Hello from the Center of Global Marine Biodiversity

[PinayDiver]

And I mean the Philippines (its Verde Passage being the "center of the center" of global marine biodiversity, yes?).
I'm new to the forum so I guess I'll start here.
I’ve been diving for only six years (the decade before that was focused more on the hiking bit until my trekking group members started lying low to start families ).
The easy dives of Anilao in Batangas being only two hours away, I was quite content with my open water NAUI certification (even the littlest anemone shrimp makes me happy) but maybe around two years later I had to get a PADI advanced certification just so I won’t miss out on the night diving from a live-aboard.
My favorite live-aboard destination in the country would be (no surprise to Filipino divers) the drop-offs of Tubbataha Reefs where I saw my first manta ray (on the last dive of the last day). Don’t mind traveling a long way for even a brief sighting. I once rode in a bus for 12 hours to get to Masbate and this current-crazy site named Ticao Bowl, which traps the plankton that lures the mantas. My most recent manta encounter since was in Malapascua’s Monad Shoal (where thresher sharks regularly make a 6 a.m. appearance.) Microlife in Anilao, wrecks in Coron, giants in the Sulu Seas—I’m obviously spoiled for choice and happy to be where I am as a relatively newbie diver. I’m kind of a late bloomer and so I'm glad there's a venue like this and I do look forward to learning from (and I'm sure being entertained by ) the experiences and expertise of the people here.

[Sarah]

Welcome Lu-Anne!

Readers, she is giving you just a small taste of both the high voltage and macro mania the 7,107 Islands of the Philippines has to offer.

Let's see, anemone shrimp....that would be Periclimenes Mangnificus, Tenuipes and sometime Brevicarpalis.

[PinayDiver]

Oooh scientific names. How did you know that would get me excited?
My good fortune was that my initial instruction was with this guy who insisted to his open-water class that gunning after a sighting of sharks and rays was understandable but we risk missing everything else. On our check-out dive, he leads his bright-eyed group to encircle this tube anemone. You would have sensed the collective “huh?” He extended a gloved finger, and there it was—a transparent shrimp with colored spots. Because we were blank slates, so to speak, that made an impression. Look closer, there’s likely something to see there. And to ease the frustration of naming what we see, our batch got Alan T. White’s Philippine Coral Reefs (A Natural History Guide). An excellent reference for those shopping for one. I still have my battered copy.
Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here!

[bojimbs]

Welcome Lu!!!

Sorry haven't been logging in for the past days...weeks more likely. It's crunch time at work,and i've Dory-like all this time.

Uh-oh Diver Chick, I think you've just opened Pandora's box right there. Nothing gets Pinay Divers blood moving than scientific names thrown at her from an MP5.

I've been trying to convince this lovely young lady to purse a secondary career as a Divemaster as I am utterly in awe how she can rattle those species as if she were Jacques Cousteau's grand-daughter herself.

Maybe diver chick and I can finally change your mind, eh Lu?

Oh and by the way, to anyone interested, it was her article that I copied in one of the threads of this forum about Anilao, batangas resorts.

Dive safe my friend!!

Oh, i've just acquired a new sport...riding motorcycles!! Fellow Dive Instructor Allan Umali and I are promoting a new recreational activity: Ride and Dive. We take our bikes to Anilao for the day, and try to preach the virtues of diving through PADI Discovery Diving. We're back home at around 3 pm the same day. Perfect for our nagging better halves! Hahahahaha

bojimbs

[Sarah]

In that case, the red fringed batfish is Platax Pinnatus, the orange spot filefish is Oxymonocanthus Longirostrus and the Emperor Angel is Pomacanthus Imperator.



Our publisher is looking for a resort to review in Anilao. I am so jealous, lol.

He's working on a review of Coco Beach Resort in P.G.

[PinayDiver]

Thanks for the triple-exclamation mark welcome, Jimbo!

You’ve always been so encouraging with us, newbies (I know, I know, even after a hundred dives, I still feel like a beginner, I just do.) And, let me take it down a few notches, I only remember (and not everytime) the common names! Like most everyone else, I go book-diving for the scientific names (gasp).

Divemaster? Uhm, it took me long enough to get an advance certification, Sir

Your new Ride-and-Dive style sounds cool…and challenging. Why, your students can’t hitch with you anymore. And I wonder how you haul your diving gear. On the subject of new hobby, our friend Jay Ortiz’s is Dive-and-Fly, kiteboarding that is. He waits for the wind to pick up while his wife and the rest of us girls sit out our surface interval, praying our DM doesn't get any more injured beyond the torn toenail from the last time!

Safe diving yourself this Holy Week break. I’m off to Boracay this Wednesday (do I hear you say Yapak Wall?) with my hiking group (no divers there) but they always give me a day’s leave in case I want to trade their company for fishies

[PinayDiver]

In that case, the red fringed batfish is Platax Pinnatus, the orange spot filefish is Oxymonocanthus Longirostrus and the Emperor Angel is Pomacanthus Imperator.

I'm tickled, tickled, and tickled

Our publisher is looking for a resort to review in Anilao. I am so jealous, lol.

Bojimbs was actually one of my three resource persons for my Batangas resorts listing (more a listing than a review). One of his recommendations/favorites in Anilao is Club Ocellaris (boyv@clubocellaris.com) because it's quiet, photographer-friendly (dog-friendly too, not that one has anything to do with the other ), and the owner-operator-instructor is a conservationist (big points for me, personally).

[PinayDiver]

Our publisher is looking for a resort to review in Anilao. I am so jealous, lol.

Er, wait. I belatedly realized that perhaps you don’t mean just Anilao but also the Mabini area of Batangas. If that’s the case, and since I already earlier bandied Bojimbs’ recommendation , I might as well say that his no. 1 resort is Dive Solana. Cut-and-pasted his list from my notes for anyone’s quick reference:

My Top 10 Batangas Resorts
From Jimbo Jimenez
PADI OWSI 472099
Mobile +63 920 950 9631
bojimbs@yahoo.com

1. Dive Solana – easily the best in facilities, service, and food. Downside: price
2. Pier Uno – convenience (no long walks, no steep steps), amazing service, cozy surroundings, unbelievable casitas. Downside: distance to the dive sites.
3. El Pinoy – always excellent food and it has a beach!
4. Aquaventure – value for money, still the best buffet food
5. Club Ocellaris – if you want peace and quiet
6. Planet Dive – great house reef, close to the dive sites, nice rooms
7. Dive and Trek – unlimited diving in the best house reef in Batangas
8. Portulano – very cozy resort
9. Villa Ligaya – those speed boats have, well, speed!
10. Eagle Point – can’t beat that salt water pool filled with baby sharks

Just for the record

[Sarah]

I will have to check those out, thanks Lu-Anne

I am going to PM you about the mgr of Solana.

Our publisher is awaiting some web tweaks and will be posting nice reviews with lots of photos and HD videos of Atlantis in Sabang and Coco Beach in PG. He's been invited to Dumaguete for next year but is interested in Anilao and maybe Bohol/Boracay too.

[PinayDiver]

He's been invited to Dumaguete for next year but is interested in Anilao and maybe Bohol/Boracay too.

Coincidentally, on the last week of May (squeezing the last juice of summer), I actually have a scheduled flight from Manila to Dumaguete. From there, I was deciding between Siquijor and Apo Island but having been to the latter, I decided to make this a diving trip.

Thought I’d share what I have planned so far for anyone's future reference: From the airport, I’ve arranged a car and boat transfer to Apo Island (the resort can do this for you). I’m told there are only two resorts on the island. One dive buddy, Cathy, who was there only last month recommended that I stay at Liberty’s Lodge (landline 0353211036 or 0354240888 / mobile +639202385704).

She was very adamant that I specify room no. 9 above Paul’s Diveshop (just deposited/committed four night’s worth in a bank account this morning!) to better enjoy a cooling breeze (all rooms are seaside). Not only that, she gave me the name and number of the divemaster (Mario Pascobello mobile +639185894629) who, if it was up to her, she’d want to do all her dives with. That’s saying something, right? She named five sites -- Chapel, Coconut, Mamsa, Rock Point, Sanctuary -- that I should check out at the minimum.

As for Boracay, the first time I dived in its waters, it was with Fisheye Divers. I remember that, as their standard precaution, our group's first dive had to be Camia Wreck (where we chalked up flamboyant cuttlefish) just so we could be evaluated for the Yapak Wall that we asked for. It was worth building up to it. I dropped a pocket weight at Yapak Wall but -- with the white tip sharks and tuna action -- didn't even notice until I was back on the banca.

Just before I left for Boracay last week, I asked my most regular divemaster, Jay, for a fresh referral: Djila of Boracay Scuba 09209048636.

I love it that I have friends who are very exact -- and generous -- with their info and it’s just right that I pass it on