until end of May. Upon arrival at the butanding center, we signed up for the whale shark interaction program, attended a presentation of rules and regulations to be observed during the agenda, such as no underwater flash photography, no riding or harassment of the animals etc. Then, we were assigned to a bangka with a BIO (butanding interaction officer) and two other boat crews.
The whole butanding encounter starts with our BIO, Jerry and the boat crew looking out for these elusive creatures. Nothing quite prepare us for that massive rush of adrenaline as we slipped over the side of the boat into the water and see a monster of the deep, with gigantic shark fins, seemingly rushing straight at us, mouth agape. We swam with the gentle giants 10 times, at times more than 15 minutes, dead tired but definitely well worth it! MAGICAL!
April 7th~8th:
The next two days were spent diving in Ticao Island with our dive master, Conz. We did 4 dives at the Manta Bowl where big pelagic were known to be spotted. The dive sites reminded me of the Shark Point in Malapascua where its reef is at around 30 meters. The current was swift, water temperature around 26°C and the visibility wasn't so good, 10 meters due to the greenish water. I saw a small school of barracudas, two cuttlefishes, few nudibranchs and just one manta but lucky Aili and Norman saw five mantas, having lost the group during the 2nd dive. We made our last dive at a dive site called San Miguel. It is a magnificent site with its reef lined with overhangs teemed with many beautiful and colorful soft corals. Plenty of nudibranchs and anemone shrimps too. Another great site for macro!
April 10th~16th:
Our final leg of the trip was on a live a board to the well-known World Heritage site, the Tubbataha Reef with Tristar. Tristar is a large and comfortable vessel with spacious cabins and plenty of space for 20+ divers and 10+ crews. There is no one moment that I felt over-crowded and the layout of the boat provide us with lots of space for interaction, both with the crew and guests, which resulted in some special friendship bonding.
April 10th:
We took an hour flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa, Palawan together with Kiko, JP, Mario and a group of Filipino divers. We had few hours to spare before boarding the boat and were booked on a spectacular land tour to a World Heritage site - an underground river under St. Paul mountain range. The trip was enjoyable with some really great company, Susann and Arlene. We boarded Tristar before dusk and get to know Geggy, owner of the boat and the rest of the guest. We had dinner, followed by a brief plan on what is expected on the next day by Keith, co-owner of the boat.
Our itinerary for the next 5 days went like this:
April 11th
Wake up call at 0700. Light breakfast. Check-out dive #1 at Shark Airport.
Dive briefing with detailed map and gearing up. We were divided into three groups, with each group leaving for the dive site at 15 minutes interval by the chase boat. My group consists of two dive masters, Geggy and Keith, Steward, Ross, Aili, myself, with JP and Kiko, joining us only for the first two days. Due to the strong surge at the surface, the routine normally was to have all divers ready at the same time and enter the water simultaneously via backward roll after the DM called out Ready 3, 2, 1, Go! After the dive, the boatmen will be on lookout for surfaced divers and moored the boat near to them. First, hand up the weight belt, BCD and tank, fins, and then pulled yourself over the boat or climbed up the ladder.
Breakfast and dive #2 at Shark Point.
Lunch and dive #3 at Terraces.
Dive #4 and night dive #5 at Malayan Wreck
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 12th
Wake up call at 0700. Dive #4 at Malayan Wreck.
Breakfast and dive #5 at Wall Street
Lunch, long surface interval before dive #6 at Amos Rock .
Visit to the lighthouse, barbecue dinner on the beach.
April 13th
Wake up call at 0700. Dive #7 and #8 at Black Rock.
Lunch, followed by dive #9 at East Black Rock and night dive #10 at Black Rock.
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 14th
Wake up call at o600. Dive #11 and #12 at Delsan Wreck.
Lunch, followed by dive #13 at South Wall and dive #14 at the Big Drop Off.
Dinner. Rest and Relax.
April 15th
Wake up call at 0630. Dive #15 at Triggerfish City and then final dive #16 at KO-OK.
Lunch. Rest and Relax. Boat departs for Puerto Princesa.
The Diving:
The diving was good but not as great as Ive anticipated. There has been some coral bleaching on the very shallow reefs. All these reefs consist of vertical walls or steep drop-offs, rising from great depths and in some sites, lined with spectacular giant sea fans. Currents were strong in some sites and often reverse during a dive so it takes an experience dive master (which Tristar has) to be able to make the dive comfortable and safe for the divers. The water visibility was considered poor for our trip, averaging at 10-15 meters and water temperature at around 28-30°C.
The interaction with the pelagic did not give me the kind of adrenaline rush that Ive encountered in the Galapagos. Nevertheless, we did see a number of gray reef sharks (counted maximum 13 at one time), white-tip sharks mostly resting on the sandy area, 4 mantas, couple of giant trevallies and tunas, schools of jacks and barracudas, turtles, moray eels, sweet lips, few species of nudibranchs, trumpet fishes and so on.
The Crew and Service:
This Tristar team has made my trip an enjoyable and safe one. The dives were well planned and coordinated. The guides are very knowledgeable and provide detailed and informative briefings. Rest of the crew is also proactive and helpful. The boat was kept clean the entire week. Towels were provided after each dive. The food was varied and plentiful, with enough drinking water, both hot (coffee, tea, cocoa) and cold (mineral and soft drinks) to last us throughout the entire week.
FANTASTIC JOB! :thumbs_up :thumbs_up :thumbs_up
I will definitely be back to dive Apo Reef with you guys this Nov.
Finally, I would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who made my trip an unforgettable one. Till my next BIG SPLASH
Link to my pix gallery: http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Under-the-stars,-Tristar-Deeper
Useful links:
Scuba1.net: http://www.scuba1.net/
Adventurebound: http://www.adventurebound.com.ph/index.html
Tristar: http://www.divetristar.net/ourvessel.asp
happy bubbles,
Jovin-
