Subic Trip Report - 10 March 2007

[Matthew]

Nice, colorful report Iris!

 

[clgsamson]

you're starting to sound like zandy

I'm actually pretty much done with lenses, for now. I pretty much have what I need, I think. Now, if nikon releases a vr version of the 18-70 or 18-135, I'd snap those up. I need a second body, though but I can wait until they release updated version of the d200.

Zandy of DPP? then I'm in good company....

I won't buy a $500 lens hood, though....

 

[iris_ice]

:lol: you must be talking about caloy.

and pak, and tim, and larry, and...

 

[iris_ice]

Pressure
Start: 3200 psi
Finish: 2400 psi


I bet little ol OW girl came up with more air than any of the rest of them....

Good report, lots of colour!

you, coya and ate myra are my idols in air consumption.

 

[iris_ice]

first off, awesome icon!

Ah, they blocked off the USS NY again?? They were calling in port last time I was there as well. I guess that's the fleet which is now in HK (or at leat this weekend).

yup! of all days to go travelling in subic, they picked my day. hmmph! that's okay. i heard from someone LST's the best wreck, anyway... :boing:

 

[iris_ice]

thinking of a lens right now, Gio...

Thanks for the report, Manang Iris...good to see you diving. So when is your wedding again?

went to a wedding last thursday. got one this saturday. and another in may then june, then december. gosh! everyone's getting married.

picked this one from my cousin's shirt: COMMITTED... committed to staying single :thumbs-up

 

[iris_ice]

Nice, colorful report Iris!

it has to be colorful or else no one will read it. compensating as well for my lack of pictures

thanks, guys!

dive subic :thumbs-up

 

[Kevrumbo]

After 6 months, I finally got to dive again My first dive for 2007 and my first time to dive in Subic. Thanks to Halthron’s trip report, I got in touch with Boardwalk Dive Center and luckily a dive group was set out for Saturday which they let me join. Dive group consisted of 2 dive tech trainees, an instructor trainee, a course director, a DM, a rescue diver and hmmm… who else… oh, I almost forgot, little OW girl - me. Couldn’t help but think, what have I got myself into this time. Did I mention I was the only girl in the group? :girl: Haaay… But I had to dive (keber na lang sa mga anik anik nila – never mind their high tech gear toys).

Dive No. 66 (my first entry in my new logbook – woo hoo!:bouncesbl )
Time in: 10:41am
Time out: 11:14am
Dive Site: Landing Ship Transporter (LST)
Location: Subic Bay, Freeport Zone
Dive Operator: Boardwalk Dive Center
Depth: 107 ft.
Pressure
Start: 3200 psi
Finish: 2400 psi
Water Temp: 27°C

I was excited but I wasn’t expecting much since it’ll be a wreck dive and we know how little life there is in wrecks. So little did I know…

We were instructed to follow the line for the descent, I held on to it for dear life and pulled myself down until I saw the LST wreck. I let go, followed Jason our DM (not the Kalbo nor the SB Jackie Chan:biggrin2: ), and was surprised to see a good length of visibility. We entered the wreck and I found myself enveloped in darkness. It was scary but at the same time, I thought to myself, this is awesome, I’m inside LST! My light was pretty much useless seeing it lighted up to 5 inches from my hand. At least there were tiny holes every few feet or so that gave some light inside. We exited and were greeted with a variety of schooling fish: baby barracudas, yellow-finned fish, batfish, etc. Jason spotted and pointed a blue-spotted ray which flew away when it sensed our presence. There was a family of stonefish as well that pretended not to see us hovering above them. In our ascent, 2 baby cuttlefish sent us goodbye. :boings:

Dive No. 67
Dive Site: Barges
Time In: 12:00
Time Out: 1:02
Depth: 30 ft
Pressure
Start: 3200 psi
Finish: 1800 psi
Water Temp: 27°C

Our second dive was in the Barges dive site and it was like a playground. We left the trainees in one of the barges to practice I don’t know what and we happily looked for some action. It wasn’t long before Jason banged his tank and pointed out a school of barracudas:59: . There was around 10 of them, 3 to 5 ft each in length, literally just hanging out above one of the barges. When I looked to my right, there was this loner of a huge barracuda, separated from the rest of them, but like the rest was contentedly hanging out - by itself. After staring at them in awe for a good number of minutes, we swam around and looked for other interesting stuff. I was surprised to see lots of bubble corals - I must’ve counted 5 species at least scattered in the crevices and on the barge’s surface. I also lost count of the number of blue-spotted rays we saw – some flying away and some hiding in the sand. And there were the usual tropical life – lion fishes, clown fishes, trumpet fish, stars and stripes puffer, box fish, stone fish, sweetlips, etc. There was also this huge brown teira batfish. We went back to the trainees and brought them to the barracudas (which were still hanging out in the same barge) and they happily clicked away. Not wanting to be a nuisance, I swam away and sought to play at the other barges. After a time, I went back to the group and found them clicking away with other stuff. Jason banged his tank and pointed something above me. I looked up and what do you know, it was the school of barracudas :spike: . Pretending to be invisible, I swam towards Jason, thanked the barracuda gods and ended my dive.

We didn’t do USS New York because some US Navy was in Subic and we weren’t allowed near it.

Over-all it was a surprisingly wonderful two dives :thumbs-up It was great to finally be back in the water. If given another chance to dive in Subic, I definitely will and even recommend it to divers who don’t like wrecks.

No Overhead or even Basic Wreck Training and you went inside on a "Trust Me Dive" with the Divemaster:shakehead

Congratulations on getting out without Incident or Accident. . .

 

[pakman]

Kev I could understand that comment if she had gone into the USS NY or some of the more difficult wrecks, but come on, the swim thru LST is a piece of cake.

 

[jeremygo]

Well, in fairness to her, the DM, and the Dive Operator, I've heard that it's pretty open wreck, a quick in and out. And I'm sure that the DM didn't lead them deep inside, or inside for very long.

I've dove with the Operator and the DM, they are a very capable group who wouldn't compromise your safety.