MikeCal
Registered
Continuation of my Philippines diving adventures as a first time visitor.
Based on several recommendations I visited Bongo Bongo in Dauin to do some macro diving (first time for me) as well as Apo island.
The room I had was small as noted by others but made it nice to chat with others in the common area.
My first 4 dives were shore dives and mostly a mix of some sections of sand, some sea grass, and coral at Basac, El Dorado, Black Diamond, and Manit dive sites. My dive master Tado was not only a great person but very skilled at finding tiny creatures like candy crabs, tiny nudibranches (only a dot until I used the magnifying glass the let me borrow), shrimp, ghost pipefish, and a green frogfish among other things. Saw a pair of flamboyant cuttlefish that was great to watch feed with their long tongue
While it was a great experience my consumption rate increased quite a bit as I really had to work on my buoyancy to ensure I didn't kick up any material from the floor. Perhaps when I increase my skills I will try again. Another diver who had a nice camera setup showed me his pictures and my goodness what a difference of what you see with your eyes versus a good closeup image.
Apo was more my thing as it was a mix of everything. We dove Chapel, Largahan, and Coconut Point and all three were different. Saw my first flying gurnard which was great to see "flying" just over the sand, an electric clam doing a nice show for us, and a large school of Jackfish where we were no more than a couple of meters away from as they passed.
All my dives were 53-62 minutes long though the shore ones I came up with less air. Most dives were had a water temperature of around 84 F
Even though it was never sunny it was still a great experience and definitely would like to return at some point.
Based on several recommendations I visited Bongo Bongo in Dauin to do some macro diving (first time for me) as well as Apo island.
The room I had was small as noted by others but made it nice to chat with others in the common area.
My first 4 dives were shore dives and mostly a mix of some sections of sand, some sea grass, and coral at Basac, El Dorado, Black Diamond, and Manit dive sites. My dive master Tado was not only a great person but very skilled at finding tiny creatures like candy crabs, tiny nudibranches (only a dot until I used the magnifying glass the let me borrow), shrimp, ghost pipefish, and a green frogfish among other things. Saw a pair of flamboyant cuttlefish that was great to watch feed with their long tongue
While it was a great experience my consumption rate increased quite a bit as I really had to work on my buoyancy to ensure I didn't kick up any material from the floor. Perhaps when I increase my skills I will try again. Another diver who had a nice camera setup showed me his pictures and my goodness what a difference of what you see with your eyes versus a good closeup image.Apo was more my thing as it was a mix of everything. We dove Chapel, Largahan, and Coconut Point and all three were different. Saw my first flying gurnard which was great to see "flying" just over the sand, an electric clam doing a nice show for us, and a large school of Jackfish where we were no more than a couple of meters away from as they passed.
All my dives were 53-62 minutes long though the shore ones I came up with less air. Most dives were had a water temperature of around 84 F
Even though it was never sunny it was still a great experience and definitely would like to return at some point.
