Post by Gi on Jul 1, 2009 22:15:34 GMT 8
My apologies for the delay. Here is my trip report on our June 12 day dive at Dive and Trek. 
With 4 days of sunshine, the week of June 12 was looking up. So, off we go - Matthew, Charrie, Ace, Donna and myself. We chose to park in Bauan for the shorter boat ride in case the weather turn for the worse in the afternoon (good choice). The boat ride to the resort was not bad but the ride home was rough but it was still fun (adrenalin junkies!).
1st Dive: D and T house reef right side
T'was my 1st time to finally reach the Cathedral (don't ask me why... hehehehe) so it was a rush.
The school of fishes roaming the classroom was a treat. It's common to see fish using their dorsal and caudal fins to swim. T'was my 1st time to observe them flap their lateral fins like birds. That was pretty cool!
The small cave that you can swim through at the base of the cross was also neat with the fishes inside not batting an eye as Charrie and I passed through. We did pictorials on the cross of course only to find out later that Donna's face was covered by an over-eager fish who wants to be discovered.
I saw the tiniest octopus ever! It's head was only about 1 - 1.5 inch long and was extremely caumouflaged. We can barely see it in the picture that Ace took.
When you get to 10 to 15 feet, you can feel the surge of the waves under water. It helps when you are in control of your bouyancy and when you know when to ride it so you won't get battered helplessly. But of course, we survived to dive another site in the afternoon after we ate the scrumptious buffet.
2nd Dive: D and T house reef left side
By this time, the waves were 5-foot swells already (crazy, crazy, crazy...). The ledge was under water. The waves were battering us while we put on our gear. The D and T staff were there ready to help us all the way (5 stars for customer service). You have to slide away from the ledge, swim away and still swim farther out (hay pagod! Lalo na pag maraming kinaing kanin!). ;D
But you forget all that once you're under water. It was worth it. Soon as we descended, we saw a big, solitary cuttle fish which changed hues every second especially when Charrie decided to pursue it with a vengeance. The same cuttle fish was encountered by Matt and Donna later at the end of the dive.
I saw a new nudi??, solid red-violet in color but lacking the "antennae" on top. I saw a big octopus on top of a rock. It changed color to match the sand around it, then turned black again. It was the eyes that gave him away. Ace and Char attempted to take pictures but it retreated under the rock. We got good pictures of his body parts though (hehehe).
Charrie and I got distracted by this tini-wini spotted fish so much that we got separated from Matt, Donna and Ace. Na-stress ang beauty ng lola mo for a few minutes and I was flailing my hands like crazy, WALA NA SILA
!!! My dive buddy, who has extra-sensory perception somehow understood that I'm not in my right mind anymore. She gave me a re-assuring OK. I went insane (hehehe)! 
We agreed to swim back to the class room. We saw them there playing with the fishes. So, I went back to my business looking for things. Dudidudidudidu... I took a second look on the guys... teka, ba't kalbo yung DM??? OMG, hindi pala sila Matt yun! Syempre, nagulo na naman ang buhok ko! Kinulit ko na naman si Charrie with a barrage of undistinguishable hand signals from Mars 
. LETS GO TO 15 FEET. 3 MINUTE SAFETY STOP. STOP MAKING IKOT. AHON NA TAYO. BAKA MAG ALALA SILA. I WAS CRAZY. Charrie was as cool as a cucumber, eyes smiling, she signalled, OK. Of course when we surfaced, they were there na waiting for us 
. Haaaaay, I'm ok na ;D (hehehehe)!
Lessons learned:
1. Always be aware of your environment. Don't loose sight of the group.
2. Don't panic. Matulog ng maayos. Bawasan ang kape para di nerbyosa.
3. Remember, things are not as bad as it seems (I'm in a house reef. I still have plenty of air to spare. I'm not alone.)
4. Experience is the best teacher. Better to experience it now than later when you're in unfamiliar territory. Now you know, don't forget.
I had a swell time! And I have a cool picture to show for it (see flashing picture above. Me, wearing yellow, Cucumber Charrie, Ace, Donna and Matt)! Please feel free to add to the trip report.
Gi
With 4 days of sunshine, the week of June 12 was looking up. So, off we go - Matthew, Charrie, Ace, Donna and myself. We chose to park in Bauan for the shorter boat ride in case the weather turn for the worse in the afternoon (good choice). The boat ride to the resort was not bad but the ride home was rough but it was still fun (adrenalin junkies!).
1st Dive: D and T house reef right side
T'was my 1st time to finally reach the Cathedral (don't ask me why... hehehehe) so it was a rush.
The school of fishes roaming the classroom was a treat. It's common to see fish using their dorsal and caudal fins to swim. T'was my 1st time to observe them flap their lateral fins like birds. That was pretty cool!
The small cave that you can swim through at the base of the cross was also neat with the fishes inside not batting an eye as Charrie and I passed through. We did pictorials on the cross of course only to find out later that Donna's face was covered by an over-eager fish who wants to be discovered.
I saw the tiniest octopus ever! It's head was only about 1 - 1.5 inch long and was extremely caumouflaged. We can barely see it in the picture that Ace took.
When you get to 10 to 15 feet, you can feel the surge of the waves under water. It helps when you are in control of your bouyancy and when you know when to ride it so you won't get battered helplessly. But of course, we survived to dive another site in the afternoon after we ate the scrumptious buffet.
2nd Dive: D and T house reef left side
By this time, the waves were 5-foot swells already (crazy, crazy, crazy...). The ledge was under water. The waves were battering us while we put on our gear. The D and T staff were there ready to help us all the way (5 stars for customer service). You have to slide away from the ledge, swim away and still swim farther out (hay pagod! Lalo na pag maraming kinaing kanin!). ;D
But you forget all that once you're under water. It was worth it. Soon as we descended, we saw a big, solitary cuttle fish which changed hues every second especially when Charrie decided to pursue it with a vengeance. The same cuttle fish was encountered by Matt and Donna later at the end of the dive.
I saw a new nudi??, solid red-violet in color but lacking the "antennae" on top. I saw a big octopus on top of a rock. It changed color to match the sand around it, then turned black again. It was the eyes that gave him away. Ace and Char attempted to take pictures but it retreated under the rock. We got good pictures of his body parts though (hehehe).
Charrie and I got distracted by this tini-wini spotted fish so much that we got separated from Matt, Donna and Ace. Na-stress ang beauty ng lola mo for a few minutes and I was flailing my hands like crazy, WALA NA SILA
!!! My dive buddy, who has extra-sensory perception somehow understood that I'm not in my right mind anymore. She gave me a re-assuring OK. I went insane (hehehe)! 
We agreed to swim back to the class room. We saw them there playing with the fishes. So, I went back to my business looking for things. Dudidudidudidu... I took a second look on the guys... teka, ba't kalbo yung DM??? OMG, hindi pala sila Matt yun!
Syempre, nagulo na naman ang buhok ko! Kinulit ko na naman si Charrie with a barrage of undistinguishable hand signals from Mars 
. LETS GO TO 15 FEET. 3 MINUTE SAFETY STOP. STOP MAKING IKOT. AHON NA TAYO. BAKA MAG ALALA SILA. I WAS CRAZY. Charrie was as cool as a cucumber, eyes smiling, she signalled, OK. Of course when we surfaced, they were there na waiting for us 
. Haaaaay, I'm ok na ;D (hehehehe)! Lessons learned:
1. Always be aware of your environment. Don't loose sight of the group.
2. Don't panic. Matulog ng maayos. Bawasan ang kape para di nerbyosa.
3. Remember, things are not as bad as it seems (I'm in a house reef. I still have plenty of air to spare. I'm not alone.)
4. Experience is the best teacher. Better to experience it now than later when you're in unfamiliar territory. Now you know, don't forget.
I had a swell time! And I have a cool picture to show for it (see flashing picture above. Me, wearing yellow, Cucumber Charrie, Ace, Donna and Matt)! Please feel free to add to the trip report.
Gi
