OP
After a bit of socializing, I headed up to get my stuff stowed away. After unpacking I was asleep by 11PM. The next day, after a night of rocking and rolling, I woke up a little after 5AM to see Tubbataha in the distance.
I watched from an upper deck as the crew began making preparation for the day. We met in the salon at 6AM for a light Breakfast which consisted of toast, butter, jam, cheese, coffee, tea, etc The first dive was briefed at 7AM.
Our first dive in Tubbataha was Shark Airport on the North Atoll. Our tanks were already setup and waiting for us on the chase boat. We put on our wetsuits, I handed my camera to Oca, the boatman. I grabbed my mask and fins and stepped onto the boat from the platforms that are lowered to form mini boat docks for each dive deck. A short boat ride and a review of the dive plan and we all back roll into the water for our first dive. Oca handed me my camera. I dumped the air from my wing and the first dive started at 0726. True to it's name, I immediately spied a shark swimming across the reef and over the wall!
This will be an "abbreviated" report. I'm not going to break it down by individual dive site as I have before...
The dives at Tubbataha are pretty much all wall dives. We would drift along the wall and then be picked up at the end of the dive. Night dives usually stayed on top of the reef and we would sometimes start or stop there if the water was deep enough, but a drift dive along the wall was the usual rule.
As an example the top of the reef here where we dropped in at Shark Airport was around 50 feet (much shallower in other areas of course). I (along with everyone else it seemed) had opted to dive Nitrox all week. We were diving 32%. This first dive started with sharks and we saw sharks on almost every dive all week. In addition to sharks on this dive, I saw Napoleon Wrasse, a green moray on the wall, emperor angelfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, squirrelfish, grouper, tuna, jacks, barracuda? To many to name! It was like that all week!
Water temperature was 83F on the first dive. My maximum depth was 107 feet. On the way back to the Borneo Explorer after the dive we saw a pod of dolphins. It was a really nice beginning to our week in Tubbataha.
We were really spoiled by the crew during our week. They did all the heavy lifting. I would take my camera in between dives and put it in the rinse bucket, but only opened it when I needed to change the batteries or download photos from it. When going back out I would hand it to Oca who would keep it in the camera box and hand it to me once I was in the water.
After diving we rinsed off put on some dry clothes and most of us usually ended up in the Salon depending on the time of day. They had two fresh water showers on the dive decks and would always have towels for us when we came back from our dives. Right after the morning dive was breakfast and after the second dive was lunch. Maybe a snack in between the 2 afternoon dives, and dinner after the night dive.
A little about the food? All meals were served buffet style. Light breakfast (before the first dive) was bread and cheese, fruit, coffee, juice. Heavy breakfast was eggs, bacon, hot cereal, pancakes, toast?. it changed every morning slightly, but was always good.
Lunch was meat, fish, vegetables, rice, potatoes, soup, fruit, desserts. Afternoon snacks, were usually some kind of pastries or fruit. Dinner was like lunch only maybe a little more elaborate. Good lasagna, spaghetti? Paul guaranteed we would all gain weight. I don't usually on a dive trip, but this time I ended up gaining an inch around my waist!
I did 27 dives at Tubbataha. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate due to a low pressure system that affected us. This restricted some of the dive sites as we were forced to move from North Atoll after the first day to South Atoll. We ended up finishing the trip back at North Atoll.
A list of dive sites we were able to dive would include: Shark Airport, Washing Machine, Seafan Alley, Amos Rock, Wall Street, North Wall, Black Rock, Delsan Wreck, North Delsan Wreck, Eiger Wall, T Wreck, and Malayan Wreck. Of course we dived these sites multiple times, but I didn't see this as a bad thing really. We always saw something different!
Water temperature was generally mid-80's, visibility ran 50-70 feet. First dive of the day was generally planned to 30 meters (100 feet) but if you went a little beyond that there was no problem. You couldn't go much beyond because at 32% nitrox you're computer was going to yell at you
We normally did 5 dives spaced out throughout the day, starting at 7AM for the first morning dive and 7PM for the night dive. One night dive was cancelled because of heavy current that started up as were were getting ready to do the brief. The last dive day only had 2 dives scheduled, but at our request 5 of us who weren't flying the next day got to make an extra dive.
Some of the highlights for me was the huge numbers of sharks (more than I had ever previously seen), crocodile fish on the Malayan Wreck, the schools of unicorn fish, the large schools of jacks, and barracudas, marble rays, and the biggest lobsters I've ever seen!
Towards the end of the trip a blue water dive was planned for an attempt to sight hammerheads. Although we were repeatedly told there were no guarantees, within 5 minutes of reaching our position (well away from the reef) we saw not one, but TWO hammerheads. Unfortunately I wasn't close enough to get good photos, but it was still very cool to see them!
On the last day, we made a shore excursion to the ranger station. Most of us bought t-shirts there as souvenirs (one of a kind design that can only be bought at the ranger station in Tubbataha) After a long visit we headed back as it was getting dark. During dinner, bottles that had been stashed away during the trip were broken out. People were exchanging emails and Paul screened a video that he had put together for our trip which we all enjoyed
The next morning when we woke up, we were back in Puerto Princesa. Everyone settled there accounts (nitrox, drinks, etc? and we scattered. Some were taken to the airport for early flights, others to hotels in Puerto Princesa. I was given a ride to the shuttle terminal where I caught a shuttle for El Nido.
To be continued:
I watched from an upper deck as the crew began making preparation for the day. We met in the salon at 6AM for a light Breakfast which consisted of toast, butter, jam, cheese, coffee, tea, etc The first dive was briefed at 7AM.
Our first dive in Tubbataha was Shark Airport on the North Atoll. Our tanks were already setup and waiting for us on the chase boat. We put on our wetsuits, I handed my camera to Oca, the boatman. I grabbed my mask and fins and stepped onto the boat from the platforms that are lowered to form mini boat docks for each dive deck. A short boat ride and a review of the dive plan and we all back roll into the water for our first dive. Oca handed me my camera. I dumped the air from my wing and the first dive started at 0726. True to it's name, I immediately spied a shark swimming across the reef and over the wall!
This will be an "abbreviated" report. I'm not going to break it down by individual dive site as I have before...
The dives at Tubbataha are pretty much all wall dives. We would drift along the wall and then be picked up at the end of the dive. Night dives usually stayed on top of the reef and we would sometimes start or stop there if the water was deep enough, but a drift dive along the wall was the usual rule.
As an example the top of the reef here where we dropped in at Shark Airport was around 50 feet (much shallower in other areas of course). I (along with everyone else it seemed) had opted to dive Nitrox all week. We were diving 32%. This first dive started with sharks and we saw sharks on almost every dive all week. In addition to sharks on this dive, I saw Napoleon Wrasse, a green moray on the wall, emperor angelfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, squirrelfish, grouper, tuna, jacks, barracuda? To many to name! It was like that all week!
Water temperature was 83F on the first dive. My maximum depth was 107 feet. On the way back to the Borneo Explorer after the dive we saw a pod of dolphins. It was a really nice beginning to our week in Tubbataha.
We were really spoiled by the crew during our week. They did all the heavy lifting. I would take my camera in between dives and put it in the rinse bucket, but only opened it when I needed to change the batteries or download photos from it. When going back out I would hand it to Oca who would keep it in the camera box and hand it to me once I was in the water.
After diving we rinsed off put on some dry clothes and most of us usually ended up in the Salon depending on the time of day. They had two fresh water showers on the dive decks and would always have towels for us when we came back from our dives. Right after the morning dive was breakfast and after the second dive was lunch. Maybe a snack in between the 2 afternoon dives, and dinner after the night dive.
A little about the food? All meals were served buffet style. Light breakfast (before the first dive) was bread and cheese, fruit, coffee, juice. Heavy breakfast was eggs, bacon, hot cereal, pancakes, toast?. it changed every morning slightly, but was always good.
Lunch was meat, fish, vegetables, rice, potatoes, soup, fruit, desserts. Afternoon snacks, were usually some kind of pastries or fruit. Dinner was like lunch only maybe a little more elaborate. Good lasagna, spaghetti? Paul guaranteed we would all gain weight. I don't usually on a dive trip, but this time I ended up gaining an inch around my waist!
I did 27 dives at Tubbataha. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate due to a low pressure system that affected us. This restricted some of the dive sites as we were forced to move from North Atoll after the first day to South Atoll. We ended up finishing the trip back at North Atoll.
A list of dive sites we were able to dive would include: Shark Airport, Washing Machine, Seafan Alley, Amos Rock, Wall Street, North Wall, Black Rock, Delsan Wreck, North Delsan Wreck, Eiger Wall, T Wreck, and Malayan Wreck. Of course we dived these sites multiple times, but I didn't see this as a bad thing really. We always saw something different!
Water temperature was generally mid-80's, visibility ran 50-70 feet. First dive of the day was generally planned to 30 meters (100 feet) but if you went a little beyond that there was no problem. You couldn't go much beyond because at 32% nitrox you're computer was going to yell at you
We normally did 5 dives spaced out throughout the day, starting at 7AM for the first morning dive and 7PM for the night dive. One night dive was cancelled because of heavy current that started up as were were getting ready to do the brief. The last dive day only had 2 dives scheduled, but at our request 5 of us who weren't flying the next day got to make an extra dive.
Some of the highlights for me was the huge numbers of sharks (more than I had ever previously seen), crocodile fish on the Malayan Wreck, the schools of unicorn fish, the large schools of jacks, and barracudas, marble rays, and the biggest lobsters I've ever seen!
Towards the end of the trip a blue water dive was planned for an attempt to sight hammerheads. Although we were repeatedly told there were no guarantees, within 5 minutes of reaching our position (well away from the reef) we saw not one, but TWO hammerheads. Unfortunately I wasn't close enough to get good photos, but it was still very cool to see them!
On the last day, we made a shore excursion to the ranger station. Most of us bought t-shirts there as souvenirs (one of a kind design that can only be bought at the ranger station in Tubbataha
) After a long visit we headed back as it was getting dark. During dinner, bottles that had been stashed away during the trip were broken out. People were exchanging emails and Paul screened a video that he had put together for our trip which we all enjoyed The next morning when we woke up, we were back in Puerto Princesa. Everyone settled there accounts (nitrox, drinks, etc? and we scattered. Some were taken to the airport for early flights, others to hotels in Puerto Princesa. I was given a ride to the shuttle terminal where I caught a shuttle for El Nido.
To be continued:
