Malapascua Trip Report

[bill22]

Just got back to Japan from the Philippines on Friday night. It was cold and raining here of course. The days of shorts, t-shirts and sandals have come to an end until next year

I'm going to probably do this in parts, since it's later here (after midnight), but I wanted to go ahead and start. I have about 30 photos from Malapascua that are ready to post so I'll be adding those also. Just follow my "photo's" link to the gallery

I departed Japan on Tuesday October 23rd. I was able to get a direct flight to Cebu and arrived around 6:30 in the evening. Fortunately for me, there is only a one hour time difference between Japan and the Philippines, so I don't have the jet lag problem that people from the US would have to deal with.

I finally decided on Thresher Shark Divers Malapascua Island Diving, Philippines Cebu | Thresher Shark Divers for the Malapascua portion of my trip. I arranged my hotel and transportation through them also. Final price for my package was 79,500 pesos. This included Transportation to and from Cebu, six nights at Hippocampus Beach Resort http://www.hippocampus-online.com/eng/resort.htm , unlimited diving, Nitrox, Wreck, and Rescue Diver courses, 15 additional Nitrox dives in addition to the course dives, tanks, weights, boat, guide, and fees. At the current exchange rate (approx. 43 pesos=$1) this is approximately $1860.00 US XE.com - Universal Currency Converter

I brought cash with me and changed it at the airport in Cebu. After collecting my bags and passing through the customs, the money exchangers are all directly to the right as you come out. They all are right next to each other and they all give the same rate. They all want you to change your money with them of course. Since it didn't matter I picked one and changed my money.

You have to ask for small bills. Change is hard to come by in Malapascua. You will need it for meals, souvenirs, tips, etc... I waited once at a restaraunt for 10 minutes for them to bring change after I paid for a meal, only to be told that they were 10 peso's short (they had run out of change) I told them not to worry about it I took every opportunity to get change when I could from the dive shop, the bar, or the hotel.

I was met by my driver at the airport. It was raining in Cebu when I got there. The driver told me not to worry, that it wasn't a typhoon... just rain. I laughed and said I wasn't worried... "it doesn't rain underwater" ;-)

There were also two men there who intially I thought were with the driver. Turned out that they were just looking to carry my bag in return for a tip. I have to much money tied up in dive and camera equipment to turn loose of my bags to people I don't know and who are not employed by the airport in any way ) It probably would have been okay, but it was only a few steps, and I kind of prefer to carry my own bags (usually) unless I really do need help. Unless you want to give them a tip don't let them carry your bag. One guy wanted a tip for "carrying" my camera case, despite the fact that I told him I had it and I never let go of it. He put his hand on it to "help" me and never let go despite my telling him politely a few times that "I had it".

We started up the road to Maya on the northern tip of Cebu Island where I would stay for the night. We stopped after a couple of hours at a little roadside stand. There are a lot of these places along the road. They grill meat and I had rice and soup (homemade) and a beer (San Miguel of course) We got a couple of bottles of water to take with us. 200 pesos for both the driver and myself. Roughly $4.75. I know.. I know... I was probably ripped off )

By around 10:30 PM we had reached Skips Beach Resort in Maya where I spent the night. I was met by the owner. Got checked in paid my 1000 pesos for the night. We ended up staying up and talking for a couple of hours. A very interesting guy. Was a student of Bruce Lee back in the 60's. Had pictures on the wall of the two of them together and it was obviously a younger version of him He had lived in the Philippines for over 10 years. Had a lot of local information. Finally got to my room around midnight, took a shower and went to bed.

Was up at 5:30 AM and back on the road. We were only about 15 minutes from the pier at this point. We were met of course not only by our boat, but also men who wanted to carry my bags for a few pesos The boatman took one, I took one, and this time after looking at the rocks we had to make our way across to get on the boat, I let someone carry my bag for me. I gave him 40 pesos. I tipped the the driver a couple of hundred pesos (he had slept in the car) and I was on my way.

I arrived at the dive shop at 6:45 AM. I was met by my guide for the morning. After having my C-Card checked and siging a few forms, we were back on the boat with my gear and on our way to dive by 7:05 AM. I had already missed the regular morning boat ride out to Monad Shoal for the Thresher Sharks. We went anyway. The sharks don't keep a schedule and are known to sometimes come up later. At 7:36 AM I was in the water on my first dive... less than an hour after arriving To be continued.......

 

[bill22]

What I'll do now after going through the process of getting to Malapascua is talk about the dive sites.

Visibility at Monad Shoal when I made my first dive there the morning of October 24th was over 60 feet. This is actually considered very good visibility. I made 8 dives total at Monad Shoal. After the first few days, it probably averaged around 30 feet. My understanding is that this is more normal.

We put our wetsuits on and got our gear ready on the way out. It's about 20-25 minutes to get to the shoal. Felimar, my dive guide did a briefing on what our dive plan was. At Monad they travel around the edge of the shoal to different cleaning stations. They will go to the first one, wait for about five minutes, if nothing is seen, then a leisurely swim to the next one and so on, until either you sight something or your air runs low and you have to go up. Average depth of the shoal is about 65 feet. The deepest I ever went was 75 feet and that is because I went over the edge a little to photograph a nudibranch that my guide pointed out to me. We would get in the water and when ready descend straight down to the top of the shoal and then proceed to the first cleaning station. Coming back we would go to the mooring line and follow it up to the boat after making our 3 minutes safety stop.

On that first dive I saw a nice octopus, maybe the biggest that I've personally seen. There was some nice coral, but overall the shoal itself is pretty flat. When you get to the edge it drops off very steeply to deeper water. I saw good fish life. Large batfish, wrasse, emperors, butterflyfish, etc... I should also point out that they don't like you to take large strobes to Monad as it startles the sharks and can scare them away. The primary reason my octopus shot from that first morning looks a little blue ;-)

Trips to Monad are normally done between 5-6 AM to see Thresher's and again around 2:30 in the afternoon for Manta Rays. The morning that I got there, Threshers were seen by the groups that were coming in while I was headed out. The times on sightings do vary. I did seven morning dives there. The first day shouldn't really count as the Felimar my guide told me going in that it was probably to late that day to see Threshers. As I mentioned before, we werent in the water until just after 7:30. I saw it more as a checkout dive, which is to be expected. Any dive shop will want to evaluate you in the water to see where you are. The second day should probably not count either as we went out late that day also. That dive was more of a first dive on Nitrox kind of dive

On other dives I saw some nice scorpionfish and nudibranchs also. I got a really nice shot of a cleaner shrimp at Monad Shoal. That was actually on the same dive as my Thresher shark photo's that are posted. I was never bored when I went to Monad. I always found something to look at. Certainly I hoped to see Threshers, but I always looked at it as a bonus. After all I'm DIVING in the PHILIPPINES in 84 DEGREE water and 60 FEET VISIBILITY!!!

I'm sure many people can relate to my happiness at being there ;-) The week before I went the Philippines I was diving in water 15 degrees colder and 10-12 foot visibility. I think I came up from every dive I made there with a smile on my face :-D

Pretty much all the dives in Malapascua are made from large bangka boats. The boat crew would get your tank ready while you were putting on your wetsuit (3mm was fine). I'd step up when I was my turn and sit down near the bow. They would help you on with your tank. You would put on your fins and mask, stand up, shuffle about two short steps and then giant stride into the water. A drop of about 4 feet. Then a member of the boat crew would hand my camera down to me if I were taking it. Most of the dive sites there have permanent mooring buoys.

On my second dive at Monad we went out late again. Didn't make it into the water until 7:46 AM. On my third dive at Monad we were in the water at 6:21 and had a nice sighting. Two Threshers swam within 15-20 feet. Visibility had dropped down to under 40 feet so they were quite close before we saw them. Unfortunately for me, my camera picked this time to die. I changed batteries just before the dive, but apparently one of my sets of re-chargeable batteries was defective. I say this because after it happened again a few times I threw them away :-( The next morning we were in the water again, at believe it or not exactly the same time according to my dive computer! I got just a glimpse of a shark then it was gone.

That afternoon we headed out for my fifth dive at Monad to try and see Manta's. We were in the water at 2:53 PM. There was a pretty good current to kick into and visibility was down to around 30-35 feet. Within five minutes of showing up at the first cleaning station a Manta showed up. It was maybe 12 feet across. It swam around us, going in and out of sight as it would go out and then come back. My Nitrox instructor who was shooting video, got 18 minutes of footage of the Manta! Couldn't have asked for anthing better!

On the 28th dives in the morning were cancelled. The weather was rough and conditions didn't allow us to go out. By the afternoon it had calmed down somewhat and we were able to make it out to Monad for my sixth dive there. Saw two very nice stonefish, but no Manta. We were in the water at 3:24. Were fighting a small current again and the visibility was down to about 30 feet.

I skipped the 29th morning dive so I could work on my Rescue course. On the 30th we were in at 6:09 AM for my seventh dive at Monad Shoal. Vis was around 30 feet. Saw a nice neon slug, wasn't happy with my picture though. The other group of divers who were diving off our boat asked me when we got up if I had seen the Thresher. When I said "No" he told me I had been between them and the shark. If I had turned my head to the left I would have seen him ) I was closer than they were! Apparently he didn't stay long, but it would have been nice to see

My eighth and last dive at Monad was the morning of the 31st. We were in the water at 6:03 AM. I saw a Thresher at the second cleaning station we went to, but he swam off before I got a picture. At the next cleaning station, I saw a second thresher and got three photos. The first didn't come out at all. I could see the shark, but my camera couldn't because of the visibility. I got two more shots that gave me not a clear shot, but definitely a Thresher

As it turns out, I hit Malapascua at a good time. There were not a lot of divers there for most of my stay. The high season there officially starts on October 1st. I found out later that there had been a pretty large group that left a couple of days before me. And another large group that left the day after I got there. Then it was quite. The day before I left some large groups showed up. I had thought about one last dive at Monad before I left, but decided to skip it that morning, because of the large number of people. There ended up being roughly 70+ divers in the water all at the same time. Of course they didn't see anything that morning.

to be continued.....

 

[bill22]

I should have mentioned earlier that if negotiated separately, transfers to from the airport in Cebu are around $65 dollars each way. Are you can take a taxi to Cebu North bus station (150-200 pesos) and then take a bus to Maya. According to one webpage I looked at, Ceres runs brand new airconditioned buses. A bus to Maya runs 105 pesos and will take about 4 hours. I've heard now on scubaboard this is not the case?

If you have a large bag (like dive equipment), you should probably be prepared to buy a seat for your bags also. I had to do this when I took the bus from Manila to Batangas when I went to Puerto Galera in May. Then catch a ferry over to Malapascua Island (40 pesos). If I had arrived in the morning I might have taken this route. Arriving in the evening meant I would have lost a day of diving by taking the bus.

You can negotiate a taxi to bring you to Maya from Cebu for between 2000-2500 pesos and a private boat from Maya to Malapascua Island for 700-1000 pesos. It ends up being about the same as if you let the dive shop or resort do it. A taxi will save you about an hour to an hour and a half travel time.

I had originally wanted to stay at Blue Water Resort which is right next door. Blue Water Resort -- [ Malapascua Beach Resort ] -- I had some issues getting my IFPP approved (you would not believe the hoops I have to jump through as a military member to take leave in a foreign country). I didn't recieve final approval on that until the week before my trip started. By then all they had was a family room. I was willing to upgrade to a cottage, but not to a family room. A fan for this time of year was fine. I personally didn't feel the need for air conditioning. You're out diving all day and it cools down at night.

After coming back from my first dive at Monad Shoal I met Andrea one of the dive shop owners with whom I had negotiated my package by email and phone. I did a little more paperwork for my courses that I was taking and handed over 79,500 pesos, for what at that point was a planned six day trip. She then had someone escort me down the beach to Hippocampus, which was about a five minute walk.

They were expecting me at Hippocampus. Greeted me by my first name when I walked up. Everything was set. I signed in and then they took me to my room.

Hippocampus is a nice hotel. It's right off the beach. I could sit in the restaraunt in the morning and see the water while I had breakfast. The room was basic with a bed, table, chair, a large set of shelves to store my things. I had a porch where I could set outside. A tiled bathroom, with, as advertised, brackish water. Cold water of course, but this is not normally an issue here. I did rinse my teeth with it when brushing with no ill effects. There was faucet outside in the center of the building for rinsing the sand off your feet. (I was barefooted for a good portion of my stay ). Freshwater is in short supply there. No public drinking water system. Public electric system works only at night. Many of the resorts including Hippocampus have their own generators and 24 hour electricity. There are no cars and no roads, just paths. There are scooters though Drinking water is bottled water.

I brought Salt Water Shampoo put out by Aquaseal and it worked very well. After unpacking my things (not much to unpack I traveled light), I had some breakfast and then headed back to the dive shop.

By 9:45 AM I was on back on the boat. My gear was there and tanks. This time there were some other groups onboard. Mostly Europeans. I don't remember actually meeting another American while I was in Malapascua, although I heard there were a few there. The boat crew set up my tank as we relaxed for the two hour boat ride to Nunez Shoal.

To be continued.....
__________________

 

[bill22]

These two spots represent what I felt was probably some of the best diving in the area. You have to hit it at the right time though. I made two trips there during my stay in Malapascua. Great visibility both times. The first trip on the first day I was there was probably a highlight to my entire stay in the Philippines.

Nunez Shoal and Calangaman Island are fairly near each other. We left around 10:30 AM as I recall (sorry I should have written the times down). Because of the distance, this is a two tank trip.

The sun was shining as we headed towards Nunez Shoal for the first dive. Near the beginning of the trip out we saw a pod of dolphins. That seemed like a good omen. Turned out to be the only dolphins I saw the whole time I was there, but thats okay We were a group of about nine divers. One group from Europe, a family of four from Singapore, and myself.

I actually remember the moment when I was on my first dive that morning at Monad Shoal when I felt myself start to relax and get into the trip. It's something that I am starting to become aware of when I take my vacations. A moment when I feel myself begin to relax. This is why we take vacations to get away, to unwind, to relax, to enjoy. Not to say that I don't enjoy my life in Japan or my life in general, but it's really nice to get away

As we aproached Nunez Shoal we took our cue from our guide and began suiting up. After we arrived the guide gave his brief and then we began approaching the bow of the boat two at a time to enter the water. One of the boatment would assist you with your tank. You would put on your fins and mask, stand up, take a step to the edge, and then step off into the water. Once everyone was in the water we descended together.

At 12:34 in the afternoon of my first day, I was making my second dive. I was immediately struck by how clear the water was. Visibility was over 60 feet. Perhaps after diving in Japan all summer where a good day would be 15-20 feet visibility had an effect, but I thought this was really cool. We descended to the bottom, a short swim and we were over the edge of the wall which dropped much deeper than we could see.

I was reminded right at the beginning how deceptive things can be when diving a wall. I rolled over on my back to shoot up at the other divers. Before I realized it I was below a 100 feet! I put a little air in my BC and kicked back up. My dive ended up averaging 56 feet... I have nothing against deep diving, if there is a reason, but it cuts into your bottom time to much )

There were lots of nice corals, good fish life, the usual assortment... Lionfish, emperors, wrasse, angelfish, sweetlips, parrotfish, etc.... A very enjoyable dive.

When getting back on the boat there is basically two procedures. You can hand your weights, up to the boat crew, then remove your BC/Tank and they will also take that. Then swim over to the ladder, hand up your fins, and then climb the ladder. The second way was to just go to the ladder, hand up your fins and then climb up while still wearing your tank.

I preferred the second method, especially if the water was rough. As I think I've already mentioned the weather was not always the best while I was there. We were still able to dive usually, but I found that keeping my mask on and my regulator in my mouth went a long way in preventing me from inhaling water while trying to ascend the ladder ) I also felt the extra weight made me more stable on the ladder as I climbed up. There was always someone from the boat crew there to assist as you came up the ladder.

After the first dive we proceeded to Calangaman Island where we anchored just off-shore. There were several fishing boats nearby. We watched as they pulled their nets in. Some people ate if they had brought a lunch, and others, went for a swim. If you want lunch, you have to make sure you make arrangements ahead. I think some people ordered their lunch through the dive shop and others just had the restaraunt at their hotel prepare one for them.

After about an hour and a half surface interval, we started gearing up again. Another brief, by our guide and repeated the procedure from earlier. My next dive started at 3:19 PM.

Again, great visibility, lots of different kinds of coral, fish life was good, and another nice wall dive.

After the dive we headed back, arriving around 6PM. I was told that it was to late for a night dive. I think there was a little confusion there. It wasn't to late for a night dive, but it was to late for the Mandarinfish. You have to be there at dusk to catch them. I let it go, it had been a long day.

My second trip to Nunez Shoal and Calangaman Island was a week later on October 31st. Was still good, but had to fight strong current on both dives getting over to the wall. Weather was also rougher that day. The group was larger and we had more guides that day.

I was working on my Rescue Diver course and we were going to work scenarios at the end of each dive. Saw a really nice flutefish, but didn't get any good pictures.

The strong current added perhaps a little more realism than I would have liked ) We came up a little earlier than the rest of the group. I had to work through unresponsive diver on the bottom and the surface a few times and then get them on the boat. Then I had to deal with first aid, CPR, etc...

In between while anchored in a sheltered spot near Calangaman Island we practiced over and over unresponsive diver on the surface. This required simulated rescue breathing while getting them to the boat and out of their gear. I spent pretty much the whole surface interval in the water practicing.

After we moved over to the other side of the island to start our dive. Found two really nice nudibranch's on the wall. Current was there, but not as strong as it had been at Nunez. At the end of the dive I practiced search techniques and then un-responsive diver on the bottom. Getting them to the surface, and to the boat. Playing out the scenario on the boat and what to do.

After getting everyone back on we headed back. I took off from the night dive, it had been a very long day starting at 5:30 AM when I went out to Monad (saw two Threshers that day). I had bookwork and knowledge reviews to work on, so I took a small break....

 

[bill22]

My next dive on the 25th after the morning shark dive was Bantigue. After the morning Thresher Shark Dive at Monad Shoal, I had gone back to Hippocampus for breakfast. Then it was back to the dive shop where I met with my instructor Steve who would be taking me through my Nitrox and Wreck specialties and Rescue Diver.

I really think that I got lucky with Steve and his girlfriend Mal being there. Steve is from Australia and Mal from Sweden. They met while going through Divemaster/Instructor training. They had been moving around the last several years, having done time in the Mediterranean, Carribean and the last few years working on a live-aboard operating in the Red Sea. Very personable, knowlegeble, and experienced. I couldn't have asked for more. As it turned out the regular instructor was out sick. Steve and Mal were helping out while they're waiting for their work permits to go through as they have just been hired to work a live-aboard in Palau. Steve does incredible video work. He had done a promo for the dive shop and he would also put together a trip video also for anyone who wanted a memento. Mal is a really great photographer and gave me some really good tips that helped me a lot. I would log a lot of dives with them over the next week and a half. Really good people. I'm hoping to be able to go to Palau at some point to dive with them again. Mal usually played the "victim" during my Rescue practices and scenario's.

A little after 11 I headed out to Bantique for a dive. I was in the water at 11:31 and out at 12:32 diving 32% Nitrox. It had been recommended to me that I dive Nitrox because of all the diving I had planned. One of my buddies in the dive club told me that the extra oxygen would keep me from being tired... I don't know... maybe. I did a lot of diving in Moalboal also in a short period of time on air and still felt okay. I had planned on diving Nitrox for the trip and to leave my computer set on air for the last day before I left to give myself some extra safety margin.

Maximum depth at Bantigue was 49 feet, with an average of 36 feet. Not a really deep dive. Visibility was easily over 50 feet. At Bantigue there was lots of small stuff. I found three baby lionfish underneath an outcrop of coral... not a good angle to get a picture though. Lots of gobie, clownfish, damselfish, pipefish, a thornyback cowfish which looked just like the ones we have in Japan and a seamoth which I had never seen before. Also the largest nudibranch I have ever seen. It was several inches across and actually as it turned out was capable of swimming through the water... very cool.

The next dive of the day was at the Tapilon Wreck. In at 3:46, out at 4:24 PM. This is a WW II Japanese wreck. It's pretty much been blown to hell. The bow actually points off at an angle from the stern. Not only a wreck dive but a fairly deep one also. The wreck sits in just over 90 feet of water. I was diving 32% Nitrox. Visibility was not as good, maybe the worst that I experienced during my trip, probably 20-25 feet. This was the first Wreck dive for my course. Steve also had an AOW student along also.

I found a nice nudibranch. There was a huge school of barracuda that seemed to call the wreck home. Also saw a small lionfish and various other fish life. The next morning on my second dive there also saw a sea snake and remoras. I had not seen remoras before that weren't "attached" to something... I was a little worried they might try to attach to me ) There might be the possibility of a "limited" penetration from the stern which is open, but I don't know that it would be worth it.

Lighthouse Reef, is where you find the Mandarinfish. You have to be there at dusk though. If you get there to late then you're not going to see it. Once it's full dark then they dissappear. It's close to shore, only about 10 minutes by boat from the dive shop. It's also a shallow dive. I made four dives there and my maximum depth was only 36 feet.

On my first night dive the same day of my first dive at Tapilon, we got there to late for the Mandarinfish.... It was still a nice night dive though. Saw an octopus, different types of crabs, seahorses, and bigeyes, which I could never get a good picture of. On other night dives there I also saw banded pipefish, a small Leaf Scorpionfish and even an Anemone Hermit Crab and of course the Mandarinfish mating ;-) Visibility was usually over 30 feet... could have been more, but most of my dives there were at night.

Lighthouse is also where I got up close and maybe a little two personal with a sea urchin. I managed to move into it while maneuvering for a picture and got stuck good in my right hand. I was stuck in four places and in two of them the spine broke off. Stung like the dickens ) I decided at that point that 55 minutes was enough for a dive and my dive guide and I headed for the boat, doing a "swimming" safety stop at 15 feet.

The next day after a second dive at Tapilon where I had to work on mapping, we made a dive on the Japanese wreck at Lighthouse. It's a very shallow wreck, close in to the beach... maximum depth 17 feet. The main purpose was to practice running lines. The wreck is very open. Nothing left really but the shell, so it's not an overhead environment by any stretch of the imagination. First I practiced running lines on the surface, then below. There is enough of the wreck there to have things to tie off to. There was a juvenile lionfish inside the wreck and also a small anemone, with a tiny clownfish to go with it I think I saw lionfish on almost every dive that I made while I was in the Philippines.

To be continued.....

 

[bill22]

I should have added more on Mandarinfish, especially since routine sightings is one of the things that Malapascua is known for. I only made it out one time for the Mandarinfish... the other night dives I made there at Lighthouse Reef it was full dark when we arrived and was too late.

On the Mandarinfish dive that I made there were boats already there from other dive shops when we arrived. Everyone had taken up stations in the area that they came out in. As my guide and I swam around looking for a spot, I saw one and pointed. We took up positions, but the fish was staying down in the coral and I couldn't get a good shot.

My guide signaled me to turn off the modeling light on my strobe. He then held a flashlight, shining it through his fingers to reduce the amount of light. It was right at dusk, and we were less than 20 feet down, so we still had some ambient light. Just enough to frame the pictures, kind of....

The male which is twice the size of the female would move in and cover the female. They would swim around for a few moments together, then seperate.... then come together again. I got pictures, but not a single sharp one :-( That is an ongoing problem with my camera, getting it to focus in low light.

This went on for maybe five minutes then it was over... full darkness had arrived (we had just made it). I had already made three dives that day and barely made it back in time from the last one to get there in time for the Mandarinfish.

The Mandarinfish is a very colorful fish and apparently not so easy to find in other places. Definitely another highlight of the trip

 

[bill22]

Sorry this is all I have right now.... I'm going to try and finish it up by this weekend

 

[CODMAN]

Keep it coming Bill! Great report! And I just wanted to let you know I greatly appreciate all the effort you have pu into this! It's hard work and very appreciated!!!

 

[clgsamson]

wow...details....photos....what more can I ask for? I'd say this is the Grand daddy of trip reports, thanks for sharing, Bill. Lets dive sometime in the future...

 

[Pinay_Diver]

My next dive on the 25th after the morning shark dive was Bantigue. After the morning Thresher Shark Dive at Monad Shoal, I had gone back to Hippocampus for breakfast. Then it was back to the dive shop where I met with my instructor Steve who would be taking me through my Nitrox and Wreck specialties and Rescue Diver.

I really think that I got lucky with Steve and his girlfriend Mal being there. Steve is from Australia and Mal from Sweden. They met while going through Divemaster/Instructor training. They had been moving around the last several years, having done time in the Mediterranean, Carribean and the last few years working on a live-aboard operating in the Red Sea. Very personable, knowlegeble, and experienced. I couldn't have asked for more. As it turned out the regular instructor was out sick. Steve and Mal were helping out while they're waiting for their work permits to go through as they have just been hired to work a live-aboard in Palau. Steve does incredible video work. He had done a promo for the dive shop and he would also put together a trip video also for anyone who wanted a memento. Mal is a really great photographer and gave me some really good tips that helped me a lot. I would log a lot of dives with them over the next week and a half. Really good people. I'm hoping to be able to go to Palau at some point to dive with them again. Mal usually played the "victim" during my Rescue practices and scenario's.

A little after 11 I headed out to Bantique for a dive. I was in the water at 11:31 and out at 12:32 diving 32% Nitrox. It had been recommended to me that I dive Nitrox because of all the diving I had planned. One of my buddies in the dive club told me that the extra oxygen would keep me from being tired... I don't know... maybe. I did a lot of diving in Moalboal also in a short period of time on air and still felt okay. I had planned on diving Nitrox for the trip and to leave my computer set on air for the last day before I left to give myself some extra safety margin.

Maximum depth at Bantigue was 49 feet, with an average of 36 feet. Not a really deep dive. Visibility was easily over 50 feet. At Bantigue there was lots of small stuff. I found three baby lionfish underneath an outcrop of coral... not a good angle to get a picture though. Lots of gobie, clownfish, damselfish, pipefish, a thornyback cowfish which looked just like the ones we have in Japan and a seamoth which I had never seen before. Also the largest nudibranch I have ever seen. It was several inches across and actually as it turned out was capable of swimming through the water... very cool.

The next dive of the day was at the Tapilon Wreck. In at 3:46, out at 4:24 PM. This is a WW II Japanese wreck. It's pretty much been blown to hell. The bow actually points off at an angle from the stern. Not only a wreck dive but a fairly deep one also. The wreck sits in just over 90 feet of water. I was diving 32% Nitrox. Visibility was not as good, maybe the worst that I experienced during my trip, probably 20-25 feet. This was the first Wreck dive for my course. Steve also had an AOW student along also.

I found a nice nudibranch. There was a huge school of barracuda that seemed to call the wreck home. Also saw a small lionfish and various other fish life. The next morning on my second dive there also saw a sea snake and remoras. I had not seen remoras before that weren't "attached" to something... I was a little worried they might try to attach to me ) There might be the possibility of a "limited" penetration from the stern which is open, but I don't know that it would be worth it.

Lighthouse Reef, is where you find the Mandarinfish. You have to be there at dusk though. If you get there to late then you're not going to see it. Once it's full dark then they dissappear. It's close to shore, only about 10 minutes by boat from the dive shop. It's also a shallow dive. I made four dives there and my maximum depth was only 36 feet.

On my first night dive the same day of my first dive at Tapilon, we got there to late for the Mandarinfish.... It was still a nice night dive though. Saw an octopus, different types of crabs, seahorses, and bigeyes, which I could never get a good picture of. On other night dives there I also saw banded pipefish, a small Leaf Scorpionfish and even an Anemone Hermit Crab and of course the Mandarinfish mating ;-) Visibility was usually over 30 feet... could have been more, but most of my dives there were at night.

Lighthouse is also where I got up close and maybe a little two personal with a sea urchin. I managed to move into it while maneuvering for a picture and got stuck good in my right hand. I was stuck in four places and in two of them the spine broke off. Stung like the dickens ) I decided at that point that 55 minutes was enough for a dive and my dive guide and I headed for the boat, doing a "swimming" safety stop at 15 feet.

The next day after a second dive at Tapilon where I had to work on mapping, we made a dive on the Japanese wreck at Lighthouse. It's a very shallow wreck, close in to the beach... maximum depth 17 feet. The main purpose was to practice running lines. The wreck is very open. Nothing left really but the shell, so it's not an overhead environment by any stretch of the imagination. First I practiced running lines on the surface, then below. There is enough of the wreck there to have things to tie off to. There was a juvenile lionfish inside the wreck and also a small anemone, with a tiny clownfish to go with it I think I saw lionfish on almost every dive that I made while I was in the Philippines.

To be continued.....

Awesome trip report Bill! And what a coincidence, we have the same shot of the seahorse taken at the lighthouse.