Balicasag, Bohol

[phildiver88]

Hi Caloy,

Very nice pics! Also just got back from my trip to Dumaguete, Bohol and Mactan. I'll post some pics later since I haven't finished sorting them out. Unfortunately, I didn't see the barracudas and other interesting stuffs that you saw. The dive guide said it was not a guarantee to see the barracudas and we only did 2 dives there (travelling with 2 other families and only 3 of us were divers)

We spent 1 night in Dumaguete, 2 nights in Bohol and 1 night at the Nalusuan Island Resort off Mactan. Will post some pics from Apo later (and some topside too if anyone is interested).

We were booked at Bohol Divers but the room (The Chalet) wasn't sufficient for us all so we moved to the adjacent new resort (Isis Resort). We dove with BayWatch.

Well, maybe next time we'll dive with you on a real diving trip.

BTW, it was cloudy when we dove Apo. I'm having difficulty removing the cyan color cast from the pics I took. Did you color correct your photos? My digital camera is an entry-level Olympus point & shoot.

- Allen

 

[jonix]

hi allen, pls do post your topside pics...am thinking of visiting bohol 1st quarter next year. thanks.

 

[clgsamson]

Hi Caloy,

Very nice pics! Also just got back from my trip to Dumaguete, Bohol and Mactan. I'll post some pics later since I haven't finished sorting them out. Unfortunately, I didn't see the barracudas and other interesting stuffs that you saw. The dive guide said it was not a guarantee to see the barracudas and we only did 2 dives there (travelling with 2 other families and only 3 of us were divers)

We spent 1 night in Dumaguete, 2 nights in Bohol and 1 night at the Nalusuan Island Resort off Mactan. Will post some pics from Apo later (and some topside too if anyone is interested).

We were booked at Bohol Divers but the room (The Chalet) wasn't sufficient for us all so we moved to the adjacent new resort (Isis Resort). We dove with BayWatch.

Well, maybe next time we'll dive with you on a real diving trip.

BTW, it was cloudy when we dove Apo. I'm having difficulty removing the cyan color cast from the pics I took. Did you color correct your photos? My digital camera is an entry-level Olympus point & shoot.

- Allen

Color correct? No Pards, just made some adjustments in "white balance". There are some vignetting in some of my pix when I was shooting at full zoom but thankfully it didnt affect much of the pix, especially the barracudas!

Pards, can you pm me the rates at isis, it looks good and brand new.

Gud idea Allen, lets dive in the future and can you post some pix (UW/topside) of Apo, Dumaguete too? That's for next year...

 

[mtcable]

dear caloy,
ur so lucky to see the baracudas. kami ni allen, wala kaming nakita. wer luckier at apo, we saw the 2 schools of jacks. we saw the first school at around 70 ft, the other at 40 ft. visibility is quite good.

mike

 

[clgsamson]

dear caloy,
ur so lucky to see the baracudas. kami ni allen, wala kaming nakita. wer luckier at apo, we saw the 2 schools of jacks. we saw the first school at around 70 ft, the other at 40 ft. visibility is quite good.

mike

Welcome to the Boards Mike! Sayang! our Bohol Divers DM guide, Allan briefed us before the dive that it is a "see or miss thing". We were just plain lucky then when we saw the tornado of barracudas and the other schooling jacks/trevallies. We did 8 dives over at Bohol/Balicasag. All were absolutely fantastic.

We are going to do Apo Reef in the first Semester next year, Apo Island would be in October/November 06.

What resort do you frequent in Anilao?

 

[CLA]

Great pics Caloy! My favorites were the grassy field, the moray and of course, the swirling barracudas. You must be a very lucky diver because I didn't see the barracudas either. (I wonder if there is a season for barracudas- I was there in the summer 2 years ago). The water looked very clear and blue. Were you using a strobe?

 

[clgsamson]

Great pics Caloy! My favorites were the grassy field, the moray and of course, the swirling barracudas. You must be a very lucky diver because I didn't see the barracudas either. (I wonder if there is a season for barracudas- I was there in the summer 2 years ago). The water looked very clear and blue. Were you using a strobe?

Hi Cathy,

No, wasn't using a strobe. Just gud ol manual and white balance adjustments. Yes we were a happy and lucky bunch of divers (a dutch couple - Frans/Lineke, us, an american - Jim Murphy and Allan our DM guide). At the end of that Saturday dive and on the boat goin back to the resort, we were just staring at each other with a grin and gleeful looking eyes. Nobody said a word until Jim Murphy laugh so hard that it was simply contagious and everybody started laughing and patting each others shoulder. For the Divers who went to balicasag that day, we were the only ones who saw the tornado and with pix to match our stories. Yes Cath we were indeed lucky...

And thank you for viewing the pix.

 

[moonlighting]

Koyaaaaaaaaa.... didn't know blonde ka pala sa ilalim ng dagat (reference: 1st picture of 5th row).

o eto na...tama na pics ha tagal magpost eh..

Balicasag Island, Bohol
Dive Trip report

October 29, 2005

Dive Site - Black Forest, Balicasag Island
Steep Slope Dive
30 – 40 minutes from Alona Beach (250 degrees from Alona)
Visibility – 50 to 80 feet
Depth – 20 – 165 ft.
Current – Slight to moderate

We started the dive with the slope on the right shoulder, going south. There were many coral heads in the shallow part and when you get down to 100ft plus, you find forests of black corals. The deeper waters have large groupers, humpheads, tuna, batfish and snappers. Often a school of big Jacks swimming will encircle you for several minutes until they get bored. Barracudas and rainbow runners also often appear out of the blue. On the sand, it’s like an aquarium of all kinds of anthias (blue ones), groupers, Parrot fish, Tangs, Emperors. They say (dive shop owners in Panglao) this is the best dive site in the Bohol Triangle.

Time in – 9:36am
Time out - 10:48am with 3 mins SS.
Temp – 82f

Dive Site – Marine Sanctuary, Balicasag Island
All Wall Dive
Visibility – 40 to 60 feet
Depth - 15 – 120 ft
Current – none to slight

Started the dive with the wall on the left going south. It’s a drop off wall in front of the Balicasag resort. It has many small caverns, ledges and reef overhangs (bringing a dive light would be a good idea). Large schools of unicorn fish and silver jacks that are swimming in circles like a tornado. Green turtles were also seen. There were lots of titans and clown triggers here.

Time in - 11:54am
Time out - 1:02pm with 3 mins. SS
Temp 84f

Dives Site – Divers Heaven, Balicasag Island
Steep Slope Dive
Visibility – 40 to 20 ft.
Depth – 20 – 120 ft
Current – none to strong

Dived with the steep slope on your right shoulder. This is where the barracudas stayed for a full 20 minutes, lazily forming a circle and going around us. We ended the dive at a grassy area which from afar looks like a well manicured lawn, it is surreal. Frogfish, an Octopus and of course nudis are in the holes of the rocks on each coral head and you’ll be rewarded if you go slowly to look. Be careful though of the occasional stone/lion fishes. In terms of sightings, color and fish life, this to me is the best dive site in all bohol.

Time in - 2:24pm
Time out - 3:29pm with 3 mins SS
Temp 84f

Some of the other dives Myra and I made were a night dive at the Alona house reef, day dives at BBC, Arco Point (vertical hole – entry at 60 ft, exit at 30ft), Doljo, Puntod wall and Puntod Point. If you like wall diving, Bohol/Balicasag is for you. Word of advice though, always watch your buoyancy if ever you'll see what I saw in my dives.

Oh by the way, watch for the dolphins when you surface...

 

[ishbaby]

wow, Id love to swim with the dolphins lol.

 

[Spoon]

who wouldnt