Recently in Philippines Category
I wrote an article about my Asian diving for the monthly Hiroshima ALT newsletter Wide Island View. Its nothing I've not written here before, but worth a read if you're interested in what we English teachers in Japan write about. Click on it to view in your browser, or right click to download it. The file comes in at about 550 kbs.
Out of all the photos I sent them why did they use the clownfish photo? Seriously. Clownfish. Sigh...
Technorati Tags: diving, fiji, japan, koh tao, philippines, scuba, thailand, travel
At the end of March 2007 I headed down to the Philippines for some relaxing diving. This was my first time to the Philippines and I was doing it Solo. My destination was the island of Bohol, a land of Chocolate Hills and cheap mangos. Plus the diving was really good. I only had two goals for my 9 day trip: 1) Relax 2) Get my Advanced Open Water Diving.
The trip required me to take two trains from my apartment to Osaka, fly from Osaka to Manila and then to Cebu, stay overnight there, catch a boat to Bohol, and endure a hour car ride. By the time I got to a beach I really could have cared less what I was doing as long as it wasn't moving. Where I ended up was right next to Alona Beach, on the Island of Panglao, which is only a bridge away from Bohol. The area was clean, friendly, English speaking, and not too expensive. Most of the people in the area were divers, though there were quite a few family resorts along the beach as well. I ended up diving with SeaQuest Diver Center who were very helpful in arranging hotels, boat and car transfers, and SCUBA classes for me. Their staff was friendly, their service good, prices competitive, and their diving top notch. Plus they have a really kick ass breakfast in the morning. Its my favorite meal of the day.
I ended up doing 9 dives while I was there, most of them were directly related to my Advanced Open Water Class. The class consisted of me doing one on one time with a local dive master. I also did two days of boat dives where I took photos like a crazy man. The water was clear and the hard coral to die for. The area had quite the diverse set of dive sites ranging from fast drift dives, to shallow forests of hard coral
The coral seemed rather healthy, from what I know about coral, and the fish life was abundant. I was quite pleased with some of the photos I took.
This trip was also my first time doing a night dive. Which freaked me out quite a bit, but provided me with an opportunity to see some fun new things.
During several dives I was able to be engulfed by large schools of large fish. At one point I was completely surrounded by a school of friendly Jack Fish.
I even ran across some odd balls, like a shy group of garden eels and a really strange little crab hidden in a plant.
The dives were all boat dives, and usually with 5 or 6 other divers as well as a couple of crew members. The other divers in my group were a mix of Germans and Japanese. Much to my surprise the Germans, who assumed I was German by my name, started all speaking to me in German. The Japanese people in my group were all equally surprised when I started speaking Japanese to them. Divers are a fun bunch to hang with.
This trip was also my first attempt at doing some video using my small camera. I was rather pleased with the results, though it inspired me to go out and buy a larger SD memory card for my next dive adventure.
Besides diving the area is also home to the Chocolate Hills and the elusive Tarsier, who isn't actually a monkey and is ever so shy. For about $20 USD you can take a tour of Bohol complete with a driver and AC van. Stops on my tour included a Tarsier Reserve, the Chocolate Hills, a boat ride and some water falls, an old hanging bridge, and an old church. Taking the tour is cheap and is a really fun distraction when you need some time above water.
Diving in the area was wonderful and I would most certainly do it again given the chance. Theres not much more you could ask for in a dive location or beach area. Plus all the mangos you can eat. If you're traveling to the Philippines try and make it to Bohol. You won' be disappointed.
Technorati Tags: diving, philippines, travel, scuba
