Trip Report Anilao/Puerto Galera

[bill22]

Sorry about the wait.... Here are some more photos from Bethlehem... I'll be working on writing the next section today...

 

[bill22]

On June 3rd, my second full dive day we went to Bethlehem again for the morning dive where current was running fairly strong, for our second dive there. For our second dive of the day we went to Balanoy which was a short (maybe 10-15 minute) boat ride away from Bethlehem. We tied up to the shore, Peri broke out snacks, (which he always seemed to have ) while we spent our surface interval swapping stories about some of the places that we had dived. Peri with over 2000 dives throughout the Philippines, had lots of stories and of course Roger having dived all over the world for the last 50 years had a few too

From the shore Balanoy slopes off and down. The bottom is sand and coral rubble, broken up by little outcrops of rock and coral often covered in crinoids. You can go very deep here if that is what you want. At a 112 feet this ended up being the deepest dive that I made in Anilao. It continued to slope down and we could have went much deeper. We went through a rather distinct thermocline about 60 feet down. Water temp dropped to 81F. Visibility was 60+ feet.

You had to look out for urchins, especially in the shallower depths. Lot's of life, which was the norm not just in Anilao, but pretty much everywhere I've dived in the Philippines. That's one of the the things I can say about diving in the Philippines compared to other places that I've dived. For sheer bio-diversity I have yet to dive anyplace better. Not to say other places aren't good, just that (at least so far) the Philippines are better

Lots of damselfish, especially it seemed the Neon Damsel which I see here in Japan also in the summer months. A small school of coral shrimpfish came by, swimming in a vertical position. It's always interesting to me how they do that and all with apparent perfect synchronization. I spotted and photographed two filefish swimming together. I had never seen this particular species of filefish before and have been unable to identify them in any of my books. Also photographed a nice zebra lionfish as it hunted. There were plenty of lizardfish usually perched on a rock and apparently waiting for a meal to swim by. Striped catfish, which I seem to see everywhere (including here in Japan), sea cucumbers, the usual assortment of damselfish, some schools of jacks and trevally swimming by in the distance and as I mentioned earlier, lots of sea urchins, especially in the shallower depths. Having been "stuck", I pay particular attention to those Right at the end of the dive, current started to pickup, but by then I was ready to get out.

To be continued....

 

[jigo]

nice pics Bill! i am wondering what those plastic bottles are for? the ones you guide had clipped to a d-ring.

 

[bill22]

nice pics Bill! i am wondering what those plastic bottles are for? the ones you guide had clipped to a d-ring.

Thanks. I've almost completed two more dive sites. Hopefully I can get the next installment done tonight.

Those are collection bottles.

 

[clgsamson]

collection bottles? for what? and why would he do such a thing?

 

[bill22]

collection bottles? for what? and why would he do such a thing?

Because he works with University of the Philippines on some of their projects. Scientific collection, not for commercial purposes or anything like that.

I should have added that I just received a book, "Nudibranch Behavior" by David W. Behrens. I ordered it just before my trip. On the acknowledgements page Peri along with Boy Venus and Club Ocellaris are thanked for "contributing [ed] significantly to our successful photographic endeavors". The people at Club Ocellaris work closely with many people in the academic and scientific community not to mention many photographers. They wouldn't just go around and "collect"

 

[bill22]

Thanks. I've almost completed two more dive sites. Hopefully I can get the next installment done tonight.

Just finished up photos, but I have to work tomorrow. It's late here on this side of the planet Should have the next installment finished tomorrow night.

 

[olyvtx]

very cool reports Bill! 85degree water?? Wow! I am so excited I'm gonna be there again July12th! In March my divemaster cut short many of the dives coz he got 'cold'! that shouldn't happen this next time

 

[bill22]

On June 3rd after diving Bethlehem and Balanoy in the morning we went back to the resort for lunch and to take a long break through the heat of the afternoon. I burn easily so I was not adverse to this plan, which we pretty much followed most of the time I dived there

This also gave me the opportunity to put my batteries on charge for a few hours so that they would be topped off for my remaining two dives. This was especially important since we would be making a night dive before coming back.

The first site was Dead Palm which was about a 20 minute boat ride from the resort southeast of Koala just past Arthurs Rock. This is a beautiful site with hard and soft corals, sponges, and the usual assortment of crinoids. Many small reef fish and anemones.

We left the resort around 4:30 and we were in the water at 4:50 PM. Right at the beginning of the dive I got a shot of a nice Blue-spotted ribbontail ray. This site also had a nice assortment of anemones and anemonefish, with porcelain crabs. And of course nudibranchs to add to my collection of photos

A nice dive. Maximum depth was 91 feet, average was 27 feet. Water temp was 84F and vis was 65+feet. We were out at 5:55PM for a 65 minute dive.

We then moved southeast down the coast. We were back in the water and our second dive started at 6:51PM just as it was getting dark. This is I feel the optimum time to start a night dive. Still light when you start, but full dark by the end Or on the other end, full dark when you start, but the suns up at the end

The area we started our dive was near a small sunken barge. We started there and then worked our way towards Twin Rocks. There was a very slight current, but it was going in the right direction, so no worries there Nice corals, and again plenty of reef fish. Some barracuda swimming in the distance and some nice size jacks.

Along with the usual assortment, I saw a nice decorator crab, zebra lionfish, squirrelfish, a Stumpy-spined Cuttlefish (the first I've seen), rabbitfish, scorpionfish a half dozen different species of nudibranchs, including one that had just laid an egg ribbon. One of the coolest things I saw during this dive was a butterflyfish with a cleaner shrimp that had hitched a ride Of course there were the giant clams also, which I had heard about, but this was the first that I had seen

Maximum depth on this dive was 69 feet with an average depth of 28 feet. Vis was as far as my light would shine, probably 50+ feet and water temp was again 84F. We were out at 8:17PM for a dive time of 86 minutes. A very good dive

We headed back to the resort. I took my camera while the rest of my gear was carried ashore. I usually liked to take care of my camera myself. After rinsing it, I took it up to my room and sat it on a towel on a table on my balcony, while I took a quick shower. After my shower, I would come out and dry the housing off, before opening it to take out the camera. I'd wipe down the strobe and then put it on charge.

I usually took my camera, dive computer and dive log with me to dinner each night. I would catch up my log and review photos from the day. This was my usual nightly routine.

Dinner always started with fresh soup, then the main course would be brought out and then always dessert I can't say enough about how great the food was there

After dinner I'd finish my log (the food always started coming out before I could finish ). Then I would go back to my room, put my camera battery on charge for the night, and hit the sack. I slept very well while I was in Anilao

To be continued.....

 

[bill22]

A few more photos from Twin Rocks....