Diving Apo Island (Negros Oriental, Philippines)

I have never seen a coral bed that stretches as far as I can see into the blue – only in Apo.

This wonderful dive destination has been a marine sanctuary since the early 80s through the joint efforts of the residents and Dr Angel Alcala, then with the Siliman University Marine Laboratory and who was later to become Environment minister.

The 12-hectare island is home to 1,200 people and a barangay (village) of the municipality of Dauin. (Photo: www.aposhore.com) 

We accessed Apo through a 20-minute drive from Dumaguete city to the municipality of Dauin where we took 45-minute boat ride to the island.  For those who find this information important, there is mobile 3G coverage on the island. 

The Apo Island Beach Resort is nestled between two jutting rock formations, giving way to a patch sandy beach and a great shallow dive site (Balay), both spectacular on day and night dives.

There are 12 sites around the island and I visited Balay (house reef), Mamsa, Rock East, Coconut, Katipanan and Chapel.  The field of soft and hard corals were in Katipanan (imagine 30 years of protection), where we did a shallow one-hour dive looking for Mandarin fish.  We glimpsed its head and tail...not that lucky.

I had the pleasure of diving with Julian and Kelly who were vacationing from Hawaii, and dive guide, Ruel, a native of the island.

On my first shore dive off Balay at night we saw a turtle resting on a soft coral that swam away no matter how hard we tried not to spook it.  There were the leaf-like razorfishes and a very curious cuttlefish that did not want to move away even if Ruel approached and tickled its back.

We dived Mamsa and Coconut via negative entry because the surface was too choppy to be bobbing about waiting for our buddies to get off the boat.  While Rock East was leeward, we just went straight to the bottom wasting no time on the surface.

On Mamsa meters away, we glimpsed at the dark shadowy mass of schooling trevallies.  Having had the experience of being inside the vortex of these schooling fishes, I was wondering if following a few wandering trevallies would lead me to their school.

Soft corals were bountiful over at Rock East and it is amazing to see them in an endless field.  A turtle slowly wiggled its body from the soft coral that it made bed and swam away as we approached.  There were two huge Queensland or could Malabar gropers milling about while we saw the school of redtooth trigger fishes moving up and down en masse against the slow current.

Coconut is one of the exciting dives because of the underwater  current.  Ruel briefed of a succession of three sea mounts that move current downwards and seaward as the main current hit them; and if we were lucky and if the current were that strong, we could be holding on to rocks with the schooling trevallies right above us.  We saw three large ones but did not see the school.  Just before we hit the third sea mount we saw a field of bubbles coming out from the sand.  It was interesting -- like rain, but upside down.  I stretched my arms and  yelled "yahooo!" as we let the current carry us over and above the  last sea mount.

All the underwater photos, the photo of dive site, and the video of the cuttlefish are Julian's, to whom I am very thankful for sharing.  Wherever you both are, I wish you a good year of diving in 2011.

Am I going back to the island? Definitely, because Jojo has to see it for herself.

Kelly had the sharp eyes to spot this octopus during our early dive off Coconut.  Upon seeing this she yelled the loudest yell underwater catching the attention of Ruel who then pointed the creature to us.

This frogfish is a resident of Mamsa.  At this site we saw schooling trevallies although they were farther out from the shore because the current was slower than where we were.  We also saw two bumphead parrot fishes, a scorpion fish and a banded sea snake.

Kelly and Julian getting ready for a dive.  Here on this small boat we kit up and dangle off the side with our fins on.  Then we just roll into the water for the dive.

Fellow guest at Balicasag island, Damian Kruger, to Telibert on FB: "How does Apo compare to Balicasag?"


"Vast field of soft and hard corals..very impressive. There were big trevallys but we only saw the wanderers (those who missed school?). We tried chasing the school that were a bit farther out into the blue. Our DM said they are closer to the wall when the currents are strong. There are also a number of sea mounts directing currents to different directions that make drift diving more exciting. Apo was declared a protected area in the early 80s and you can tell from coral growth.


There are 1,200 persons on the island, which is at least twice the size of Balicasag. The community has clustered villages that offers a nice walkabout along with island's also lighthouse and view deck. Power is available only from 6pm to 12mn. Idyllically situated privately-run nine-room Apo Island Beach Resort forewarns of no running water but water is always available albeit in buckets. A fellow guest from a foreign diplomatic corps who currently resides with her family in Hong Kong said that they chose Apo because it was the "real deal". I guess she meant the 'real rural deal'.

Both Balicasag and Apo have different charms but both guarantee good diving."

Diving Balicasag (Bohol, Philippines)

Six dives are all I could muster that November. But they were great dives!

Balicasag is a coral island off the coast of Panglao, Bohol (Philippines). The sunfish shaped piece all of 25-hectares is home to 150 families of 700 individuals. The name seems to have referred to once-abundant crabs (casag) crawling on the shores that were upturned on their backs (bali) by the surf – bali casag.

The six dive sites around the island are no more than five minutes away from the Balicasag Island Dive Resort (BIDR) by outboard speed boat. There are the Cathedral, Marine Sanctuary, Turtle Point, Diver's Haven, Black Forest and Royal Garden.

I glided along the famed schooling barracuda and bigeye trevallys all bunch up in one ball of silvery fish at Diver's Haven! What an experience and what a sight! Famed because the wall of the BIDR coffee shop has this magnificent international winning photo of barracudas and trevallys schooling together. Amazing, isn't it?!

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1299653830875&set=a.1299653790874.39358.1816311181)

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1299654270886&set=a.1299653790874.39358.1816311181&pid=562390&id=1816311181)

Boater Beboy brought dive master Reynaldo (Aldo), a 79-year old Japanese diver and a 20-year Balicasag island habitue, and I to Black Forest. Since 1996 this Japanese diver has logged close to 800 dives (and counting) just in Balicasag and most of it at Diver's Haven. With fair current and some fin kicks we surfaced after an hour just above the reef across the resort. That's the entire half of the island! The following day, the current took us the other way across. 

Soft and hard corals abound all around the island. Like a mushroom top the short slopes circling the island provide very interesting habitats to all sorts of creatures. Sea turtles are a common sight; a friend asked if I had seen the “residents” at Turtle Point. At one point, I was face-to-face with a big cuttlefish as we were moving from Black Forest to Royal Garden. The slopes abruptly end with vertical drops into bottomless dark making diving much more interesting and exciting. Any diver knows that.


Here are some great images from Damian Kruger and Naomi Roe.  (Makes me rethink if I should carry a camera myself.)  Great shots guys!  Do you think this is the same cuttlefish I had ran into.  'Hope we'll run into each other again, perhaps on Apo Island?  What say you?



(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1617851879195&set=a.1617849079125.2085012.1023323986&pid=31665865&id=1023323986)

Naomi Roe "cha-sea-ing" the Turtle

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1617850599163&set=a.1617849079125.2085012.1023323986&pid=31665857&id=1023323986)


(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1617852759217&set=a.1617849079125.2085012.1023323986&pid=31665872&id=1023323986)

Truly a master of Balicasag, Aldo, who moved from Anilao (in Batangas, which is another nice diving area in the Philippines) to the island 20 years ago, took me navigating from one cave-like coral overhangs into another. We tried to find the pygmy seahorses and ghost pipefishes but they were not about to show themselves to us. Perhaps some other time as it is definitely worth coming back to Balicasag.

The Balicasag Island Dive Resort (http://www.philtourism.com/bidr_desc.html) is a government-run 20-room facility. Belonging to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) of the Philippine Tourism Authority, the resort employs 80 where 90 percent of which are original island residents. Working alongside the Philippine Navy, the tourism authority “promotes underwater sports and protects a marine life sanctuary showcasing a model for marine environment conservation, ecological preservation and tourism” for Balicasag (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1816311181&sk=info).

Mayen Go (middle), a very-able and charming change-manager, along with here great team will certainly welcome you warmly to the island of Balicasag. You can count on that!

Three days of diving

Day 1: 28 December

The last-dive calendar that I keep on my Mac dashboard recorded 336 days.  "I must get back in the water and savor the great feeling of interest, discovery and quiet that the underwater offers," I thought.

Twin Rocks never cease to amaze me.  The moment we dropped down there were schooling jacks right below the buoy line.  Fantastic!  We headed to the two rocks and there we were greeted by yet another  school.  The first one was made up of foot-long jacks and the other were smaller like a bunch of teenage juveniles.  It's such a wonderful feeling being in the vortex with jacks swimming all around you and seeing them up close.

Patay na Buli (Dead Palm) was our next destination.  Divers named this place after the dead tree close to shore that served as their marker.  There we saw a school of barracuda!  Thanks to my dive buddies, Dindin, Rob, Dita, Frank and Harry!

Day 2: 29 December

My friend and Timor-Leste dive buddy, Fr Flavie joined me diving for the day.  Jon guided us and we were with the group of (another) Jon, Mike, Irene, Jeff and Cecile.  We first did Cepok II and for the second dive, we went to Beatrice Point.  The latter dive was interesting as we navigated the coral atoll behind Sombrero islet.  The dive ended with what my buddies called a "head rush."  We rounded off a corner and immediately after we were hit by a strong current.  Jon signaled for us to hold on to rocks and let the oncoming current rush right into our faces.  Wonderful!

We let go and let the current drift us away from the coral reef.  We hanged and did our safety stop seeing only dark without any hint of how far was bottom.  Comfort was when looking up we saw the bottom of our boat that was waiting for us.

We dropped at Eagle's point and around the cathedral and came up to the undewater cross and castle for our third dive.  We surfaced on the south side about a hundred meters from where we dropped.  We saw a schooling barracuda, but I missed the sting ray that Jon saw.

I've done this dive once before and one of the interesting features was towards the end of the dive and in the spot where we did our safety stop.  Quite a sizeable area is made up of hard corals and the view is really nice.  This place reminded me of the drift dive off the Nusa Penida across Bali island.  Like in that island, one can hardly see a patch of sand as almost every inch is covered by hard and spiky healthy corals.

30 December

Gigi, Inday and Jeng joined me at Villa Milagros.  We had a great time leisurely chatting and visualizing a possible retirement place, which was primarily inspired by the way Villa Milagros is set up.  They went to town with Babes and disappointed that the Anilao market did not have any other fishes but tilapia and bangus (milkfish).  The locals said that the catch is low because of the full moon.

Day 3:  31 December

We brought the ladies to Caban Island while Dindin and I went to Bahura (Coral).  I was told that it would take for dives to round this underwater coral atoll.  It's an interesting site of a sloping wall, healthy corals and numerous fishes.  The atoll is down at 10 meters and we ended this dive with a safety stop with the corals just below us.

We then moved to the stoney beach just behind Caban, which is called Maricaban, and facing Sombrero Island. We did our surface interval snacking on the Zamgo products of the three lady entrepreneurs.  We had calamansi juice and bottled durian.  Sarap!  Oishi!


Just a few meters off Maricaban, we dropped at Kirby's Rock.  There's no other place I ever seen like this one.  The dark monolith is covered with bright yellow colored nudi branchs as if they were flowering on the rock.  They are regularly space as appears to have elegantly decorated the entire rock.  It's an amazing sight/site.

Moving a little farther to the wall we saw four divers who were taking photos of something.  Dindin and I waited a little bit and then we took their places.  In an instant, Dindin was engrossed in taking a photo of something.  After a while, I came closer to check out what it was.  I saw an orange colored tiny creature and thought it must be a nudi branchs.  Then Dindin took out his knife and outlined to me without touching the creature -- a frogfish!  I was staring it in the eye yet I could not figure what it was (and instead got fixated on the orange-colored creature). What a creature!  I've seen these in Timor but it was my first time in Anilao.  It curved its body almost to a concave so that it could very well cling to the side of the rock face.

Then Dindin move to another spot on the wall where he had remembered the other diver was taking a photo.  There we saw another frogfish!  This was more rotund than the other that Dindin signaled that it might be pregnant.  We must have stayed on this spot of the wall for some 20 minutes to savor the rare up-close sight of frog fishes.  For the first time, I saw the valve on one side of the fish just under its fin.  (The fin is shaped like that of a frog's webbed feet and grasped the coral underneath it for support.)  The valve opens to let water out and closes as the fish draws in water.  It was just like the one that an octopus has.  I was told later that that value is used to for propulsion.  Dindin had me stick my head in close to where the frog fishes for a pose.

Day -1: 27 December 2009, Sunday

I took the scenic drive from my home in Mandaluyong to Anilao through Tagaytay and down to towns of Balayan, Tuy, Calaca and Mabini. Bad idea – traffic snarls on the main Tagaytay city street, which took an hour to get away from. There have been a flourishing of businesses along the Taal volcano ridge and there are just no places for the cars to get in and out, and park. Someone's got to do something about this.

Once out of Tagaytay, I was pleasantly back on memory lane, literally. Almost 20 years ago my work took me this route to the Calaca coal-fired power plant of the National Power Corporation (Napocor). We began the community relations program under the leadership of Ernie Aboitiz, who was then Napocor chair. The Calaca plant posed a problem to the community. Tons of coal on the yard was burning spontaneously and ashes and smoke rained on the community around the plant. The solutions ranged from just-in-time processing, to changing the kind of coal (i.e. supplier), tweaking the machines to use the kind of coal delivered, and blowing surfactants on the coal mound. None seemed to work and it was hard for the plant personnel to face angry community members. I was no longer with the organization when the matter was resolved, if at all.

The two huge red-and-white striped smoke stacks dominated the sugar cane-line lined horizon as I drove by trying to remember where the access road to the plant was. There was just green sugar cane stalks and I could not find the sign bearing the plant's name. There was no smoke coming out of the stacks either. Is the plant is undergoing preventive maintenance?

Villa Milagros

The home resort-type place of business partners Ziggy and Dindin is lovely. It is set along the Balayan Bay with a frontage of some 100 meters. The house sits elevated but the draw is the open lanai that overlooks into the bay and into the setting sun. That scene is tranquil and spectacular. The wood, bamboo and mats combination is rustic and reminds me a lot of home and the homes of my grandparents. I am sure that my wife will love the place when she sees it.

Most bring their own food or cook. But spouses Babes and Bro could prepare them for you. Bro told me that they want their guests to be totally comfortable feeling like this place were their own.

Am getting ready for tomorrow's dives. We plan to do two dives in the morning, the first being at Twin Rock, which I had written about the my dive blog. Now that's something to look forward to if I don't dream about it tonight.

Next up...

Diving the USS Liberty in Tulamben (Bali)
My IANTD instructor Avandy Djunadi (BIDP, Bali)
Dr Jesse Owen's most memorable OW certification experience

2009-Jan Twin Rock (Batangas, PH)

I called it Twin Peaks. My dive buddy, Emy, chuckled because that was a title of a TV series. Can't have senior moments diving, can I?

I've done just a few dives here in the Philippines compared to the over-100 that I did in Timor-Leste and Bali when I was there starting in 2006. Luckily for the few that I've done in Batangas, I was able to dive the famous San Agapito along the Verde Island passage. This place is dubbed the "center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity" by the World Conservation Union (WCU), now known as the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Twin Peaks will always be special. It was the first time I swam with bigeye (I guess) trevallies. I was mesmerized as the school swam around me giving me a treat of a lifetime. Being so close to them as to see clearly their eyes, their individual silvery bodies shimmering yet the school itself appears a threatening dark cloudy moving mass. They know you are there yet they seem to ignore you by welcoming you in their vortex. Photos of divers in a trevally vortex are quite common and make for arresting photos. But being in that vortex yourself is just awesome.

I touched a batfish! The fishes swarmed around dive master Danny when he let out bread in his hand. I wish I could touch that one big batfish, I thought, because Danny just did. As if looking for more after Danny's offering, the batfish came around once again but this time right in front of me. Perhaps curious of the others that nibbled on my fingers looking for seconds, it swam steadly right towards me and then I touched it. What an experience!

Batangas has really amazing dive sites! The relaxing shallow and wonderful dive at Twin Rock was just the way I would like to close a dive weekend. Thanks to dive buddies Jeng, Emy and Danny (a very good DM!). Thanks, too, to Inday, Gigi and Jojo who are nice (terrestrial) buddies.

Certifications, dive gear, etc.

Certifications
PADI Rescue Diver
IANTD Deep Air and Nitrox Diver
Over 150 dives
DAN member
Scuba Board subscriber

Gear
Scubapro Mark 25 regulator
S-600 and R395 Octopus regulators
Dive Rite Transplate and Harness
Suunto D9 + wireless transmitter and Scubapro Aladin Prime Console dive computers
Scubapro Twin Jet fins
Ikelite RCD Lite
Surface marker and reel

Dives
Apo Island (Negros Oriental, Philippines)
Balicasag Island (Panglao, Bohol, Philippines)
 Moalboal (Cebu, Philippines)
Mactan Island (Cebu, Philippines)
Batangas (Philippines)
Timor-Leste
Bali (Indonesia)