Post by Gi on Sept 1, 2009 12:16:05 GMT 8
"What happened yesterday is history" - J.A. de Veyra. But the dive safari in Apo Island and Siquijor is one I will always be fond of remembering. Why?
Top 3 things:
1. Pristine dive sites and exciting marine life (this is an understatement). On all Apo dives, visibility was superb. The corals are as pristine as it can ever be. I lost interest on the little things
. You just want to take in the view, as much of it as possible. Siquijor viz is even better. Corals are not as perfect as Apo but the weird and wonderful marine life has more than made up for it.
2. My dive buddies were top-notch! Matthew de Guzman (who admitted that this was the first time in a long while that he just dived for the love of of it and not lead), Bobot Palomique (bagged the prestigious "Most relaxed diver" award. He was our designated sweeper in Siquijor), Omar Sagadal (owner of the infamous camera kaya mahilig ring mag photo ng solo kahit sa lupa) and Charrie Calalang (nakipag face off sa trigger fish sa Apo and lived to tell the tale. Most of all, she survived me the whole trip or was it the other way around? Most talkative po sya! hehehe) are my new BFFs
. I enjoyed every single dive because everybody was relaxed, responsible and respectful (of their dive buddies and marine environment). 110% worry-free dives, man! 
3. I saw my old friends in Siquijor Dive Safari dive shop (SDS) ;D. They are all well and swell as ever. Bismark, our DM (the total performer), is as hilarious as ever
. Rowel, our sweeper, is the coolest! With Wa-way, Julie, Irvin and the boatmen, they made sure we have a safe and fun time on all of the dives (even on land with Jojo). Their hospitality is unparalleled. Iba talaga (Please see contact details below)!
We booked the tickets months before and we hoped we will be lucky with the weather. And we were! The last typhoon just passed by and the accuweather forecast was in our favor. Omar was the early bird in the airport (uuy, excited!), then Char and me. Matt and Bobot was determined to give us a heart attack by beating the clock to the last minute. Finally, magkakasama na kami, tuloy na tuloy na 'to!
We touched down in Dumaguete at 8:05 am. Bismark and Rowel of SDS were there to meet us. The land trip to Dauin and the boat ride to Apo Island seem to take forever!
Basa ang japorms namin ni Charrie dahil lulusong pala sa tubig (wahahaha).
The house is not big on aesthetics and we were sharing it with swiflets nesting in the sala. No joke, There is wildlife inside the house. But what the house lacks, the land lady made up for her graciousness and that to-die-for fish stew.
Matt requested, "Yung simple lang muna na dive sites ngayong araw". So, at 1:00 pm, after taking lunch and a power nap, we prepared for the 2 boat dives for the day. And boy, were we surprised! Simple na yun? ;D
1st Dive: Cogon - Mamsa Point
Depth Ave 42 ft Visibility 80 ft
Dept Max 77 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 1:17 pm Bottom Time 45 mins
There was a strong current, strong being "hindi mo na kayang labanan but is still super fun to ride". Ang galing ;D! The soft coral garden is in pastel colors. Saw a red-violet sea cucumber, a hawksbill turtle which I followed and a school of jacks. The Jacks are huge! I noticed they swim in pairs, one takes a silver color and the other one a duller grey color (Or was it just the light?).
2nd Dive: Sanctuary - Mamsa Point
Depth Ave 40 ft Visibility 80 ft
Dept Max 69 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 2:50 pm Bottom Time 52 mins
The Sanctuary is the site of the "thousand year old coral terraces". Layers upon layers of hard corals, one growing on top of the other.
I saw a type of coral that looks like petals of roses in full bloom. There is also a coral that looks like leaves of pine trees. There was a school of barracudas and fusiliers. We saw three turtles - 2 were hawksbill turtle and 1 green sea turtle. I saw a meter-long bumphead parrot fish - the biggest fish I have ever seen. Well, at least until I saw the Giant Silver Trevally the following day (hehehe).
There is no electricity in Apo Island so the night life is out of the question. So, we just watched the sunset with our friends from SDS and picture taking galore. What little electricity we have (6:30 - 9:30 pm only) we dedicated to charging our phones, accounting our expenses and filling up our dive logs. Grabe, simpleng dives, huh?!
August 21, 2009
1st Dive: Coconut Point
Depth Ave 46 ft Visibility 80 - 100 ft
Dept Max 70 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 8:30 am Bottom Time 49 mins
Coconut Point did not disappoint. There was up current and down current. We drift dived after that. We saw an octopus eating a crab, another bumphead more than a meter in length, a school of jacks (3 times bigger than Twin Rocks) swimming slowly against the current. I got to swim with them! We saw a magnificent lone barracuda. Mukhang mamamatay-tao talaga (Solid!)
. I saw a green sea turtle and a bumphead nagkasalubong. Bismark was asking for my air when he suddenly started pointing like a mad man. When I turned around a giant Silver Trevally was at the back and with lightning speed, ducked under the corals. Ang laki nyang isda!
2nd Dive: Chapel
Depth Ave 41 ft Visibility 100 ft
Dept Max 61 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In Bottom Time 52 mins
Just perfect hard and soft corals as far as your eyes can see.
At one point of the dive I was thinking, "Grabe, di pa rin tapos? when is this going to end?". Saw a hawksbill and green sea turtle - again! Charrie got a close look at one of them.
3rd Dive: Rock Point West
Depth Ave 41 ft Visibility 100 ft
Dept Max 61 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In Bottom Time 51 mins
The last dive site did not disappoint. It's famous for a rock / coral formation where turtles park and rest. The coral formation looked worn out. I was thinking it's a place where the turtles rub their shells against to keep it clean. The entire dive is still corals galore! We were swimming against a slight current. When we reached the rock point, I noticed Bismark playing the air (water?) guitar Then Omar playing the keyboards and Matt followed suit on the drums... What the heck is happening?!! Suddenly, Bismark turned serious, pointed to the rock formation, signalled us to stop... signalled turtle...
And there it was, perched on top of the corals, a most beautiful green sea turtle. We observed it from a distance.
Its head held up high. So proud! It did not attempt to leave at all. It looked at us like it's asking, "Yes? What? You are all ugly. Stop staring at me, it's rude. You're disturbing my sleep. Now you're creeping me out! That's it, I'm outa here!". It swam to my direction. For a few seconds, I swam (from a safe distance) with it. The feeling was indescribable! ;D
It was only fitting we cap our dives in Apo Island with a mother-of-all-photo-ops at the three-minute safety stop using Omar's super high-tech camera, without which the following poses would not have been captured in history:
Apo Island, we shall return!!!
PS. Siquijor write-up to follow... kala n'yo tapos na, no?!
Siquijor Dive Safari
Tubod, San Juan, Siquijor
+63 09215160163
Many thanks to Tata (Dive Operator), Bismark (DM), Rowel (DG) and the rest of the gang for all the help.
Top 3 things:
1. Pristine dive sites and exciting marine life (this is an understatement). On all Apo dives, visibility was superb. The corals are as pristine as it can ever be. I lost interest on the little things
. You just want to take in the view, as much of it as possible. Siquijor viz is even better. Corals are not as perfect as Apo but the weird and wonderful marine life has more than made up for it.2. My dive buddies were top-notch! Matthew de Guzman (who admitted that this was the first time in a long while that he just dived for the love of of it and not lead), Bobot Palomique (bagged the prestigious "Most relaxed diver" award. He was our designated sweeper in Siquijor), Omar Sagadal (owner of the infamous camera kaya mahilig ring mag photo ng solo kahit sa lupa) and Charrie Calalang (nakipag face off sa trigger fish sa Apo and lived to tell the tale. Most of all, she survived me the whole trip or was it the other way around? Most talkative po sya! hehehe) are my new BFFs
. I enjoyed every single dive because everybody was relaxed, responsible and respectful (of their dive buddies and marine environment). 110% worry-free dives, man! 
3. I saw my old friends in Siquijor Dive Safari dive shop (SDS) ;D. They are all well and swell as ever. Bismark, our DM (the total performer), is as hilarious as ever
. Rowel, our sweeper, is the coolest! With Wa-way, Julie, Irvin and the boatmen, they made sure we have a safe and fun time on all of the dives (even on land with Jojo). Their hospitality is unparalleled. Iba talaga (Please see contact details below)!We booked the tickets months before and we hoped we will be lucky with the weather. And we were! The last typhoon just passed by and the accuweather forecast was in our favor. Omar was the early bird in the airport (uuy, excited!), then Char and me. Matt and Bobot was determined to give us a heart attack by beating the clock to the last minute. Finally, magkakasama na kami, tuloy na tuloy na 'to!
We touched down in Dumaguete at 8:05 am. Bismark and Rowel of SDS were there to meet us. The land trip to Dauin and the boat ride to Apo Island seem to take forever!
Basa ang japorms namin ni Charrie dahil lulusong pala sa tubig (wahahaha).
The house is not big on aesthetics and we were sharing it with swiflets nesting in the sala. No joke, There is wildlife inside the house. But what the house lacks, the land lady made up for her graciousness and that to-die-for fish stew.
Matt requested, "Yung simple lang muna na dive sites ngayong araw". So, at 1:00 pm, after taking lunch and a power nap, we prepared for the 2 boat dives for the day. And boy, were we surprised!
Simple na yun? ;D 1st Dive: Cogon - Mamsa Point
Depth Ave 42 ft Visibility 80 ft
Dept Max 77 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 1:17 pm Bottom Time 45 mins
There was a strong current, strong being "hindi mo na kayang labanan but is still super fun to ride". Ang galing ;D! The soft coral garden is in pastel colors. Saw a red-violet sea cucumber, a hawksbill turtle which I followed and a school of jacks. The Jacks are huge! I noticed they swim in pairs, one takes a silver color and the other one a duller grey color (Or was it just the light?).
2nd Dive: Sanctuary - Mamsa Point
Depth Ave 40 ft Visibility 80 ft
Dept Max 69 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 2:50 pm Bottom Time 52 mins
The Sanctuary is the site of the "thousand year old coral terraces". Layers upon layers of hard corals, one growing on top of the other.
I saw a type of coral that looks like petals of roses in full bloom. There is also a coral that looks like leaves of pine trees. There was a school of barracudas and fusiliers. We saw three turtles - 2 were hawksbill turtle and 1 green sea turtle. I saw a meter-long bumphead parrot fish - the biggest fish I have ever seen. Well, at least until I saw the Giant Silver Trevally the following day (hehehe).
There is no electricity in Apo Island so the night life is out of the question. So, we just watched the sunset with our friends from SDS and picture taking galore. What little electricity we have (6:30 - 9:30 pm only) we dedicated to charging our phones, accounting our expenses and filling up our dive logs. Grabe, simpleng dives, huh?!
August 21, 2009
1st Dive: Coconut Point
Depth Ave 46 ft Visibility 80 - 100 ft
Dept Max 70 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In 8:30 am Bottom Time 49 mins
Coconut Point did not disappoint. There was up current and down current. We drift dived after that. We saw an octopus eating a crab, another bumphead more than a meter in length, a school of jacks (3 times bigger than Twin Rocks) swimming slowly against the current. I got to swim with them! We saw a magnificent lone barracuda. Mukhang mamamatay-tao talaga (Solid!)
. I saw a green sea turtle and a bumphead nagkasalubong. Bismark was asking for my air when he suddenly started pointing like a mad man. When I turned around a giant Silver Trevally was at the back and with lightning speed, ducked under the corals. Ang laki nyang isda! 2nd Dive: Chapel
Depth Ave 41 ft Visibility 100 ft
Dept Max 61 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In Bottom Time 52 mins
Just perfect hard and soft corals as far as your eyes can see.
At one point of the dive I was thinking, "Grabe, di pa rin tapos? when is this going to end?". Saw a hawksbill and green sea turtle - again!
Charrie got a close look at one of them. 3rd Dive: Rock Point West
Depth Ave 41 ft Visibility 100 ft
Dept Max 61 ft Water Temp 82F
Dive time In Bottom Time 51 mins
The last dive site did not disappoint. It's famous for a rock / coral formation where turtles park and rest. The coral formation looked worn out. I was thinking it's a place where the turtles rub their shells against to keep it clean
. The entire dive is still corals galore! We were swimming against a slight current. When we reached the rock point, I noticed Bismark playing the air (water?) guitar Then Omar playing the keyboards and Matt followed suit on the drums... What the heck is happening?!! Suddenly, Bismark turned serious, pointed to the rock formation, signalled us to stop... signalled turtle... And there it was, perched on top of the corals, a most beautiful green sea turtle. We observed it from a distance.
Its head held up high. So proud! It did not attempt to leave at all. It looked at us like it's asking, "Yes? What? You are all ugly. Stop staring at me, it's rude. You're disturbing my sleep. Now you're creeping me out! That's it, I'm outa here!". It swam to my direction. For a few seconds, I swam (from a safe distance) with it. The feeling was indescribable! ;D
It was only fitting we cap our dives in Apo Island with a mother-of-all-photo-ops at the three-minute safety stop using Omar's super high-tech camera, without which the following poses would not have been captured in history:
Apo Island, we shall return!!!
PS. Siquijor write-up to follow... kala n'yo tapos na, no?!
Siquijor Dive Safari
Tubod, San Juan, Siquijor
+63 09215160163
Many thanks to Tata (Dive Operator), Bismark (DM), Rowel (DG) and the rest of the gang for all the help.
(Lest, you're hugging your buddy from start to finish, which is ridiculous!). My report is limited to the view from my dive mask. I would be happy to hear how it was inside yours naman. ;D