Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Nothing like an 8-hour time zone change to mess up your body clock . . .
GREETINGS FROM PUERTO GALERA - I'm here on what's know as a FAM (familiarization) trip as a guest of the resort. So this isn't quite like a typical dive trip. There are 20 other shop owners, instructors, and industry folks here as well as a few "regular guests. And the idea is to see what's what and decide if I'd ever want to bring a group here. It's been interesting so far and I'll share my thoughts more fully when I get around to writing the trip resort once the trip is completed and I'm back in Los Angeles.
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS - The resort itself - Atlantis Puerto Galera - is very nice and very well-run. Staff has been terrific, they're very well organized, the food's been very good, and the dive operation runs well. The diving has been so-so IMHO. This is mainly due to water conditions so some of this is just luck of the draw. We had a LOT of rain the first two days here (as in "tropical torrential downpours") and that's really mucked up the vis as well as cooled the water down a bit. Average is is running 30 feet or less with lots of particulate in the water, and the water temps have been generally around 78, although we had a 75-degree dive yesterday. I'm OK in my 3mm wetsuit and 3mm hood but others are opting for 5mm suits.
THE DIVE SITES - One nice thing is that the dive sites are all close, no more than a 10-minute run from the resort. However, there are a bunch of other dive operators here, so you definitely sometimes have a bit of a traffic jam. But the general plan is to leave at 8:30, 10:30, 2:00 and 4:00 and you come back to Atlantis in-between each dive. That works out well on a number of levels and means you can pass on one dive without messing up your entire day.
THE CRITTERS - Definitely more crinoids than I've ever seen in one place before. Lots of fish, some of which are new to me so I'll be spending some time in front of my fish ID book on the way home. Like I said, viz has been not great and we've had to deal with some currents. But that doesn't stop us from taking pictures . . .
THE PICTURES - I'm posting a Daily Top 10 every day. This is the link to the general Philippines folder, and then you can click on whatever day you want to see. As I add stuff each day, the new ones will show up as an option as well. You can click on any individual pix in the collage to see it full screen: PHILIPPINES DAILY TOP 10 PIX.
THE REST OF THE PLAN - Since Atlantis has two resorts (and a liveaboard), we'll visit the second resort as well. That means taking a day off Tuesday to drive back up to Manila, and then fly down to Dumaguete, where we'll spend three days diving. So one downside of this is that there's a lot of schlepping once you complete the plane ride (21 hours on United but a dozen or so on Philippines Air as a non-stop). It's doable but, as many of you know, I'm a fan of plopping down in one place and then using that as a hub if you want to go elsewhere. But keep checking out FaceBook or SmugMug for the daily pix.
OTHER QUICKIES - Avalon Cleanup is February 22, Chamber Day goes live March 1, and Divers Day at the Aquarium of the pacific is March 14. More details forthcoming.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and keep an eye out for photos from the Philippines!!!
- Ken
GREETINGS FROM PUERTO GALERA - I'm here on what's know as a FAM (familiarization) trip as a guest of the resort. So this isn't quite like a typical dive trip. There are 20 other shop owners, instructors, and industry folks here as well as a few "regular guests. And the idea is to see what's what and decide if I'd ever want to bring a group here. It's been interesting so far and I'll share my thoughts more fully when I get around to writing the trip resort once the trip is completed and I'm back in Los Angeles.
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS - The resort itself - Atlantis Puerto Galera - is very nice and very well-run. Staff has been terrific, they're very well organized, the food's been very good, and the dive operation runs well. The diving has been so-so IMHO. This is mainly due to water conditions so some of this is just luck of the draw. We had a LOT of rain the first two days here (as in "tropical torrential downpours") and that's really mucked up the vis as well as cooled the water down a bit. Average is is running 30 feet or less with lots of particulate in the water, and the water temps have been generally around 78, although we had a 75-degree dive yesterday. I'm OK in my 3mm wetsuit and 3mm hood but others are opting for 5mm suits.
THE DIVE SITES - One nice thing is that the dive sites are all close, no more than a 10-minute run from the resort. However, there are a bunch of other dive operators here, so you definitely sometimes have a bit of a traffic jam. But the general plan is to leave at 8:30, 10:30, 2:00 and 4:00 and you come back to Atlantis in-between each dive. That works out well on a number of levels and means you can pass on one dive without messing up your entire day.
THE CRITTERS - Definitely more crinoids than I've ever seen in one place before. Lots of fish, some of which are new to me so I'll be spending some time in front of my fish ID book on the way home. Like I said, viz has been not great and we've had to deal with some currents. But that doesn't stop us from taking pictures . . .
THE PICTURES - I'm posting a Daily Top 10 every day. This is the link to the general Philippines folder, and then you can click on whatever day you want to see. As I add stuff each day, the new ones will show up as an option as well. You can click on any individual pix in the collage to see it full screen: PHILIPPINES DAILY TOP 10 PIX.
THE REST OF THE PLAN - Since Atlantis has two resorts (and a liveaboard), we'll visit the second resort as well. That means taking a day off Tuesday to drive back up to Manila, and then fly down to Dumaguete, where we'll spend three days diving. So one downside of this is that there's a lot of schlepping once you complete the plane ride (21 hours on United but a dozen or so on Philippines Air as a non-stop). It's doable but, as many of you know, I'm a fan of plopping down in one place and then using that as a hub if you want to go elsewhere. But keep checking out FaceBook or SmugMug for the daily pix.
OTHER QUICKIES - Avalon Cleanup is February 22, Chamber Day goes live March 1, and Divers Day at the Aquarium of the pacific is March 14. More details forthcoming.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and keep an eye out for photos from the Philippines!!!
- Ken
