Izel
Contributor
This is a bit late but I still have a huge hang-over from our trip in Siquijor. Hang-over in a positive way because I'm still Siquijor home-sick.
Despite the rough boat ride from Dumaguete to Larena (which probably left some of my family members scarred for life) and my bad luck on the 1st resort we went to, the charm of the island, the warm people we met and our awesome experience with the dives and with Siquijor Dive Safari, has more than made up for it.
My family all took Discover Scuba (except for my mom). I was a nervous-wreck because if they will have a bad experience, it will be my fault. Afterall, it was all my idea. Thankfully, they all had a blast! They enjoyed it so much they took another session. Now, they understand now why I'm hooked.
Generally, the dive sites I went to were not teeming with fish like Anilao but it has its own unique merits. The sea was unbelievably quiet above and underwater (at least on San Juan side), the perfect viz makes the site good for macro, the sea grass may be the reason for some of the unique critters I saw on my dives.
Maite Point
I saw a snake eel on the prowl. It was around 3 feet long. Has orange head, white body with black stripes mimicking a sea snake. I saw several ornate ghost pipe fishes (the black ones), spotted garden eels, black pipe fish, anemone shrimps, porcelain crabs, boxer shrimps, squat shrimp, moray eel, yellow-stripped pipefish and nudis. I also saw congregating short-fin turkey fishes. They look like the dwarf version of the lion fish http://www.fishbase.com/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=4912&what=species. I saw 3 soft-ball sized cowrie in one area with their black caumouflage that covered their very pretty shells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C...pentis.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. On our safety stop, we saw two shy mandarin fishes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchiropus_splendidus_2_Luc_Viatour.jpg.
In the next few days, we dove the Coco Grove house reef, Sanctuary and Shower Point. I had an underwater cave adventure; saw big school of parrot fish (I didn't know they school) in the sanctuary; we saw a snake eel in a borrow http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=8054&what=species. We also saw a flambouyant Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) which I learned afterwards, is one of the largest of all nudis. The one we saw was at least a foot long, swimming by whirling its skirt, hence the name Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines.
But the best was the night dive on my birthday! There was a moon, clear water (not murky like Anilao), shallow slope and white sand that made it easy to spot things. Shore entry and we were just a few kicks away when I spotted a Sole http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?StartRow=0&ID=22544&what=species&TotRec=5. It has two big eyes and a weird nose.
After that, it was just a barage of sea creatures left, right and center! There were several big, red, flat worms the size of a pancake. Which, later I found out, was another type of nudibranch called, Forskal's Pleubranchus. It has white markings on its back shaped like a fist Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines. I saw boxer shrimps, spider crabs, hermit crabs, puffer and porcupine fish. The cardinal fishes replaced the damsels in the landscape. Even the once boring sea urchins were in action. They were grazing on the sea grass. We also saw a crocodile fish that has an awesome caumouflage http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/Pict...ession=&lme=&StartRow=-1&TotRec=7&SortBy=iucn. I saw the ordinary shrimps we put on the sinigang. They have bioluminescent red spots and the others, blue spots, on their backs. There was a fish net, by the way. Good thing I was paying attention.
But as if they were saving the best for last, on the way back, Bismark, the DM, pointed his light on two long fish resting on a rock. When our light got closer, the fish were remoras resting on the back of a big Green Sea Turtle! It was just 5 feet away. If it was air, we were sharing the same breathing space! Well, I was not breathing.... My first turtle and on a night dive to boot! It was twice the size of an office table but you can tell it was young because the carapace is still clean. It was resting on top of staghorn corals that it flattened like a nest. Solve!
It's ironic, but it was already visual overload. And on the way back, on a coral, I saw this glowing red ball the size of a coconut with fat red spikes. Its some kind of sea urchin from outer space. And on the same small coral, there was a sea cucumber, lion fish, trumphet fish and an angry crab (it was standing on it hind legs trying to look scary). Then at the shore, may humabol pang banded sea snake (Ano ba??? ok na!).
Siquijor Dive Safari
Tubod, San Juan, Siquijor
Tata Relacion (Owner, Dive Instructor)
+63 09088642570
Despite the rough boat ride from Dumaguete to Larena (which probably left some of my family members scarred for life) and my bad luck on the 1st resort we went to, the charm of the island, the warm people we met and our awesome experience with the dives and with Siquijor Dive Safari, has more than made up for it.
My family all took Discover Scuba (except for my mom). I was a nervous-wreck because if they will have a bad experience, it will be my fault. Afterall, it was all my idea. Thankfully, they all had a blast! They enjoyed it so much they took another session. Now, they understand now why I'm hooked.
Generally, the dive sites I went to were not teeming with fish like Anilao but it has its own unique merits. The sea was unbelievably quiet above and underwater (at least on San Juan side), the perfect viz makes the site good for macro, the sea grass may be the reason for some of the unique critters I saw on my dives.
Maite Point
I saw a snake eel on the prowl. It was around 3 feet long. Has orange head, white body with black stripes mimicking a sea snake. I saw several ornate ghost pipe fishes (the black ones), spotted garden eels, black pipe fish, anemone shrimps, porcelain crabs, boxer shrimps, squat shrimp, moray eel, yellow-stripped pipefish and nudis. I also saw congregating short-fin turkey fishes. They look like the dwarf version of the lion fish http://www.fishbase.com/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=4912&what=species. I saw 3 soft-ball sized cowrie in one area with their black caumouflage that covered their very pretty shells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C...pentis.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. On our safety stop, we saw two shy mandarin fishes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchiropus_splendidus_2_Luc_Viatour.jpg.
In the next few days, we dove the Coco Grove house reef, Sanctuary and Shower Point. I had an underwater cave adventure; saw big school of parrot fish (I didn't know they school) in the sanctuary; we saw a snake eel in a borrow http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=8054&what=species. We also saw a flambouyant Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) which I learned afterwards, is one of the largest of all nudis. The one we saw was at least a foot long, swimming by whirling its skirt, hence the name Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines.
But the best was the night dive on my birthday! There was a moon, clear water (not murky like Anilao), shallow slope and white sand that made it easy to spot things. Shore entry and we were just a few kicks away when I spotted a Sole http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?StartRow=0&ID=22544&what=species&TotRec=5. It has two big eyes and a weird nose.
After that, it was just a barage of sea creatures left, right and center! There were several big, red, flat worms the size of a pancake. Which, later I found out, was another type of nudibranch called, Forskal's Pleubranchus. It has white markings on its back shaped like a fist Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines. I saw boxer shrimps, spider crabs, hermit crabs, puffer and porcupine fish. The cardinal fishes replaced the damsels in the landscape. Even the once boring sea urchins were in action. They were grazing on the sea grass. We also saw a crocodile fish that has an awesome caumouflage http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/Pict...ession=&lme=&StartRow=-1&TotRec=7&SortBy=iucn. I saw the ordinary shrimps we put on the sinigang. They have bioluminescent red spots and the others, blue spots, on their backs. There was a fish net, by the way. Good thing I was paying attention.
But as if they were saving the best for last, on the way back, Bismark, the DM, pointed his light on two long fish resting on a rock. When our light got closer, the fish were remoras resting on the back of a big Green Sea Turtle! It was just 5 feet away. If it was air, we were sharing the same breathing space! Well, I was not breathing.... My first turtle and on a night dive to boot! It was twice the size of an office table but you can tell it was young because the carapace is still clean. It was resting on top of staghorn corals that it flattened like a nest. Solve!
It's ironic, but it was already visual overload. And on the way back, on a coral, I saw this glowing red ball the size of a coconut with fat red spikes. Its some kind of sea urchin from outer space. And on the same small coral, there was a sea cucumber, lion fish, trumphet fish and an angry crab (it was standing on it hind legs trying to look scary). Then at the shore, may humabol pang banded sea snake (Ano ba??? ok na!).
Siquijor Dive Safari
Tubod, San Juan, Siquijor
Tata Relacion (Owner, Dive Instructor)
+63 09088642570
