shugar
Contributor
After getting back from Boracay, the weather continued to be absolutely fantastic and the family and I decided that we wanted some vacation time off.
The wife and child wanted a pool, for a change, and the choices were Subic or Anilao (place-with-pool). On the way to MOA on Friday I remembered Acacia had a pool and that it was a pretty nice place based on Penn's pictures (granted that half of Penn's pictures had him surrounded by about a half-dozen, half-naked models while half-submerged in the pool half-drunk... Penn's a half-lucky bugger... but I digress).
We made inquiries through Penn and while I was at the ad agency listening to them tell me of what their plans were for the upcoming NATCON pitch I made final arrangements for the weekend - we were off to Anilao!!!
Overall Acacia is a very nice place - expensive by Anilao standards - but nice... nice that what was supposed to be an intro review for this trip report turned out to be a comprehensive review and trip report on its own. It can be found here --> Checked out Acacia Resort and...
Dives on the day we arrived (Nov. 14, 2009) were to be with Oliver (owner of Acacia) and Migs (his classmate and friend from Enderun)... Penn was our DM, spotter and guide for the 2 dives. Oliver just got a spiffy new Huggyfoot housing for his camera and was raring to give it a go in the water.
DIVE #1: Secret Bay
Max Depth: 63ft
Bottom Time: 73 mins
Acacia's downside is it's far from most of the dive sites - it's further north than AquaV by about 50 meters.
When we got to Secret Bay Penn stands up and gives his briefing: "ok... mga photog, camera mo, buddy mo ha... tayo (points to Migs) wala tayong camera, so wala tayong buddy... pag naubos hangin mo, matanda ka na. Ok?" Hahahahahaha! I love Anilao briefings so much! Hahahahahaha!
There weren't as many critters in Secret Bay this time compared to my last time although I did spend a good deal of time getting used to the camera and its settings once again.
Penn's a pretty good spotter... he found us a couple octopi, some shrimps, some sawblades in the whitestuff and other nice things.
We chased after an octopus for a little bit and I decided to call it a dive and went up... I knew Penn and Oli were going to follow soon as they'd been down as long as I and would be low on air as well.
I was on the boat with Migs for 5 minutes before they two popped their heads out of the water - screaming! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
RHINOPIAS! RHINOPIAS!!!
Penn found a rhinopias (weedy scorpionfish) right under the boat at about 12 feet just as they were coming up. They spent the last few minutes taking shots of it... I missed it by just a few minutes!!! ARGH!!!!
We pulled out and headed off for a surface interval at Balayon... roughly 30 meters south of what last we called "Secret Garden".
DIVE #2: Balayon
Max Depth: 54ft
Bottom Time: 49 mins
2 things marked this dive: Sand and Current.
Grabe. Kapagod.
We were going headlong into a current that would have otherwise swept us to Mainit. It was tiring, uneventful and otherwise not the greatest.
We did manage to get a few shots off and get some interesting stuff - but it was a chore to move from clump of cauliflower to clump of cauliflower in the breeze...
So at about 45 minutes I decided to thumb the dive. Migs was already on the boat when I got there and shortly thereafter Penn and Oli came up.
Migs amazingly was passed out and snoring by the time we were passing Planet Dive - me I was starving and looking forward to checking out how food was at this new resort...
Refer to previous blog for verdict.
It was a great dive day!
The wife and child wanted a pool, for a change, and the choices were Subic or Anilao (place-with-pool). On the way to MOA on Friday I remembered Acacia had a pool and that it was a pretty nice place based on Penn's pictures (granted that half of Penn's pictures had him surrounded by about a half-dozen, half-naked models while half-submerged in the pool half-drunk... Penn's a half-lucky bugger... but I digress).
We made inquiries through Penn and while I was at the ad agency listening to them tell me of what their plans were for the upcoming NATCON pitch I made final arrangements for the weekend - we were off to Anilao!!!
Overall Acacia is a very nice place - expensive by Anilao standards - but nice... nice that what was supposed to be an intro review for this trip report turned out to be a comprehensive review and trip report on its own. It can be found here --> Checked out Acacia Resort and...
Dives on the day we arrived (Nov. 14, 2009) were to be with Oliver (owner of Acacia) and Migs (his classmate and friend from Enderun)... Penn was our DM, spotter and guide for the 2 dives. Oliver just got a spiffy new Huggyfoot housing for his camera and was raring to give it a go in the water.
DIVE #1: Secret Bay
Max Depth: 63ft
Bottom Time: 73 mins
Acacia's downside is it's far from most of the dive sites - it's further north than AquaV by about 50 meters.
When we got to Secret Bay Penn stands up and gives his briefing: "ok... mga photog, camera mo, buddy mo ha... tayo (points to Migs) wala tayong camera, so wala tayong buddy... pag naubos hangin mo, matanda ka na. Ok?" Hahahahahaha! I love Anilao briefings so much! Hahahahahaha!
There weren't as many critters in Secret Bay this time compared to my last time although I did spend a good deal of time getting used to the camera and its settings once again.
Penn's a pretty good spotter... he found us a couple octopi, some shrimps, some sawblades in the whitestuff and other nice things.
We chased after an octopus for a little bit and I decided to call it a dive and went up... I knew Penn and Oli were going to follow soon as they'd been down as long as I and would be low on air as well.
I was on the boat with Migs for 5 minutes before they two popped their heads out of the water - screaming! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
RHINOPIAS! RHINOPIAS!!!
Penn found a rhinopias (weedy scorpionfish) right under the boat at about 12 feet just as they were coming up. They spent the last few minutes taking shots of it... I missed it by just a few minutes!!! ARGH!!!!
We pulled out and headed off for a surface interval at Balayon... roughly 30 meters south of what last we called "Secret Garden".
DIVE #2: Balayon
Max Depth: 54ft
Bottom Time: 49 mins
2 things marked this dive: Sand and Current.
Grabe. Kapagod.
We were going headlong into a current that would have otherwise swept us to Mainit. It was tiring, uneventful and otherwise not the greatest.
We did manage to get a few shots off and get some interesting stuff - but it was a chore to move from clump of cauliflower to clump of cauliflower in the breeze...
So at about 45 minutes I decided to thumb the dive. Migs was already on the boat when I got there and shortly thereafter Penn and Oli came up.
Migs amazingly was passed out and snoring by the time we were passing Planet Dive - me I was starving and looking forward to checking out how food was at this new resort...
Refer to previous blog for verdict.
It was a great dive day!
