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CORALREPUBLIC Philippines,
2006
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Trip
dates: |
5 – 18 April 2006 |
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Boat
/ resort: |
Pura Vida Resort in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Cocobana Resort in Malapascua. Albert Court Hotel in Singapore for
our return stopover. |
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Dive
centre: |
Sea Explorers, again and always |
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Photo-friendly?: |
Yes, as usual. |
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Number
of dives: |
22 dives, 10 in Dumaguete over 4 days, one day transfer, then 12 dives in
Malapascua over 4 days. |
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Diving
conditions: |
Very good.
Clearly, April is a good month to dive the Philippines. Clear skyes, around 30°C air temperature, 27°C water
temperature. Relatively low visibility in Dumaguete
and macro sites in Malapascua (5 to 10 m), but we had pretty clear water in
Monad Shoal, to see the sharks that eluded us two years before. |
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Comments: |
Back in the
Philippines for the third time, and as excited as the first time. I had my first
DSLR kit, with a brand new Canon EOS 350D in my heavy Hugyfot housing and one
Strobe only, my Inon D2000. I wondered how I’d do
with such a complicated set, but it turned out relatively easy to handle. We loved our room
in Pura Vida, a traditional hut but very comfortable and pretty. We also
loved the massages there. The food was very good and the dive centre as
efficient and serviceable to photographers as ever. We loved diving Apo
Island and picnicking on the beach. The best dive once again was the DUCOMI
Pier, but now it’s certain: the site is gone. Compared to Pura
Vida, the Cocobana cottages in Malapascua are very,
very basic. We had a couple of nails on the wall to hang our clothes, apart
from a couple of narrow shelves made – it would seem – from flotsam. Of
course, no warm shower (but then, no hotel on Malapascua had it then) and a
lousy ceiling fan which did not cool much. It seems they have updated the
place since then and now have air conditioned rooms as well. The worst – if
funny – thing was this gecko that every night bugged us with its call. These Malapascua gekkos are
foul-mouthed, I’d say. They can’t say anything but f**k you! At least, that’s
what the call sounded to us. We found later that one of our divemasters, Tata, had recorded it and used for a
ringtone in his mobile. Malapascua was
very lively over Easter, with disco parties on the beach every night. Bear
this in mind when planning your trip, but the truth is, it didn’t bother us
at all. We dove again
with Martin in Malapascua and this time we had a great time with the
threshers, as they were there every time we dove Monad Shoal, as well as the
Mantas in the afternoon. I was Nitrox certified then and Carmen was not, and
the poor girl had to make her way back to the line before me. However, on one
of those, she was repeatedly visited by a thresher that made several passes
while she did her safety stop! I saw them as well on that dive, but not as
close as she did. Even so, it is really much better to dive nitrox on Monad
shoal, as it nearly doubles your bottom time and gives you a much bigger
chance to see the sharks. Gato Island and the other
usual places were just as good as I remembered them, with loads of macro life
to shoot. After one night
dive at Lighthouse in Malapascua, I fell on the beach and twisted my ankle badely. Carmen had to tend to it for most of the night
because I would not let go of the dive on Kimud Shoal
the day after. We needed to get up at 4 am for that one. In the end, no
hammerhead sharks, but my ankle did not hurt much. I think diving did it a
lot of good, but it did hurt a lot on the flight back home and I had to take
physio for a while. Then, on the
second-last day, horror: I get a leak in the housing. Very fortunately, I was
trying some over-unders in the beach when it
happened and saved the camera. It was a very close call. |
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