Macro Photography in the Phillipines

[Gdog]

lol....thanks fritz!

 

[fmerkel]

Other hints:
It's on a steep hillside. You will be running up and down a lot. If that's an issue try to get a lower room. Personally I like the exercise.
Wifi is not so good. Limited bandwidth and EVERYONE had their phone/pad/laptop on all the time eating it up. Get up early.....damn early, and go down to the dining room just as they are making coffee, if you want to do much on wifi. Look for the wifi repeaters that are plugged in and get close. Don't even bother most of the day.
If classes in photography are being offered, take them! If not part of the package see if you can sweet talk Mike into some tutorials. He is very very good.
The guides are familiar with the area and the critters, use them.
It's a good way to 'town' and the town dock (there is no dock, don't know why they call it that) is a very interesting place to do a very shallow night/muck dive. It's just sand, 15-20', middling viz, but you find some weird stuff you may not find anywhere else.
Secret Cove is a great night dive-sand again, as is the dive right out front-which is actually pretty decent coral. If they would let you it would be an easy shore dive.
First time I was dropped in at Secret Cove my reaction was, "WTF, why am I diving here?" I had a GREAT dive.

Tell Mike Hi from Fritz. If you get Edgar as a guide, he's good, he pushes the envelope, but he delivers. Just dive your own dive and let him know what you need and why, but that's true for all the guides.

 

[dirtfarmer]

In regards to WiFi at resorts, in Anilao I always get a local Sim card at the airport easy peasy, let the seller set it up for you, and be able to reset it when you get back home. I get faster speeds on my phone than from the resorts and at buceo they don't have enough repeaters to reach some rooms.

 

[drbill]

Anilao... Club Ocellaris or Crystal Blue would be my choices

 

[saila]

We call October as "Octopus October" here in Dumaguete, since it's octopus mating season then. Rather remarkable for a photographer/videographer, although the weather can be unpredictable that time of the year. This video was filmed in end of October 2016 by Daniel Norwood: , and as you can see on mating season you can get pretty amazing footage.

 

[Dive-Boarder2]

Anilao is of course the place to go.. easy access from Manila.. no need to spend the night there unless you particularly want to. Puerto Galera also has good macro in certain sites.. easy to combine with Anilao... What is your budget if you do go to Anilao? Buceo is a top resort, with great facilities (I have only walked round it though). If this is too expensive, (and it is for me) there are cheaper places if you are not looking for luxury.. see my report on ASDC... three or four dives a day, room and all meals.. approx. 75 GBP per day.. there is Wi-Fi. Have also stayed at Club O, and would recommend also. Other than that, Dumaguete is another obvious choice. There is good macro in Sogod bay, Leyte (little Lembeh dive site), and Romblon can be good for rare critters and super macro. There is probably a lot more just waiting to be found!

 

[klausi]

Anilao and Dauin/Dumaguete, in my opinion. But, you can't go completely wrong. I have shot good macro in Malapascua, Moalboal, Southern Leyte and I have seen great shots from Romblon. All these little islands, in the coral triangle, will inevitably have great crtitters.

I found this crab last week right here in Dauin. We'd be excited to have you here at Salaya Beach Houses.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Anilao and Dauin/Dumaguete, in my opinion. But, you can't go completely wrong. I have shot good macro in Malapascua, Moalboal, Southern Leyte and I have seen great shots from Romblon. All these little islands, in the coral triangle, will inevitably have great crtitters.

I found this crab last week right here in Dauin. We'd be excited to have you here at Salaya Beach Houses.
View attachment 444045

What a beautiful crab! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Gdog]

Other hints:
It's on a steep hillside. You will be running up and down a lot. If that's an issue try to get a lower room. Personally I like the exercise.
Wifi is not so good. Limited bandwidth and EVERYONE had their phone/pad/laptop on all the time eating it up. Get up early.....damn early, and go down to the dining room just as they are making coffee, if you want to do much on wifi. Look for the wifi repeaters that are plugged in and get close. Don't even bother most of the day.
If classes in photography are being offered, take them! If not part of the package see if you can sweet talk Mike into some tutorials. He is very very good.
The guides are familiar with the area and the critters, use them.
It's a good way to 'town' and the town dock (there is no dock, don't know why they call it that) is a very interesting place to do a very shallow night/muck dive. It's just sand, 15-20', middling viz, but you find some weird stuff you may not find anywhere else.
Secret Cove is a great night dive-sand again, as is the dive right out front-which is actually pretty decent coral. If they would let you it would be an easy shore dive.
First time I was dropped in at Secret Cove my reaction was, "WTF, why am I diving here?" I had a GREAT dive.

Tell Mike Hi from Fritz. If you get Edgar as a guide, he's good, he pushes the envelope, but he delivers. Just dive your own dive and let him know what you need and why, but that's true for all the guides.

Great info Fritz thank you!

 

[fmerkel]

Never did tried buying a SIM at the airport. Might be worth checking out if that's important. My reality was we were so busy doing 3-4 dives/day + photo classes + photography hardware rinsing, cleaning, changing batteries, etc. we barely had time for a nap.
Food is plentiful and good. Coffee was actually way better than I thought, this from the home of Starbucks, Seattle.