Trip Report Anilao/Puerto Galera

[bill22]

I would like to say thank you to all my friends from online who have always so freely given of their time in sharing their knowledge and experience. In particular I want to thank the members of Philippine Paradise Divers at www.scubaboard.com It was great to finally get to meet so many of you in person!

Just got home to Japan yesterday afternoon from a two week trip to the Philippines. This trip was spent diving Anilao and Puerto Galera. In all I did 36 dives starting with a night dive at Koala Reef on the 1st of June right after I arrived in Anilao and ending with a morning dive on Dungeon Wall on June 11th in Puerto Galera.

I gave my new Nikon D300 a workout coming back with over 2300 photos recorded in Large (4288 x 2848) JPEG Fine. I worked with two 4.0 GB SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash cards. Each card would hold over 300 photos recorded at this setting and would usually get me through at least 2-3 dives.

I’m using an Ikelite Housing and an Ikelite DS125 substrobe. I can’t even begin to describe how nice it is to have TTL flash again! Now I can go back to focusing on my photos and not have to split my attention as I make estimates on manual exposure!

I took my Canon A630 with me along with the housing as a backup, but used it mainly for above water shots as I didn’t like removing my Nikon from the housing while on the boat if I could avoid it. Many of the above water shots, especially if they were taken from the boat were taken with this camera.

Just before the trip I opted to purchase a PhotoBank from SmartDisk http://www.smartdisk.com/staticpages/PhotoBank2.asp rather than carry a laptop. With enough space for up to 40 gigs of photos, this looked like it would be a good, lightweight and inexpensive alternative to the pain of carrying a laptop or the expense of purchasing additional compact flash cards.

This ended up working pretty well, the only problem being that without a reader, I didn’t get to view my photos other than reviewing them on the camera screen until after I got back. Last night after downloading all my photos to my computer here at home, I discovered that I had somehow gotten the two cards mixed up one morning and had inadvertently cleaned one card without downloading the photos first.

This was particularly painful as that particular series of dives (my first in Puerto Galera this trip) included a couple of images I would have paid money to enter into a photo contest! They included perhaps the best moray shot I’ve ever taken and a total of five frogfish (three different types) one of which I had a nice shot with my guide checking it out. I know, I know…. you’ll just have to take my word for it I’ve decided this morning that I’m not going to slit my wrists over it, but I’m still definitely a little depressed about it

I’ve said before that I would talk a little about the process I go through when I plan my trips.

First comes the toughest part…. Deciding where to go! My favorite destination being the Philippines which with over 7100 islands, having the second largest reef system in Southeast Asia, and being part of the center of biodiversity for the entire world, makes for some tough choices!

Anilao has always been on my list of dive destination in the Philippines since I first started seriously researching the diving there a year ago. Although, I had dived in Puerto Galera last year when I returned to scuba diving after a long layoff, I had always wanted to go back so that I could do a more in-depth exploration of the area. They are close enough together to do both in one trip with a minimum of time lost to travel.

These two areas lie on different sides of the Verde Passage which was described in a joint study between the American Smithsonian Institute and the World Conservation Union as being the “center of the center for the worlds marine biodiversity”. What this means in practical terms, is that you will find more marine species in a smaller area than you will in any other marine environment on the planet!

Of course this doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of other places and each destination always has something unique about it. Places, like Yap, Chuuk, Bikini Atoll, Hawaii, Galapagos, Papua, New Guinea, Fiji, Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea from Australia, Thailand, Wakatobi, Sipadan, Bali, Red Sea, South Africa….. (it’s a very long list, I know and it‘s only a partial list at that ) all have things that make them unique and are all places that I want to dive some day. Both Malapascua Island and Moalboal, places I've dived previously in the Philippines have things to offer that Anilao and Puerto Galera do not, and vice-versa.

That is part of the beauty of travel and of diving. For me personally, it is the feeling of discovery that I experience. The opportunity to see the beauty of this planet, the chance to meet new people, try new things… I’m sure many of you who are reading this, know exactly what I mean.

For the moment though the Philippines remain my number one choice for a variety of reason including the ones I’ve stated above and my current proximity to the Philippines. Having said that though, even if I lived in the US now, I would still consider the Philippines as one of my top choices for a diving vacation.

I do the majority of my research online. I’ll look at the area, what types of dives are there, what I can expect to see. I utilize the discussion forums online as there is nothing like getting the experience of someone who has actually been there or who already lives in the area that you are considering traveling too. I also look at costs… what I can expect to pay for diving, what I can expect to pay for a place to stay, etc… so that I can start working up a budget for the trip.

Once I have a rough idea of where I want to go, I start pricing plane fare. I normally go to Expedia www.expedia.com and get their price first. Then I go to at least two travel agents and get their best price for the dates I want to travel and the airline. Then I pick the best price.

I have frequent flyer with Philippine Airlines. I purchased their Sports Plus card which gives me an extra baggage allowance. With my dive gear and camera equipment, I need it! An important thing for people coming from the US to remember is that standard baggage allowance in this part of the world is only 20 kilos (54 lbs) and 10 kilos (22 lbs) for carryon. You can rent gear fairly inexpensively in a lot of places though, so that is also an option. It’s all about where you want to spend your money and that is very subjective.

My last two trips to the Philippines, I’ve made firm plans for the beginning of the trip and left the end of the trip more or less open. This gives me some flexibility. My last trip, I extended my stay in Malapascua and ended up switching my plans to Moalboal for the second part.

This trip I wanted to have flexibility mainly because of concerns about weather. If you come during Typhoon season, you have to be prepared to make adjustments (same as travel in the Caribbean during Hurricane season) . After hearing that weather had been known to bring ferry service to a halt for up to 3 days, I didn’t want to get stuck over in Puerto Galera.

This isn’t to say that one shouldn’t come during the rainy season. Plenty of good diving still going on, and as I like to say, “it doesn’t rain underwater” During the off-season is also when you can find some of the best deals on diving and accommodations and it is definitely much less crowded. As it turned out, I had beautiful weather the entire two weeks that I was there. I seem to be lucky that way

(to be continued)

 

[bill22]

I was at Narita airport in Tokyo in time for a 9:30 AM departure. The flight to Manila is 4 hours and 45 minutes. After arriving on time at 1:15 PM. I processed through Immigration, picked up my bags and was waived through Customs. I found my driver from Club Ocellaris. We were on the road by 2:30.

Rather than take a bus, I decided to opt for a driver to Anilao. I paid $75 US for this. This turned out to be a good idea as I don’t think I would have made it in time to get in a dive that night. Traffic in Manila always seems to be heavy, although there can be lulls. I think by the time I would have gotten a cab to take me to the bus station, gotten to Batangas City and then gotten a jeepney to Anilao, and a trike to Solo where the resort is, it would have been very late! Going direct in this case was the way to go.

We were at the resort in about 3 hours arriving around 5:30 PM. Club Ocellaris, like many of the resorts in the area is built on the side of a very steep hill going down to the water. My bags were carried to my room. While settling into my room and getting unpacked, there was a knock on the door. A young woman who’s name turned out to be Joanne was standing there and asked if I wanted to dive that night. I laughed and said, “that’s what I came for“. She asked what time, I asked for 15 minutes to get ready and she said she would let the divemaster know. 15 minutes later I went down the very steep steps to the equipment area near the water and there I met Peri Paleracio.

Peri has an engineering degree and has worked with the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines. An award-winning underwater photographer in his own right, he’s been diving Anilao for over 10 years. He has his own photography business in Manila, but comes to Anilao every year during the season to guide and work with institutions doing work and research in the area. He also has had the opportunity to work with some of the top underwater photographers in the world, many of whom come to Anilao on a regular basis.

We had a short conversation about my background and experience, he asked me if there was anything in particular I was looking for and what type of shot’s I was looking to get. A discussion about the photo equipment I was using and we were on our way. He let me know that the resort catered to underwater photographers and that I would not have any restrictions placed on me. My gear was loaded on the boat by the boatmen, Buddy and Jeremy who it turns out are brothers, and we were off for my first dive at Koala Reef. At 6:22 PM, less than an hour after arriving, I was in the water starting my first dive.

To be continued….

 

[bill22]

Koala is south of Eagle Point and was about a 10 minute boat ride from the resort. It’s made up soft and hard corals along with some very big rocks. It gradually slopes down to a sandy bottom at around 80 feet. I’m told there usually isn’t much current and it makes an idea night dive. I ended up making two dives here. One on the 1st and another on the 2nd.

The first night as I said we were in the water at 6:22. Water temp was 85F and visibility was as far as my light would reach, which meant over 50 feet. Beyond that it was hard to tell.

I almost immediately spied a nudibranch and was delighted to see that it was one that I did not have a photo of. I took several photos. Then a few of some brightly colored feather stars (crinoids) and then my camera stopped working :11:

I cursed myself immediately as my first thought was that I had been getting close to a full memory card and I had allowed myself to get in such a hurry to get in the water, that I had forgotten to change it :11doh: Then I turned off the camera and continued the dive... what else could I do

Of course this meant that I would have a great dive … among other things I didn’t get to take a photo of was a very nice Warty Frogfish (a small juvenile), a few more species of nudibranchs, various crabs, fish, etc… Plenty of life down there, and I wasn’t getting any photos…. but I would get to make it up a little the following night.

After a short 46 minute dive where I had a maximum depth of 76 feet, we returned to the boat and headed in.

On the way in Peri mentioned that Roger Steene was staying at the resort. For those who perhaps don’t know, Roger Steene is a world famous underwater photographer from Australia. People like Stan Waterman have referred to Roger as being the best underwater macro photographer in the world. He has 11 books. His coffee table books Coral Reefs-Natures Richest Realm (1990) and Coral Seas (1999) are perhaps his two best know works. His Coral Reefs books have sold over a 100,000 copies. I recognized the name immediately as Reef Fish Identification-Tropical Pacific which he is a co-author of, is a book I have myself.

When we got back to the resort, I went up grabbed a quick shower and then went down for dinner. There I met Roger who turned out to be a very down to earth guy who had no end of stories to tell. Here is a guy who has been diving since the 50’s. He’s dived all over the world. Any place I could think of, he could tell me about the diving there. He was also very free with helping my with my own photography and offering advice. One of the nicest guys you could want to meet.

The conversation at dinner every night was very enjoyable for me. It was nice to sit and discuss photography, often going into technical details I hadn’t thought about in years since leaving photography behind in 2001. Roger and Peri both had great stories to tell. Roger said in his opinion that Anilao had some of the best diving in the world. He comes every year there to work for three to four weeks. Coming from someone who had dived pretty much everywhere, I think that carries some weight! Not that other places weren’t worth diving, but for sheer diversity, there was no other place like it!

A little about the food. I said to Peri towards the end of my stay that I should have written down the menu as I went. Peri said that it wasn’t Filipino food per se, but was based on it. There was always rice. There would be soup every night for the first course, always something different. Then the main course would be brought out. Vegetables, fish, chicken, beef. For desert, there would be fresh fruit or cake, or ice cream, always very good.

Joanne’s husband August was the cook and I have to say, it was excellent. The menu seemed to change everyday and the service was the best that I’ve experienced in the Philippines, maybe anywhere. Joanne always seemed to be there to fill my glass when it was empty or to clear my plate to bring out the next course.

After diving Bethlehem, Kirby’s Rock, and Darilaut the next day with Peri and Roger, Peri and I went back to Koala Reef. Me hoping that this time I was going to get a photo of the frogfish.

This dive started at 7:10 PM and lasted 62 minutes. Maximum depth this time was 74 feet and water temperature was again 85F. Visibility also again was as far as my light would shine, 50-60 feet plus.

The dive started off with my getting a shot of a Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray. Roger had suggested earlier in the day about getting shots showing the huge variety of colors and I found myself often following this advice, ending up with photos with the most incredible colors from the huge variety of corals, anemones, and feather stars.

On into the dive along with the usual variety of fish, Peri pointed out two nudibranchs right near to one another. Chromodoris willani they turned out to be. Then there was a little red octopus, then an anemone crab, two lionfish together, a wide assortment of corals, sea pens, a prawn, squid, another new species of flatworm (I’m still working on identifying), porcupinefish, another nudibranch (Halgerda carlsoni), another as yet unidentified nudibranch, a flathead, another nudibranch (Phyllidiella pustulosa), and another nudibranch, another anemone crab, a hermit crab, another new species of flatworm, a huge pufferfish inside a barrel sponge, another crab I haven’t identified yet, another new nudibranch, a huge crab, and an hour had flown by. No sign of the frogfish from the night before, but my air supply said it was time to go up!

To be continued….

 

[Babydamulag]

Hey! Stop stealing our photos!@!@!@! Just kidding...looks awesome, great trip report......for a SQUID!!! LOL Force Protection! Are they crazy at PACOM or what?

 

[bill22]

Hey! Stop stealing our photos!@!@!@! Just kidding...looks awesome, great trip report......for a SQUID!!! LOL Force Protection! Are they crazy at PACOM or what?

The rest of the trip report will be a little more slow in coming. I have a lot of photos to dig through and since I'm a long way from being a marine biologist, identifications on the photos take time to make

I would not argue that there are definitely things that appear to be crazy PACOM however, does make the process "almost" painless now. Everything is done online and the whole thing goes throug an electronic approval process. A lot of the work is already done for you, once you identify your destination. As an example, I don't have to look up the address and phone number of the US Embassy for the country I'm visiting and links are provided to briefs on the specific country you're visiting.

When I was in Bahrain, it was a much bigger pain since everything had to be researched and done yourself.

 

[Zeeman]

Thanks for the report Bill! I want to go back!

Z...

 

[Kupu]

Excellent report, thanks so much for the info. Sounds like you had a great time...good reports like yours make me miss the Philippines when I'm not there.

 

[shugar]

Thanks for the report Bill! I want to go back!

Z...

you're always here... notice you don't get "welcome dinners" anymore? your novelty has worn off...

:rofl:

Jag

 

[bill22]

Thanks for the report Bill! I want to go back!

Z...

What??? :11: You don't live there now? I thought you only went to Australia to make money so you can go back

 

[bill22]

Excellent report, thanks so much for the info. Sounds like you had a great time...good reports like yours make me miss the Philippines when I'm not there.

Thanks! I'm just getting started of course. I've only covered one divesite so far. I still have about 30 more to get through

People who know me know that I ALWAYS have a good time

I miss the Philippines when I'm not there too