Richard & Jo's Blog

Dive day #13 – Buceo – Jo

So, here we are. A little overcast and the sea is flat.

I am hoping for a little less excitement today… And no waves!

Yesterday, the boat crew Wendel (captain) and Jake (crew) were brilliant, as were Joy and Alvin (guides). Oh, and Richard helped too, he is pretty good at pulling a rope in a difficult situation!

The waves were very big about two metres. I was very pleased to be a bangka with outriggers.

When they said that we were going to have to enter the water and swim in to the beach, I don’t know what I thought, I just got in first and swam towards the shore and Joy met me by the bow of the boat.  The waves crashed over us a number of times. I made it to shore then watched Richard make it in with the dry bag being held over his head.

Everyone else and all our kit and cameras made it safely ashore.

A good job well done.

Oh, just one thing… It was a four horse night for Richard and he was asleep by 7pm but he has been awake since 3am. It was a two amaretto sour night for me and I slept from 9pm to 6am!

Diving with Alvin again today as Nani has a couple of days off.

Dive # 43 – Aqua Garden

Depth 23 metres / time 74 mins/ temp 29 degrees

We are here to search for a flamboyant cuttlefish so that our South Africa boat buddies can knock it off their list of things they want to see.

Sandy slope with hundreds of small soft corals and practically all of them have critters living in them.

We saw lots of soft corals crabs, small red frogfish, tint red frogfish and an emperor shrimp on a sea cucumber.

We dropped Jodie and Lauren back at Buceo as she is feeling a little unwell.

Then we head round the corner or if the wind for the next dive.

Dive #44 – Mainit Corner

Depth 23 metres/ time 74 mins/ temp 28 degrees

No current, no waves just fabulous diving. One of my favourite sites.

There is just so much to see, including a very rare butterfly nudi.

We saw many various nudis.

We got back to Buceo early, about 11.30, so we went for a swim in the pool before lunch.

Lunch was pork schnitzel with coleslaw. Nice!

After lunch we sort out the cameras then we have a couple of hours to relax before the afternoon’s dives.

Dive #45 Heidi’s Point

Depth 26 metres/ time 70 mins/ temp 26-28 degrees

Barren sandy slope (or so it appears)

We saw a white and a black ghost pipefish, batwing nudi, a hairy shrimp.

We pop back to Buceo for coffee and skyflakes.

It looks like we have broken our guide. Alvin won’t be diving with us on the next dive as he has a headache, looks like sinus issues. Joy has stepped up to the mark and said that he will accompany us.

Dive #46 Secret Bay

Depth 23 metres/ time 70 mins/ temp 26-28 degrees

A sandy slope with bits of rubble spotted around.

We saw bobbley nudis, blue nudis with red edge, a flabellina, a hairy shrimp, emperor shrimp on a cucumber worm.

At the end of the dive it was appropriate to test that my octopus was working – always good to check after having your regs serviced.

At the bar before dinner, the feeling is a little more relaxed than last night. Unlikely to be a four horse night, perhaps just the two.

Dinner is salt and pepper liempo (pork belly) with special fried rice and a fried lumpia (spring roll).

We found a stowaway in our room this evening. A huge gecko! About 12 inches long.

At least we haven’t seen that huge spider again. Not sure if Richard mentioned it in his blog a couple of days ago. A whip spider came visiting. Not the largest that we have seen but about 5 inches across. Pleased not to have seen it a second time. If it is still there, it could be the gecko’s dinner!

Dive Day #12 – Buceo Anilao – Richard

A lovely calm morning greets us today and we headed down for breakfast slightly earlier than of late, indeed we are first in! Today is Pancake day so I over do it with those (naturally)! We tend to the cameras and are back in our room and it’s still only 06.50!

Our guide Nanie is away for a few days so we have been left in the hands of Alvin who is new to us, let’s see what he finds for us.

Dive #40 – Mainit Corner

Loads of new Nudi action on this one including the Psychedelic Nudi, a great dive with our stand-in guide Alvin, he can find the small stuff for sure.

After spending the surface interval moored up at Twin Rocks, we ended up heading back to Secret Bay for the second dive.

Dive #41- Secret Bay

The current fish came both ways on this dive before finally leaving.

Red hairy Frog Fish with several others less hairy. Small nudis and shrimps.

Back on dry land nice and early (the two dives were very close to base) and an early lunch of deep fried Lumpia and BBQ Pork Skewers

After lunch, camera reset and a swift dip in the pool before retiring to our room for hot drinks on the balcony along with a bit of a snooze, all this bobbing about can really take it’s toll you know!

On our boat today it’s us two and our boat buddies Jodie and Lauren, a young couple from South Africa and a lady from Tokyo who just dubbed in the morning.

Dive #42 – Sun View

What a most excellent dive, this is a grainy sandy site with lots of small coral outcrops. Highlights include a hairy shrimp (well, we like them!) and a pygmy seahorse, which I don’t usually photo but Jo beckoned me in so I had to give it a go, and I actually got a picture, so that was all good.

Back to the line and I could tell by the way it was being jerked around that all was not calm at the surface.

.. And for sure, once I made it to the surface I could see that the wind had got up just a lot and there were rollers cruising by (not the ones made at Goodwood either!).

This made exiting the boat back at the beach somewhat exciting. They put a stern line on to a mooring buoy and then swam a bow line through the surf and fixed it ashore. Then it was (simply!) a matter of pulling as hard as we could to get the bow towards the beach. Once we had done the best we could, we had to literally jump ship and swim ashore. Jo led  the charge, hotly pursued by me. Time to see just how waterproof those waterproof bags are!

Jo was met in the surf by Joy, (the Filipino Brad Pitt)  and they made it out in one piece, despite being swamped by waves a couple of times. I followed swiftly! A while later cameras and other gear appeared ashore, all in one piece. A big thank you to our guides and crew. About an hour later, it had all calmed down again though we had already decided to change the location of the night dive:

Dive #42a – Nudi Bar

I need to document everything carefully as things may get forgotten in the forthcoming beer haze.

Ernie just arrived at the bar, I’m two Red Horse in, documenting just in case.

Sat at the bar and all the phones went off! Seems that the local volcano (Taal) just farted!

For dinner tonight we had Chicken Adobo, Vegetable Chop-suey and fried rice, yum!

Dive day #11

We say goodbye to Nina today. It has been so lovely to catch up. She is off to the Kuala Lumpur dive show representing Dive Heart, a group that helps people with disabilities to scuba dive.

Breakfast was the usual fayre followed by camera stuff.

We met our new boat buddies, a young couple from South Africa, Jodie and Lauren. So with them and Katsomo, a lady from Japan, our boat is complete. Dive guides are Nani, Joy and Jimson.

Dive #36 – Daryl Laut

Depth 29 metres / 70 mins / 29 degrees

A quick scout around the far corner of the wreck, looking for nudis. Then criss-crossing the top of the wreck. Finally the hunt for frogfish.

At the end of the dive we saw the reason why you shouldn’t have your GoPro if your buoyancy is sh*t. Every time this dive raised their GoPro to look through it, she immediately descended and the guide had to pull her back up. Don’t think it was anything to do with the stupid cat ears she was wearing but you just don’t know.

We saw three frogfish, large pink painted, small pink painted and a black one with orange spots. Also saw lots of Christmas tree worms and various nudis.

We left Daryl Laut and headed over to Agahuta, too much current so we headed to Kaban Cove, along with all of the other boats in the area. Unfortunately sometimes we have to put up with this if the current and wind direction restricts where we can go.

Dive #37 – Kaban Cove

Depth 22 metres / time 70 mins / 29 degrees

Great excitement was had at the beginning of this dive, as a blue ringed octopus was spotted. There were lots of divers but they all were considerate and everyone got a look. I initially kept out of it as I was photographing a couple of porcelain crabs in a huge anemone.

We saw a blue ringed octopus, porcelain crabs, a dragon shrimp and various nudis.

Back at Buceo, we were first to lunch and decided to add fries to our order of pork schnitzel and coleslaw. Lovely!

Now on the balcony enjoying the gentle breeze and relaxing.

Dive #38 – El Pinot

Depth 20 metres / time 80 mins / 29 degrees

A sandy slope going to a rubble area.  We were mainly looking for nudis.

We saw plenty of nudis and a couple of frogfish

The surface interval was back at Buceo. Coffee and no skyflakes! Skyflakes are arriving tomorrow.

Dive #39 – Secret Bay

Depth 22 metres / time 80 mins / 28 degrees

Sandy slope.

An amazing critters.

We saw lots of different nudis, five or six frogfish, and a wonderpus (that I found).

Chatting with a couple from Oregon/Alaska, Kirk and Shanna, lovely people. We’ve met lots of lovely people, Tim and Becca from Oz, Kelly and Jenna from Hawaii.

Dinner for three…

Richard had beef curry and fried rice and I had BLT and fries (first one of the holiday).

Camera stuff, photo stuff and bed.

Dive Day #10 – Buceo Anilao – Richard

Today was Bacon Day! Consequently I’m now suffering from bacon overload, as if there was such a thing!

Cameras are all prepped, dive gear loaded on the boats and all we have to do is to slip into something more suited to underwater operations and we’re set.

Rumour has it that the first dive of the day will be at Bethlehem which is basically along the seabed of a channel between two land masses where all sorts of strange looking critters are said to be lurking. It is of course dependent on the current when we arrive and if it’s all bad then we’ll head around the corner to Daryl Laut (the casino wreck) – let’s see what happens!

Dive #32 – Bethlehem

What a lovely dive, even if the current fish turned up half way through!

Several small nudis as well as a few larger ones, plenty for Jo to practice with the snoot torch that she added today. At one point I noticed that small clumps of coral were rolling past, this was when the current peaked!

The surface interval was spent with coffee and biscuits and a short hop over to Minilog for the second dive.

Dive #33 – Minilog

An exceptional dive with several new types of nudis, a good looking frog fish and a mostly obliging harlequin shrimp!

Back for a lunch of BBQ pork and coleslaw, a little camera prep and a bit of a rest before the next dive. Today we say goodbye to Nina (despite earlier reports of her departure) as and our boat buddies from Hawaii. This afternoon it might be just us on the boat, we shall see!

Post-lunch update, it is just us this afternoon, out at three for a couple of dives back to back is at least what is planned, let’s see how that plays out!

Dive #34 – Apologies Point East

This is a slope down to around 27m with lots of coal outcrops. The star of this particular dive was the Cinderella Nudi, or should I say Nudis as they were plentiful and all of them colourful. Right down to 27m where a pair were posing nicely for the camera. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jo was down to 2mins NCD then I’d never have prized her away getting them. I was also on 2mins NCD so nipped in for a few snaps before my NCD got zero so I chased it all back  to 18 and no deco was allocated, phew!

Other stars of this dive were various other small nudis and an obliging pink frog fish.

Back on board for coffee and snacks as we wait out the hour until the next dive.

Side note: It got down to 27 degrees on this dive Brrrrhhhh..

Dive #35 Coconut Point.

The plan here was to dive down to around 18m to the black coral area. As it turned out, as soon as we hit the water we were ini to Shaun the Sheep nudis, Emporer Shrimps and a hairy shrimp. So we spend the entire dive under or around the boat at around 7m max!

Back to the bar where a particular boat was pushed out, Jo had two (no, not just the one!) Royales and I  had a Red Horse beer followed by a Long Island Iced Tea.

Then a dinner of Tuna Sisig, fried rice and a mango and cucumber salad, awesome!

Now we are back at the room wading through todays crop!

Dive Day #9 – Buceo – Jo

Flat calm here…

Leisurely breakfast with Nina. Omelette for me and fruits for Richard.

Then off to Red Rock (the farthest east we go) via Secret Bay for our coastguard sign off.

Wind getting up and starting to rain.

Dive# 28 – Red Rock

Depth 22 metres / Time 78 mins / Temp 28 degrees

Lovely dive. Bimbled about. Safety stop at the top on the pinnacle.

We saw loads of nudis, frogfish, beautiful pinnacle, hundreds of thousands of red tooth trigger fish which surrounded us.

But of a chilly surface interval, chatting, coffee and skyflakes!! I asked to have skyflakes on the boat as the fake oreos have milk in. I eat about 2-3 skyflakes, they provided 40-50!! Plenty for everyone else.

Dive #29 – Bubbles

Richard had a face on as he didn’t get to do the dive he was hoping for. I had a lovely dive.

We saw bubbles, frogfish, nudis including two very nicely positioned beautiful risbecia and a couple of psychedelic slugs.

Lunch was a pork schnitzel and coleslaw.

It’s no longer windy or raining…

We head to Koala (the farthest north we go).

Dive #30 – Koala

Depth 25 metres / Time 82 mins / temp 29 degrees

Lovely dive, although a bit of current and surge at the end. We head towards the gorgonian fan, find the pygmy seahorse then back up the peninsula.

We saw frogfish, pygmy seahorse, schooling mackerel, various nudis including flabelinas.

Surface interval at Buceo with coffee, skyflakes and cookies.

Dive #31 Twin Rocks

Depth 24 metres / Time 80 mins /temp 29 degrees

Just us and Nani on this dive. It is so special when you have the dive site all to yourselves, especially a dive site like this.

We dropped in at the block, bimbled northwards and then bimbled back. It was dark by the time we got out.

Right near the end we came across a couple of huge lobsters. They were bright blue and pink with huge antennas measuring about five foot across. No claws like UK lobsters have.

We saw yet another frogfish, various nudis, lobsters, schooling trevallys.

A chat at the bar before dinner of pancit canton (noodles with vegetables) and Shanghai rolls.

Camera stuff, picture stuff and sleep.

Dive Day #8 – Buceo Anilao- Richard

Here we are at the start of another day of eat-dive-dive-eat-dive-dive-eat, though fortunately we seem to have gained a little more control over our eating habits this time around when compared to previous trips!

Just breakfasted on eggs and ham with a slice of mango on the side then we’re off to prep the cameras before we head out into the sea for subaquatic adventures.

I think it’s Nina’s last diving day today so tomorrow there may be some fresh meat on the boat, Tim and Becca leave today so it could be quite quiet on the boat, no worries, I can make up for that!

… And the details are out, not only have the recently departed buddy pair been replaced but we have an additional diver bringing the total number of guest divers on board to six, max capacity! There are also three guides who will be wrangling us all.

The first dive is set to be Kirby’s Rock (assuming no current) which is a spectacular underwater rock formation and wall down to about 26m with another pinnacle slightly away from the main rock. There is also a pygmy seahorse photo opportunity here which I tend to avoid.

Well, what a cracking couple of dives!

Dive #24 Kirby’s Rock

Another spectacular dive on this stunning site, a tall wall and pinnacles slightly away from the wall. Loads of Nudi action and a good sized frog fish but it was mostly the nudis that made the dive. I know we go on about them but there is such a diverse range of colours and sizes and they make spectacular pictures, so on we go!

Dive #25 Olympic

After a surface interval where we enjoyed hot drinks and snacks we move to the next site which was planned to be Agahuta but ends up being….

A great bimble around the site which is basically a massive plateau of ‘rubble area’ with banks all around up to the mooring area. This time we spend a majority of the dive on the sloping banks where we find yet more Nudi action and many many shutters were released!

As we surfaced it was raining but this cleared up on our way back to the resort where we dined on BBQ pork skewers with coleslaw which was super yum.

Side Note: The water temperatures here have been about a half to one degree lower than we experienced at Puerto Galera, not only that but I’m sure I saw a 27 on the night dive last night, so today we thought we would give the 2.5mm’s a go. So far so good, super comfy and positively steaming!!!!!.

A swift lunch of BBQ pork skewers and Coleslaw and we’re back to the room for a rest before the first dive of the afternoon.

Dive #26 – Apolls Point

Just awesome, loads to see on yet another of our favourite sites, for me the highlight was the Dragon Shrimp which was displayed nicely in an area that was easy to access, fingers crossed for the photos on that one.

I was taking a picture of a Nudi when I noticed the background was moving. I back away a little and realise that there’s a giant black frog fish right in front of me, then a mahoosive turtle swims across right in front of me, quite the experience!

Back to base for now drinks before heading out for the last dive of the day which is set to be Secret Bay (assuming no current!).

Dive #27 – Mainit Corner

So yes, there was current at Secret Bay. Now, when I say current, I’m not talking about what we get in the UK, it was more a gentle movement of the water but the guides here are quite picky about these things and they don’t want us in ANY current whatsoever!

A nice bimble around a small part of this site as there is loads to keep us occupied, another excellent dive.

Back for dinner, preceded by a couple of Red Horse. We had Baby Back Ribs, coleslaw and fries.

Then back to the room for photo work and ZZzz……..

Dive Day #7 – Buceo – Jo

Slept like a log! Didn’t get to do the cameras last night so that was the first thing we did. This was shortly followed by an omelette for breakfast.

After a shortish wait for the coastguard, we are off to the other island.

Dive #20 – Daryl Laut

Depth 28 metres / time 82 mins / temp 29

Here we are again! Love this dive! The sunken casino wreck. We are the only boat here!

We spent a lot of time between 24 and 28 metres looking for nudis. Then onto the wreck for two separate painted pink frogfish, one large, one large.

We saw nudis, two pained pink frogfish, juvenile batfish, two lembeh sea dragon ( we’ve renamed to lembeh snot dragon).

The surface interval is spent with us boring people (Nina, and Tim and Becca from Oz) about bees.

Dive #21 – Layag Layag

Best ever dive on this site. Just our boat on this site. Everyone spreads out. Lovely. Lovely coral garden. Lots to see.

We saw lots of nudis!

Lunch was spent with Nina chatting about anything and everything.

After camera work, we spent an hour sitting on our balcony enjoying the gentle breeze.

Now it is time to dive again.

Dive #22 Aqua Garden

Depth 22 metres / time 78 mins / temp 29

Don’t do this one very often. Down at around 20 metres there are hundreds of soft corals ranging from about 4-12 inches high. Most have critters in.

We saw many pink crabs, flamboyant cuttlefish, two frogfish, three ornate ghost pipefish, shrimp on whip coral.

Back to Buceo for the surface interval. Coffee and skyflakes.

Just us of the forth dive as Nina dies three dives a day.

Dive #23

Bubbles

Depth 22 metres / time 75 mins / temp 28

Current when we got in which continued until we got out.

We didn’t go very far but found lots to take pictures of.

We saw some very nicely positioned nudis and shrimps.

After a drink and a chat at the bar the three of us have dinner.

Dinner was Shanghai rolls, boiled rice and vegetables in coconut milk.

Camera work and photos before bed.

Dive Day #6 – Buceo Anilao – Richard

Today is actually resort transfer day so we got up a little earlier, prepped the cameras, got our dive gear on and threw what’s left into various bags.

Now we are about to have breakfast whilst waiting for our water taxi to arrive.

We had thunderstorms over night and a lot of rain (they only watered the gardens yesterday!).

The sharper eyed amongst you may have spotted a teaser in Jo’s post yesterday, something about ‘we all eventually met up at 4m’. the finer detail involves a story regarding my weight pouches and a struggle to descend, you can fill in the blanks.

The water taxi should take little over 30 minutes (depending on conditions) to make the journey between the resorts. When we arrive at Anilao there will be a boat waiting to take us straight out diving (which is why we are already dressed for diving!)  along with one other diver ‘Nina’ who’s an ex-pat living in Malaysia who we first met out here over a decade ago and several times since.

The taxi pulls up at around 07.20 and by 07.29 we are on our way to Anilao.

The captain informs us that because of the monsoon (!) he might need to drop us around the corner from the resort. Thankfully it’s all quite flat and we are dropped off at 08.02 and less than 15 minutes later we are on board a dive boat and headed out for our first dive.

Dive #16 – Minilog

Lots of shrimp and Nudi action in particular a nice dragon shrimp  and a large octopus decided to bury itself out off  our gaze.

Dive #17 – Olympic

More of the same here minus the dragon shrimp.

Lunch was a relatively minimalistic coleslaw and fries, just what we wanted!

After a bit of camera prep it’s time to get back in for the afternoon dive.

Dive #18 – Vievery

This is basically a dandy slope down to about 24m which is where we are headed to find the black hairy frog fish and sure enough, there it is in all its glory.

One thing about black frogfish in general is that they are visually impossible to photograph what with them just being so over black and all.

The hairy variant is no exception to this rule, all very splendid to look at but any attempt to take photos produces a black blob with no distinguishing features so you’ll just have to take my word for it, it was black, it was hairy and it was most definitely a frog fish.

Then it’s back to base for a quick cuppa before we head out for the last dive of the day which was meant to be ‘bubbles’ but because of their policy of not putting divers in where there is any current, we diverted!

Dive #19 – Mainit Corner

This  was a spectacular dive on another of our favourite sites with much Nudi action to be seen on this amazing site which is at the end of a rocky outcrop and underwater, the rocky outcrop extends to the seabed. All very awesome.

Dive Day #5 – Fishermen’s Cove – Jo

Richard seems better this morning, so that is good news.

Breakfast, for me, was scrambled eggs and bacon with coffee.

It is very relaxed in the mornings here. First dive is at 9am.

Out on the boat, with three guides, round to the far side, in search of pygmy seahorse.

Dive #13 – Kilaman steps

Depth 17 metres / time 81 mins / temp 29

Coral garden descending in steps.

Lovely relaxed dive with no need for Richard to disappear…

Actually saw some other divers on this dive.

We saw pink pygmy seahorse, shrimp on wire coral, nudis, and many Christmas tree worms.

When we came to the surface, Joseph told us he had seen one of the other groups squeezing the gorgonian fan to find the pygmy seahorse!! Absolutely disgusting!!

We came back to the bay for our surface interval.

Dive #14 – Mountani

Depth 11 metres / time 99 mins / temp 29-30

We all met on the bottom (eventually) at about 4 metres.

We bimbled around. The current fish came and went during the dive, as did the thermoclines.

We saw nudis, Shawn the sheep slug, small black frogfish, a yellowy-green seahorse, robust pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish.

Back to the resort for lunch…

Lunch was very shortly followed by the last dive

Dive #15 – Secret Bay

Depth 16 metres / time ?? mins / temp 31

A sandy desolate area, swept by current that couldn’t make up its mind which way it wanted to go.

That being said, we saw lots.

We saw Picchu slugs, lots of flabelinas, small red frogfish, posing fish on coral, other various nudis.

We said our goodbyes to Joseph and the captain.

Before the rigmarole of packing we opted for a leisurely dip in the pool and coke zeros. It was at this point we heard that we were having pizza for tea! Yes!

Packing didn’t take too long. We packed a bag for the dive centre, a bag for the camera room, and two other bags for our room at Buceo.

And now… It’s pizza time!

I would have liked to have shown the empty plates but neither of us could manage it. Very tasty though!

So, that’s it. Some bits and pieces to pack in the morning and camera checking as we are planning on doing four dives tomorrow at Buceo.

Dive Day #3 – Fishermen’s Cove – Jo

I’m back in the room. Not sure what happened to yesterday. It appears that I slept through most of it. The only bits I was completely aware of was Richard leaving and coming back from breakfast, diving, lunch, diving and dinner.

Feeling much more myself this morning.

Breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, with Richard also opting for cinnamon swirl and fresh mango.

Dive #7 – White Beach

Depth 11 metres / time 92 mins /temp 30 degrees

We did the reef part. It’s not the prettiest of reefs but there were lots to take photos of.

We saw three broccoli nudis (not their official name), Life nudis (also, not their official name), shrimp on whip coral.

Surface interval involved coffee and peanut prestos (no milk).

We spotted this sign… Made us laugh. Lost in translation perhaps…

Dive #8 – White Beach

Depth 15 metres / time 92 mins /temp 30 degrees

Ropes and sand.

We saw lots. Two hairy frogfish. Two psychedelic slugs racing across the sand. Emperor shrimps on a cucumber worm. Two Orange frogfish. Ornate ghost pipefish.

Lunch was sausage with olive rice and lettuce, followed by mango for Richard.

Dive #9 – Mountain

Depth 8 metres / time 108 mins /temp 30 degrees

Amazing dive this one. Just a sandy slope but so many critters. Also, some current fish.

We saw two different colour hairy shrimp, various nudis including one with a huge mouthpiece, two Shawn the sheep slugs.

Back in the pool for rest, relaxation and drinks before dinner.

This evening for dinner we are having bacon and tomato pasta followed by carpacio of beef with fries.

Cameras and photos before sleep. ????