Wantonmien
Contributor
Anilao, September 09 to 13 2011 – some words and pics
Whoh -- well over a thousand opened my thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...cua-trip-june-03-08-2011-some-words-pics.html - …. and no complaints it was too long winded, so I guess you lot have got nothing better to do than read trip reports
... so here we go again
Returned last week from my first ever trip to ANILAO – 5 days, 4 nights, so as a visitor on a short dive holiday what I did think of it … ?
After work, packing the dive gear and a birthday party - it was onto the Cebu Pacific 01:30 am red eye flight from Taipei once again, as a birthday treat for me, to land in Manila while most were asleep at 03:30. With pre arranged pick up and bleary eyes watched the road from Manila change from 4 lane to 3 lane, to 2 lane to single track road under construction – until arrival safe and sound at Arthurs resort, Anilao, just after sun up at about 06:30 am.
Have to say the timing of the flight (and normally the cost) from Taipei and back again is spot on, though noticed this time Cebu Pacific had jacked the prices up as it was a 3 day holiday weekend – mutter mutter
!
No problem with early check in at Arthurs, and it was head down for a few hours (as happened a few hours longer than planned) with just the noise of the waves through our ocean side room window.
Dive arrangements
Slept, eaten, met our Dive Guide, Lito, arranged our first dive for late afternoon – and so began four days of diving. Except first dive, all dives made from a small Banka with just Lito, buddy and myself, so although we had half expected to be in ‘group’ – no, Arthurs was quiet, and so it was just 3 of us for all dives (unlike Taiwan group of 20 + staying at Aqua venture up the coast) - so it was excellent, boat times up to us, no rush, generally gave the thumbs up signal ofter an hour or so bottom time, boatmen always ready to haul the gear up and around, Nitrox blended to order (and very accurate) by Rico, the wash up and drying area with plenty of room and lockable. For the few other divers arriving on Saturday/Sunday – another Banka was laid on.
Over arrival day and next three days we dived –
Sites
Arthurs Rock
Sombrero
Layag Layag
Twin Rocks (twice)
Dari Laut (wreck)
Sepok Wall
Koala Point
Secret Bay
Cathedral
The best dive for me – difficult, as enjoyed all and saw different life on all, and a really good variation, but I think Sepok Wall, Sombrero and Layag Layag would be the three I would hit fast next time, and the Macro life in Secret Bay pretty amazing to make it one of those dives where I just wanted to stay down until the tank was almost dry – some amazing little creatures hiding and wandering around there, and perhaps the tiny Octopus initially hiding in it’s pile of shells, then getting angry and changing colour as he realized he was discovered was the star of that dive ! Secret Bay at Anilao I thought was actually better than the muck diving I saw at Dauin, Dumaguette) and I just hope the new Korean resort close by on the beach doesn’t screw it up, as Secret Bay is an awesome muck and macro dive, shallow and clear as a bonus .
Life and sights
Seemed to see different types of Moray eel on every dive, including a pair of contrasting colour living in a hole at Sombrero, a monster at the Cathedral (whose girth I would not have been able to get my hands around if I’d wanted !), yellow/white spotted versions resting between table corals and numerous others, large and as normal being great photo subjects with shiney teeth !
Ribbon eels, on several sites, Sky blue adults and Black Juveniles – think I’d only ever seen one or two before Anilao, but saw several waving in the gentle current. mouth open awaiting dinner - nice to see.
Twin Rocks – Jacks, jacks, jacks – huge shoal, blacking out the daylight and quite an amazing or disorientating feeling sitting amongst so many large swirling fish, not sure what it was but something about three times the size of a Jack (so over a metre long) rushed in to scatter the shoal a few times – maybe a Trevalis or Tuna ? – whatever it was scattered the Jacks in a hurry ! Ah and the Giant clams, huge, never seen them so big and thought such size was a thing of myth !
Seahorses, Barracuda, Scorpion fish, Batfish, Frogfish black and white, Triggers, Soles and many Nudi’s (not as many as I expected or of too many variations), Sweetlips, Lionfish and so on - great variation over the 10 dives.
Last dive, we opted for the Cathedral and Lito brought some bread rolls for a fish feeding session – first time I’ve done that, and yeh I know not something that should be done
, but it was fun, buddy bread roll appearance resulted in a mass swarm of fish after a crumb – and it was as much as I could do to stop laughing seeing the fish swarm around – though little to buddy awareness a huge (about 700mm long) Titan triggerfish also joined the swarming fish interest – though thankfully did not dart in to take a bite of the bread and a finger with it ! Lito the dive guide recounted to us how no less than three times he had been attacked and biten by Titans – so needless to say, as well as being a great spotter or Macro life – he can spot a Titan 50 metres away !! Quite a few Titans around Anilao, and some monsters over at Layag Layag, that I’d estimate were over 750mm long !!
Hot, sunny, a few showers, calm mornings and a bit choppy in the afternoons
Water Temp 31C at surface - 27~29C down below
Viz - Like Glass (20m +) in Secret Bay, over in Dari Laut and Sepok wall - down to a hazy say 8m or less at Twin rocks, Cathedral and a couple of other places
Arthurs Resort
We’d chosen Arthurs because of words on Scubaboard, so thanks to anyone who mentioned the place before, we booked through an email and wired deposit, paid for airport transfer / accommodation / dives / meals in lump sum, and was the best deal I have got to date in Philippines – with the only extras being Peso 170 for Nitrox instead of air, which was fine, oh and of course beer o'clock ran up a bill but it was a very good deal, no problem.
Rooms themselves, clean, A/C, ceiling fans, plenty of hot water and while not 5* were perfectly ok for us. Food, no problem, varied menu, perfectly OK for a short stay, Drinks/Bar, no problem, Alex always around to get an icy San Miguel and maybe next time will stock up with wine … as we drank the entire stock ... of 1 bottle !! So all around no problem, uum – except internet speed was useless/non existent, which maybe a good or bad thing depending how you look at it, but for us not a big deal. Also told Arthurs they would be wise to keep a stock of batteries for Strobes and torches as day 1 we needed, and there are no shops within easy reach of Arthurs. Also alas there is only the broken coral beach, so Arthurs is a great place for dive holiday, but for non divers, not the right choice.
We’ll go back to Anilao at some point, and probably stay at Arthurs again, as the deal was good, the staff were good – and the diving and arrangements spot on, no complaints, very varied and enjoyable, with just the large Pelagic fish or occasional shark missing, but there again you can't have everything !
I've uploaded loads of pics to Anilao, Philippines Sept 9~13 2011 - ScubaBoard Gallery - and a few of my favourites down below.
Square Spot Anthias - perfect colours
Adult Ribbon eel
Juvenille Ribbon eel and friend
Slighty larger eels of great contrast in colour
So handsome !!
First time I have seen a Frogfish swimming !
No moo'ing from this cow box fish
Invisibility ?
No idea what this is - would dart past, dive into the sand and stick face out ?
Emerged from the shells and gravel
Mohican style clown fish
And so the sun goes down on another holiday - prob last time in Philippines for me until next year :depressed:
Whoh -- well over a thousand opened my thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...cua-trip-june-03-08-2011-some-words-pics.html - …. and no complaints it was too long winded, so I guess you lot have got nothing better to do than read trip reports
... so here we go again Returned last week from my first ever trip to ANILAO – 5 days, 4 nights, so as a visitor on a short dive holiday what I did think of it … ?
After work, packing the dive gear and a birthday party - it was onto the Cebu Pacific 01:30 am red eye flight from Taipei once again, as a birthday treat for me, to land in Manila while most were asleep at 03:30. With pre arranged pick up and bleary eyes watched the road from Manila change from 4 lane to 3 lane, to 2 lane to single track road under construction – until arrival safe and sound at Arthurs resort, Anilao, just after sun up at about 06:30 am.
Have to say the timing of the flight (and normally the cost) from Taipei and back again is spot on, though noticed this time Cebu Pacific had jacked the prices up as it was a 3 day holiday weekend – mutter mutter
! No problem with early check in at Arthurs, and it was head down for a few hours (as happened a few hours longer than planned) with just the noise of the waves through our ocean side room window.
Dive arrangements
Slept, eaten, met our Dive Guide, Lito, arranged our first dive for late afternoon – and so began four days of diving. Except first dive, all dives made from a small Banka with just Lito, buddy and myself, so although we had half expected to be in ‘group’ – no, Arthurs was quiet, and so it was just 3 of us for all dives (unlike Taiwan group of 20 + staying at Aqua venture up the coast) - so it was excellent, boat times up to us, no rush, generally gave the thumbs up signal ofter an hour or so bottom time, boatmen always ready to haul the gear up and around, Nitrox blended to order (and very accurate) by Rico, the wash up and drying area with plenty of room and lockable. For the few other divers arriving on Saturday/Sunday – another Banka was laid on.
Over arrival day and next three days we dived –
Sites
Arthurs Rock
Sombrero
Layag Layag
Twin Rocks (twice)
Dari Laut (wreck)
Sepok Wall
Koala Point
Secret Bay
Cathedral
The best dive for me – difficult, as enjoyed all and saw different life on all, and a really good variation, but I think Sepok Wall, Sombrero and Layag Layag would be the three I would hit fast next time, and the Macro life in Secret Bay pretty amazing to make it one of those dives where I just wanted to stay down until the tank was almost dry – some amazing little creatures hiding and wandering around there, and perhaps the tiny Octopus initially hiding in it’s pile of shells, then getting angry and changing colour as he realized he was discovered was the star of that dive ! Secret Bay at Anilao I thought was actually better than the muck diving I saw at Dauin, Dumaguette) and I just hope the new Korean resort close by on the beach doesn’t screw it up, as Secret Bay is an awesome muck and macro dive, shallow and clear as a bonus .
Life and sights
Seemed to see different types of Moray eel on every dive, including a pair of contrasting colour living in a hole at Sombrero, a monster at the Cathedral (whose girth I would not have been able to get my hands around if I’d wanted !), yellow/white spotted versions resting between table corals and numerous others, large and as normal being great photo subjects with shiney teeth !
Ribbon eels, on several sites, Sky blue adults and Black Juveniles – think I’d only ever seen one or two before Anilao, but saw several waving in the gentle current. mouth open awaiting dinner - nice to see.
Twin Rocks – Jacks, jacks, jacks – huge shoal, blacking out the daylight and quite an amazing or disorientating feeling sitting amongst so many large swirling fish, not sure what it was but something about three times the size of a Jack (so over a metre long) rushed in to scatter the shoal a few times – maybe a Trevalis or Tuna ? – whatever it was scattered the Jacks in a hurry ! Ah and the Giant clams, huge, never seen them so big and thought such size was a thing of myth !
Seahorses, Barracuda, Scorpion fish, Batfish, Frogfish black and white, Triggers, Soles and many Nudi’s (not as many as I expected or of too many variations), Sweetlips, Lionfish and so on - great variation over the 10 dives.
Last dive, we opted for the Cathedral and Lito brought some bread rolls for a fish feeding session – first time I’ve done that, and yeh I know not something that should be done
, but it was fun, buddy bread roll appearance resulted in a mass swarm of fish after a crumb – and it was as much as I could do to stop laughing seeing the fish swarm around – though little to buddy awareness a huge (about 700mm long) Titan triggerfish also joined the swarming fish interest – though thankfully did not dart in to take a bite of the bread and a finger with it ! Lito the dive guide recounted to us how no less than three times he had been attacked and biten by Titans – so needless to say, as well as being a great spotter or Macro life – he can spot a Titan 50 metres away !! Quite a few Titans around Anilao, and some monsters over at Layag Layag, that I’d estimate were over 750mm long !! Hot, sunny, a few showers, calm mornings and a bit choppy in the afternoons
Water Temp 31C at surface - 27~29C down below
Viz - Like Glass (20m +) in Secret Bay, over in Dari Laut and Sepok wall - down to a hazy say 8m or less at Twin rocks, Cathedral and a couple of other places
Arthurs Resort
We’d chosen Arthurs because of words on Scubaboard, so thanks to anyone who mentioned the place before, we booked through an email and wired deposit, paid for airport transfer / accommodation / dives / meals in lump sum, and was the best deal I have got to date in Philippines – with the only extras being Peso 170 for Nitrox instead of air, which was fine, oh and of course beer o'clock ran up a bill but it was a very good deal, no problem.
Rooms themselves, clean, A/C, ceiling fans, plenty of hot water and while not 5* were perfectly ok for us. Food, no problem, varied menu, perfectly OK for a short stay, Drinks/Bar, no problem, Alex always around to get an icy San Miguel and maybe next time will stock up with wine … as we drank the entire stock ... of 1 bottle !! So all around no problem, uum – except internet speed was useless/non existent, which maybe a good or bad thing depending how you look at it, but for us not a big deal. Also told Arthurs they would be wise to keep a stock of batteries for Strobes and torches as day 1 we needed, and there are no shops within easy reach of Arthurs. Also alas there is only the broken coral beach, so Arthurs is a great place for dive holiday, but for non divers, not the right choice.
We’ll go back to Anilao at some point, and probably stay at Arthurs again, as the deal was good, the staff were good – and the diving and arrangements spot on, no complaints, very varied and enjoyable, with just the large Pelagic fish or occasional shark missing, but there again you can't have everything !
I've uploaded loads of pics to Anilao, Philippines Sept 9~13 2011 - ScubaBoard Gallery - and a few of my favourites down below.
Square Spot Anthias - perfect colours
Adult Ribbon eel
Juvenille Ribbon eel and friend
Slighty larger eels of great contrast in colour
So handsome !!
First time I have seen a Frogfish swimming !
No moo'ing from this cow box fish
Invisibility ?
No idea what this is - would dart past, dive into the sand and stick face out ?
Emerged from the shells and gravel
Mohican style clown fish
And so the sun goes down on another holiday - prob last time in Philippines for me until next year :depressed:
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My fave pic was the "Juvenille Ribbon eel and friend".
