Southern Leyte

[Centrals]

It is nearly 12 years since my last visit.
Flew into CEB from HKG, arrived around 12:30, collected the luggage and took a white taxi to Pier 1 for either Ocean Jet or Super Cat fast ferry to Ormoc. The fare was just over P250.00 and I gave the driver P300.00 and he said thank you with a big smile.
Super Cat 16:00 has been cancelled!!
Ocean Jet at 16:30 was on schedule. Tourist class was P1,100.00 and P50.00 for the checked bag, Terminal fee was another P25.00. Arrived at Ormoc around 19:30, collected my bag and checked in at my pre booked hotel near the terminal.
Everything I had read about the transport to Padre Bugos was BS. After asking around at the bus terminal, I decided to take the bus which will travel on the coastal road all the way to Davao! Boarded the bus around 08:30 and eventually set off at 10:00 with only 3 passengers. The bus made numerous stop to pick up or drop off passengers, have a 20 mins lunch break at Maasin and I was dropped off right outside Peter's at 14:30. The fare from Ormoc to Padre Bugos was P300.00. The road was in good condition and view was super.
Today was the whaleshark trip and the happy snorkellers in the resort saw two of this gentle giant.
Tomorrow schedule is two dives at Napantao.

 

[Centrals]

Cloudy, shower and strong wind.
Definitely extensive damages above 9m otherwise two enjoyable dives but the vis is suck! However, plenty of food for the whalesharks.
The night dive at Padre Bugos pier is history because of ships movement. PITY.
The resort is fully booked at least for the next 5 days.

Limasawa tomorrow or whaleshark watching.

 

[Centrals]

Strong wind.
The dives were good and saw plenty of nudi but some of them are tiny.
Get really wet on the return journey as the wind did not subside at all. However, the sky did clear up a bit and even the Sun made a brief appearance.

Whaleshark watching. The group managed to swim with the gentle giant on THREE occasions.

 

[annasea]

Curious how you decided on the dive op. Asking b/c I opted for Sogod Bay scuba resort (or whatever their name is) when I was there far too long ago to remember the year.

 

[Centrals]

Curious how you decided on the dive op. Asking b/c I opted for Sogod Bay scuba resort (or whatever their name is) when I was there far too long ago to remember the year.

Neither can I remember the first time that I visited Southern Leyte nor how I contacted the place but it must be by FAX. I have been there at least three times previously.
SCBR probably did not exist then(could be wrong).
Peter's was a tiny place in the early day, the restaurant could hardly handle 10 diners. All history.

 

[gkis]

Cloudy, shower and strong wind.
Definitely extensive damages above 9m otherwise two enjoyable dives but the vis is suck! However, plenty of food for the whalesharks.
The night dive at Padre Bugos pier is history because of ships movement. PITY.
The resort is fully booked at least for the next 5 days.

Limasawa tomorrow or whaleshark watching.

I really loved the shallow coral gardens on the west side of Sogod Bay, and too bad that never had a chance to see the ones on the East side around Napantao towards Liloan, so many hours of snorkeling day and night, so sad, but most are gone, a few patches have survived South of the Pier(Medicare North). Diving is a different story, Napantao wall was still beautiful last year, did not check other sites, too heartbroken, ran away to the Central Visayas.
I would like to hear a non biased report from So.Leyte especially from someone who dove there before Odette.

 

[Centrals]

Sun showed up at last. Still persistent strong wind early on but eventually died down so the crossing of the bay was not uncomfortable.
Jun's Pinnacle and Olly's wall.
The Pinnacle, a big boulder goes down from 25m to about 40m, covered with hard and soft coral, sea fan etc etc. Plenty of nudi to be found.
There was a strange looking fish sitting on the sandy bottom, head up with both pectoral fins fully extended. I could not tell what it was until the fish swam away; a remora. I had only seen remora swimming but never ever sitting on sandy bottom. The fish was probably waiting for the whaleshark.
Olly's Wall was a bit of anticlimax after the pinnacle but still an enjoyable dive.

 

[Centrals]

Weather was still a bit unstable, rain, sun and wind etc etc.
Dive sites: Medicare South and North.
There were only three divers, the whaleshark trip was fully booked and there were couple of disappointed clients sitting at the restaurant.
Medicare South:
Wind has died off and the sea was calm with no current whatsoever. Vis has improved considerably. There is clearly sign of damages but not too obvious. The healthy growth of the hard coral indicated the regeneration power of nature. Very good dive.
Medicare North:
I was saying to the fellow divers that there was not that many turtle in the area. We jumped in and immediately noticed the healthy growth of the stag horn coral. And then we saw four large green turtles resting on top of the coral within a radius of about 20m. After a while there was another big one munching around. After getting back to the boat we also saw a small hawksbill taking a breath on the surface.
The damage on the shallow reef was far more obvious than the South but there are new outcrop everywhere.
I was going to make two more dive tomorrow but my body clearly do not agree to that. Common sense rules.

Whaleshark trip: Three different one were spotted and the lucky free divers/snorkelers actually encountered them 7 times. Wow!
Three trips over 6 days with 100% success rate. I have been informed only 4 trips out of 60+ so far has failed to spot one. Success rate of nearly 95%.

 

[Johncn]

Jealous…we were there last year at this time, and I keep getting “Memories” pictures popping up on my phone to rub it in! Thanks for the continued reports.

 

[Centrals]

There was another whaleshark tour this morning and THREE were spotted! Four out of four within 6 days.
The boat can only take 15 persons ie. limited capacity. No wonder advanced reservation for the room and the trip is necessary.
SBSR also runs the trip as well.