2000 Chapbook

Major dive areas are concentrated around Batangas, Mindoro, Palawan, and the Visayas.... The reefs here are among the most diverse and most threatened in the world, supporting more than 2000 species of fish (the Great Barrier Reef, by comparison, supports around 1500); however, up to 70 percent of Philippine reefs are dead or dying.... The best diving is in the Sulu Sea, which can only be accessed by live-aboard....

Anilao, Batangas Province

Dive 7000, April 1999, Jim N. Parkhill (Scuba7056@aol.com), McAllen, TX. Vis: 70-125 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Weather: rainy. Restrictions: None. Most sites above 130 ft. Nothing special for photogs, no processing, VCR for video. Anilao has to be a premier site for sheer diversity of small marine life and macro photography. In first 2 minutes off the dock I saw a banded sea snake, a cuttlefish, an unattached remora, a marble ray next to a giant clam. Crinoids, anemones, tunicates and soft corals astound. Apple's Reef like manicured gardens. Many critters good finds elsewhere are commonplace; Nudibranchs of every color and pattern often 2, 3 or 4 together), eels (moray, snowflake, zebra, spotted, etc.), ribbon eels. Beatrice Rock a cluster of condos for eels....so much slithering it looks as if the rock itself is moving. Banded pipefish, ghost pipefish, leaf fish, cowries, murex shells, mantis shrimp, octopi. Photographers had to stay alert for "meanies" stonefish and scorpion fish. Lionfish in groups. Pinnatus Batfish, free swimming frogfish. Cathedral, is home for every reef fish imaginable; solid wall of fish. Can be done as a shore dive. Kirby's, Twin Rocks and Devil's Rock. House reef: night dive teems with weird cucumbers and worms, pipefish, the cuttlefish so big I though it was a rock. Diving from native outrigger "bancas." Lunches were cookouts postcard worthy; beaches on beautiful Maricaban Island. Dive 7000 Resort is a laid back little place run by Dr. Tim Sevilla and his extended family. Rooms modest (no A/C or hot water) but clean and comfortable. Food excellent. Staff friendly and efficient. Dive staff took charge of rinsing and hanging gear. Divemaster Sammy a good spotter I call him "Radar." $105/person/day all inclusive. Evenings entertainment consisted of video movies, listening to the resident kids sing to videoke, poring over fish books or waxing poetic with other divers.

Legaspi City & Donsol, Sorsogon

Donsol Whale Shark Operators/Mayon International Hotel, May 1999, Jim N. Parkhill (Scuba7056@aol.com), McAllen, TX. Vis: 15-40 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Rainy, Restrictions: No scuba gear, no touching whale sharks, no strobes. Other than low viz and prohibition against strobes, photogs can get good shots of whale sharks if they can free dive well. Our group made short flight from Manila to Legaspi City. First stop, Mayon Hotel, high above Legaspi with magnificent view of Mayon Volcano. Hour and a half drive to the fishing village of Donsol in Sorsogon province, thru picturesque countryside and small villages. Orientation at the Tourist Center in Donsol, then board native outrigger "bacca." Short ride to beach for lunch, then four hours cruising a mile offshore. Five encounters with whale sharks 17 to 20 feet. Most snorkeling encounters lasted 3-6 minutes. Brief but exciting. Hotel owners/hosts Ralph and Tess Alejandro regaled us with an elegant seven-course gourmet dinner. Next morning seven whale shark encounters. Whale sharks were larger: 5 were 25-30 foot. One 40 feet. Seas were calmer, vis 40-50 feet. Average encounter in water 8 minutes and one longer gave us time to get eyeball to eyeball, mouth to mouth. Trip arranged by Scuba World in Manila. Package included round trip air, 2 nights at the Mayon Hotel, all ground transportation, all meals and the whale shark excursion both days.

Sabang Beach, Mindoro

Scuba World/Tropicana, May 1999, Jim N. Parkhill (Scuba7056@aol.com), McAllen, TX. Vis: 50-70 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Do whatever the divemaster does; usually up at 60 minutes. After 3 weeks of heavy diving, looking to kick back and sample the San Miguel beer and the Tanduay rum. Sabang Beach is near Puerto Galera on Mindoro, a short ferry ride across the channel from Batangas City. Funky village popular with backpackers and budget travelers. Bare bones rooms in town $8/day, food cheap. More upscale Tropicana: hot water, air-conditioning and the in room fridge stocked with cold San Miguel, best food in town: US $25 per night. Better beaches are a long walk or short ride from town. Sabang Beach a "guys place," reminiscent of Phuket, Thailand might have been years ago. Main drag along the beach is four blocks long; small hotels, rooming houses, souvenir shops, eateries, watering holes, 4 or 5 girlie bars. Every fourth establishment is a dive shop. Scuba World: two Australian couples getting certified and me. I rented everything down to wetsuit, mask and fins. Cost/dive, including gear, $25. First dive at unremarkable wreck in the middle of busy harbor sans diver flag or buoy. As I was struggling to get down, the Batangas ferry passed overhead. Most exciting thing I saw on that dive were the whirling ferry props ten feet above. Hole in the Wall and The Canyons: similar to Anilao because of profusion of crinoids. Abundance and size of lionfish and Oriental sweetlips impressive. Huge Titan Triggerfish the meanest SOB: pursued us relentlessly dive bombing and nipping at fins, face mask and fingers. Divemaster unsheathed his knife and began slashing toward the fish, so the fish left me and went after him. I've been surrounded by sharks, but nothing ever frightened me as much as that crazy Triggerfish. Tip #1: Traveling overland outside Manila can be a hassle and the drives to places like Batangas City ferry terminal or Anilao can be long and hard. Buses are inexpensive but pay more for comfort, convenience and safety. Wonderful driver charged $95/day for any distance or time. He has a van that will carry dive and camera gear. Call Larry Zaragoza at the Philippines Village Hotel in Pasay City: 833-80-80. Scuba World's Manila office gets good discounts on hotels. Mine at the posh Manila Hotel was 40% off. Consider having Scuba World book all hotel requirements in the Philippines. Tip#3: Some local airlines are notorious for excess baggage charges. Consider buying a Philippines Airlines "Flying Sportsman" pass for $15 that entitles you two years exemption from excess baggage charges.....then fly PAL exclusively. Tip#4: If you plan to do the Big Blue live-aboard, consider allowing 2 or 3 extra days to enjoy the land based diving and the beaches of Palawan, the Philippines most pristine island. Tip#5: Don't come home without trying the buco pie, the pili nuts, the lechon asado and the Tanduay rum on the rocks with a squeeze of calamancia. (Telephone +63 6332-9-1792 or +63 6332-412-2275; Tel/Fax +63 63322-231-6009)

Cabilao, Bohol

Scotty's Dive Center, November 1998, José Crespo & Virginia Steffl, Mankato, MN. Vis: 100 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Flew from Manila to Cebu. Dove Cabilao, 2 hours from Cebu. Only boat in area. Reefs excellent, the best in 150 dives around the Caribbean and Philippines. Beautiful wall and coral cover. Visual overload. Rainbow of coral. Huge anemone baskets, sea fans, soft corals. Large schools of jacks, angels, lionfish, scorpion and stonefish, ribbon eels. Three blue Man of Wars 2 feet across. We followed these critters on a wall with current and the abundant fish life around. Scotty's is as good as it gets. Large banka outrigger boat we had to ourselves. Three divemasters and three boat people took us over. Archie and Maning were helpful; you didn't have to touch anything. This trip blows away any of our Caribbean trips. Shangrila resort in Mactan, Cebu is a 5 star hotel and Scotty's Dive Center is located here. Many dive sites within 15 minutes of Mactan, Cebu but boat day trips to neighboring Bohol a must. Cebu is one hour from Manila and there are 6-8 trips daily. (Telephone +63 32-231-0288, Ext 68846; Fax +63 32-231-5075)

San Pablo, Anilao

Dive & Trek, January 1999, José J. Suarez, Shawnee Mission, KS. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Weather: sunny. Water: calm. No restrictions on me, but they are strict on open water divers about not doing deep dives and night dives. Good operation. Two hour drive south of Manila to the Port of Anilao. When you arrive at the Port, you will be picked up by a ferry (banka) to take you to the resort (20 minutes). Resort is beautiful. Huts are thatched materials, and they have good fans. Security is great! Resort has two piers from where you can take "bankas" to sites. You can shore dive in front. Dive equipment is very good, food is great. Corals in great shape, lots of critters, moray eels, parrot fish. Staff makes you feel like family! They bought a old Russian Spy ship and converted it into a live-aboard. Ship has been beautifully renovated. (Third trip to the Philippines in the last two years. I have dived with different operations; this is the best). Chito M. Aquino, the Manager, and his staff do a great job! (Telephone +63 833-8031; Fax +63 833-8020)