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The view from the balcony is looking pretty good…

Up early and down for breakfast at 6.30. Eggs and bacon for me today, with watermelon juice, the best.

A little camera work before getting ready to go diving.

Quite boat today as Darral and Dianne are going home. We have Tim from Singapore and his guide, Elmer, on the boat with us today. A trip out to one of the furthest dives…

Red Rock

This site when there is no current has to be one of my very favourites anywhere in the world! Amazing dive! Clear water and no current! So much to take pictures of and on such a beautiful site. I love mushroom coral and saw a tiny fish sitting on one.

The surface interval was filled with coffee, Oreos and sweeties. Darral and Dianne left the spare sweeties with us to take on the boat each day. We took a slow journey to bubbles.

Bubbles

This site is also becoming a firm favourite! We went out to the wall from the east side rather than the normal west side. Lots to see and take photos of.

Back at the resort, we had our last lunch with Darral and Dianne, followed by sad goodbyes, before they left at 2pm.

As they left, we got our boat to go diving. We have brought forward our afternoon diving and by only doing an hour surface interval means that we have finished our diving by 5.30pm. This allows us some extra time in the evening and allows Nanni, Wendel and Saldy to go home earlier. We are diving for 15 days and feel if you can do these little things, it can help them. Of course, if we have other divers on the boat then this probably wouldn’t happen.

We did Sun View first. I slope with small coral outcrops and rubble. Nicely positioned nudis and shrimp in featherstar. Richard has camera issues so returned to boat for some camera fiddling. Whilst looking at the shrimp below, Richard and Nanni had a very close encounter with a large turtle. So close,that instead of the turtle going overhead it swam straight into Nanni’s head then kick Richard on the head. Oops…

Second dive was Arthur’s Rock. We went down the slope, along the wall, over the top where the current was strong so we went with it. The boat collected us.

We had cocktails at the bar followed by Bico Express, lumpia and fried rice.

So what did we do with our extra hours and a half? Well, we were asleep by 8pm, so not much!!

It’s another nice day in Anilao though there was bad news at breakfast, yes, they have no bananas, they have no bananas today, this is a great shame as I had adopted them as my breakfast of choice.

In other news we learn that Dawn had spent 5hrs in ‘the chamber’ overnight following her symptoms from yesterday, oh, and she tested positive for Covid though it is not known at present whether the two are related, she was coughing a lot yesterday.

Today is Darrall and Diane’s last dive day so they should be picking the sites. We are happy wherever we go.

Let’s see how the day unfolds.

In the meantime, here are pictures of the wall art in our room which is ‘C2’ or ‘Ghost Pipefish’.

We head out for Kirbys Rock but found that the current fish had beaten us to it so we change direction and head across to Olympic Point only to find that the Current Fish had followed us ll the way there. We get in anyway.

On the seabed Jo realised that of all the little nooks and crannies into which you can hide silica gel packs, that small gap between the front of the lens and the glass of the front port is, perhaps, not the most conducive to photography.

That teeny tiny faux pas combined with the Current Fish which was in abundance tipped the balance for Jo and she elected to ride this one out topside. Meanwhile I show willing and soldier on…

Overall, things improved slightly, I even took photos of Tiger Shrimp, Donald Duck Shrimp and Mantis Shrimp.

We drifted what seemed quite some way but when we finally surface on the SMB, we are only about 30 metres or so from the dive boat which zooms to our rescue in no time at all.

We decide to head back to base to find tune camera operations before we head around the corner to Mainit School.

Mainit School failed to disappoint – plenty to see including Psychedelic Nudi, Flamboyant Cuttle Fish, all manner of other nudis and interesting and colourful things.

After the dive we head back for lunch, so that was the end of the diving for Darrell and Dianne – they head back to Australia tomorrow. As it’s just Jo and Myself on the boat for a day or two – we decide to bring the afternoon dive forward by an hour and do two back to back – nice!

Lunch is a simple affair consisting of the ubiquitous B.L.T. with Fries for Jo and Pancit Canton for me (OK, noodles and vegetables!).

At the newly arranged tine of 14:00 we head out to Apolls Point which is a spectacular arrangement of hard coral formations and sandy areas where we hunt for different things and get a few nice shots.

Once back at the surface we make our way across to Coconut Point for the second of the afternoon dive but once again there is current – so we cross back to the main land and decide to dive Mainit Corner – which is an absolute favourite. We enjoy more coffee and Oreos during the surface interval and jump in at the appropriate moment.

It’s starting to get dark so some of the cup corals are coming out – as well as some of the other night time performers – these get most of our attention though there is plenty more to see.

Mainit corner is a group of rocky outcrops at the end of a point on land – imagine something like ‘The Needles’ at the Isle of Wight but under water. There are so many different areas to move around and because it is on the point – and receives a lot of current at times – it is festoon with life – a really nice dive.

It is still light when we get to the surface – plenty of time to capture the sunset.

We get back to the camera room to find that care of the stock of ‘lollies’ from Australia has passed to us – two very large bags remain for distribution to crew and guests on the dive boat – we shall do our very best!

Dinner was grilled Snapper in a spicy sweet and sour sauce with traditional sides of Fries and Coleslaw, very nice indeed, thank you very much Darrell and Dianne.

We had such a wonderful time, last night. I am sure Richard told you this on the previous blog but I have to say my bit.

Joanne from the resort invited us to her home for dinner. Joanne is very sweet and very shy so it was a big thing for her to invite us to her home.

She lives about 5-10 minutes from the dive centre, along the beach, through the basketball court and past many of the other staff’s houses. Joanne and her husband, David, live with her Aunt Sonja and other cousins, in a house right on the beach.

When we got there we saw how much work she had done. In fact, they all had done. Richard has put the pictures up.

It was so nice to just chat and laugh. So nice to see Joanne come out of her shell. Such a kind heart and we were very touched by her welcoming us into her home.

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Thought I would post a picture of our door. 

“Not in Frogfish room?” I hear you say. Not this time. Ghostpipefish room is also good although we have to climb another five steps, so that it a real downer!

This is our view today. Looks like a perfect day to go diving.

Oh yes, diving… Missed the fact that my first dive yesterday, Bethlehem, was dive 1600. Oh well, will celebrate 1700 whenever that arrives…

A couple of lovely dives this morning.

First dive was Koala (no idea how it got its name). Coral at the top and sand and rubble at about 20 metres. One of my favourite animals are Christmas tree worms. We saw a variety of colours but I particular liked this blue one.

Quite a noisy surface interval! Got a father and son on board for the day so we were chatting with them. Darral and Dianne were both on form. Obviously coffee, Oreos and sweeties to keep us going.

Second dive was El Pinoy, to see the pygmy seahorses. Lovely dive, lots of viz and no current at all.

Dinner was the usual for me and vegetable noodles for Richard followed by picture work and a nap. I did one, Richard did the other, I shall leave it with you to guess who did what… 🤔🤔

This afternoon is hot, hot, hot!

Michelle and Timothy have been joined by another lady, Dawn, also from America, for their 3/4 week Philippines tour. Dawn has been suffering from sinus problems but has been able to dive. After the second dive today, we wasn’t feeling so well. Numbness in both forearms and her lower back. She has had some O2 and it looks like they are going to get her checked out at the chamber.

Third dive was Vivyre, a short way north of the resort, a sandy slope with a area where there is many sea pens. We saw a seahorse attached to a sea pen and lots of tiny crabs (2-3mm) in most of the sea pens. I would say if if you can’t spot your buddy find the nearest lady dressed as a whaleshark and follow her! That’s what I did.

Lovely dive.

As it was only us with Nanni this afternoon we stayed on the boat. Had coffee and Oreos! 🥰🥰

We traveled to the other side of the peninsula to Saim Sim dive site, another sandy slope. Shortly after getting in we saw two mimic octopus and a wonderpus. I spotted a very tiny coconut octopus. The white shells it is using to hide were about the size of my thumb nail.

Even smaller than the octopus was the tiny tiny tiny orange Frogfish that Nanni spotted, came and got us, returned and found it again.

Amazing skill!

We got an update on Dawn. It looks like she will been going in the chamber tonight. More updates to follow.

Dinner was lumpia, sisig and vegetable noodles. Unfortunately, the sisig was to Richard’s liking which meant that I couldn’t eat it. Bother!

After dinner, more picture work and napping. Again, you can decide for yourself who did what…

Sloely but surely getting  ‘back in the saddle’ after a spell of feeling a little under par.

After a relatively light breakfast (a whole banana and slice of bread) we head out to dive Bethlehem, this is one of those coral rubble areas which hides all sorts of critters.

Immediately after submerging I check the camera. The sharper minded amongst you will not be at all surprised to learn that I executed those two tasks in the wrong order.

What no strobe power on my snoot torch? I must have put the dang battery in the wrong way around (being male I’m qualified for such bafoonery) I take my camera back to the surface and check but, no, it was in the right way around, ok, so it must be flat (I assumed). So I head off to do the dive using my conventional strobe instead. No drama, just different pictures.

We see all kinds of Nudi’s as well as the now ubiquitous (though formerly uber rare) Rhinopia so we take pictures though nothing super clever, I different lens would have helped.

Back on the boat it’s time for coffee and oreos. The mis behaving snoot torch is investigated, the source of the issue being crud on the battery compartment seal.

Romnick takes a knife to it and before long, it’s all polished up and ready for action once again.

The second site is Minilog which this time produces a plethora of the big pink nudi’s with the yellow gills (hugely photogenic) as well as a fair few other species, including one which measured 7″ long, a monster nudi!

We return to the boat and then to base where a number of guests have left so we elect to change positions in the camera room (a failing light and duff power sockets were just too much of an issue!) whilst there are plenty of unoccupied positions.

Then off to lunch where I had chosen something off the menu, yes, I had gone all off piste and chosen noodles with vegitables, it was lovely though it was pointed out that it looked (and tasted) like a ‘pot noodle’. I was happy and shall be ordering that again soon.

For a change we did not have to order our evening meal after lunh as we are dining out tonight at ‘Joannes’. Not a local bistro but actually the house of one of the members of staff here who we have come to know well.

Back on board in the PM for a swift couple of dives (we limited them to 1hr as we had a date night at 7.00pm so first we dive at Sun View where a coarse sandy seabed is loaded with coral outcrops with plenty of critter action. We then stay on board whilst the boat is moved around to Mainit School which is another critter rich site, even more rich now that the light has gone.

Fairly soon we come across a flamboyant cuttle fish which is out on the hunt, after that it’s mostly nudi after nudi, awesome!

Again we curtail activities at 60 minutes which is just as well because when we get back to shore we find that our hosts are already ready for us so it’s a quick wash and change then off we head.

Joanne leads us along the path through the densely packed accommodations, pointing out who lives where along the way. Everyone here is so very friendly.

Before long we arrive at Joannes place where we meet her aunty Sonia and husband Dave and are greeted by a packed table of freshly prepared food which included Pork Adobe, roast chicken deep fried Talapia, rice, fries, salad, Lumpia, all manner of dressings and dips (chili’s were well represented here) and a selection of fresh fruit.

Plenty to drink including water, Royale, coke and Red Horse beer, what an amazing feast.

The doughnuts were a present from us, I was under strict orders not to eat any of them!

I am on the mend. Feeling much better but my buddy is not so to well. Same people on the boat but it is Martin’s last day. Great to meet people from all over the world. Martin is an Argentinian criminal prosecutor laywer. Where else in our day to day lives would we meet an Argentinian criminal prosecutor laywer?

A trip across to the other island. We were going to do Kirby’s rock but the current was too strong so we did Alang Alang instead which is just around the corner from Kirby’s rock. Lovely clear water and lots of critters to take pictures of.

Still current at Kirby’s rock so we move to Kaban Cove. Quite wavy but much less so in the cove. Surface interval was full of coffee, Oreos and sweeties. Richard was a little quite. 🤔🤔

I had a great dive! Lovely critters to take pictures of, including a psychedelic slug, see picture, only about 0.5cm in length. An awesome animal.

On the trip back Richard looked like he was about to fall asleep (I know, not unusual) but he didn’t look so good.

After lunch we went to the room for some rest and relaxation. When it came to getting ready for the afternoon dive Richard couldn’t do it. Just to tired.

So I went diving.

Just myself, Nanni and Martin on the boat for a trip just up the coast to El Pinot for the pygmy seahorses.

Lovely dive. Spent plenty of time with the seahorses although I didn’t take many photos. No point taking the picture of the eye is not in focus! Also, it’s a waste of time and stressful for the seahorses. Also saw lots of other critters including this porcelain crab in an anemone.

A returned to our room to find Richard on the balcony in long trousers and a hoodie. He didn’t look like he was about to get ready for the night dive.

For the night dive, it was Nanni, Martin and myself on the house reef. Lots of critters, nudis not seen anywhere else, Bobbitt worm, just lots of stuff.

Richard came to dinner, just as well as it had ordered him chop suey, his favourite, with Shanghai lumpia and fried rice.

Richard was asleep shortly after returning to the room and I spent an hour or so organising pictures.

Now then, the problem with writing the blog retrospectively is that all the days have a similar format and it is sometimes not so easy to remember as far back as… yesterday!

Obviously we ate meals and went diving.

The diving was fairly easy as

recall as I keep a daily log. I know we went to Gasang and Heidis point in the morning then Arthur’s Rock in the afternoon and Twin Rocks for the night dive.

Yesterday was a day of frog fish and seahorses.

Back to the bar for a light refreshment before heading in to dine. After which we retire for an early night where I literally pass out before the power goes off, Perhaps related to that electrical storm display earlier, 🤔

It is my day to blog again! It comes round so quick.

Woken up at six with coffee and biscuits. Eight hours sleep is not enough! It is a beautiful day!

Omelette today, to make up for all the fruit and veg that I have eaten over the last few days.

Another for dives today.

Darryl Laut

Lovely dive on a previous casino which was thought to be scuttled for insurance purposes. Lots of nudis, frogfish and many christmas tree worms.

The surface interval was spend drinking coffee, eating orios and Australian “lollies” and British “lollies”.

Elmer’s Point

Back across in the same area as the dive centre. We saw lots of the same critters

Coconut Point

No Martin on this dive as he had some ear issues. We saw Shaun the sheep slugs and Coleman shrimps on fire urchins. Then we went down to the black coral area at about 18 metres. So beautiful.

Heidi’s Point

I found a coconut octopus! Tiny! Also, a small white frogfish and crabs on sea pens.

Not feeling my best so went straight to bed after the dive. Shattered! Richard, Dianne and Darral had a special fish tea.

Not so windy today and flat seas – nice. Off to breakfast shortly.

OK that’s all done, we head out and dive at Gasang (current at Red Rock) where its mostly critters hitching rides from fire urchins, it is our first 90 minute dive of the trip.

Lots of sunshine today which is nice though we are in the tropics so the weather is changable to say the least.

We spend the surface inteval with coffee, oreos and the glitering array of sweets that D&D have bought with them.

Time to dive again so we head back do Red Rock where there is still current so we decide to return to ‘Bubbles’ which is a great dive down to 27m with lots to see and plenty of nudi action as well as bubbles rising everywhere due to the proximity of the volcanic activity below. The seabed is hot enough to cook an egg on in places!

Back on board we head back to base for lunch which Consisted of BLT for Jo and Cheeseburger for me.

The afternoon dive is at Twin Rocks – just outside of the resort and that is a most excellent bimble amongst coral outcrops with plenty of time to work on techniques and practise new ideas with ‘the snoot’ – there is always more to learn! Highlights include plenty of nudi action as well as a nice yellow painted frog fish at the start of the dive.

Back to base and time to bob in the pool before the night dive. We end up chatting to some other guests after which I realise that people have made the journey from all over the word to be here, sometimes travelling for up to 39 hours to make the trip. So far we have met people from:

Korea – though now living in Tennessee
Las Vegas
Canada
Australia
Argentina
Switzerland
Israel
Emsworth

… and they are all repeat customers – we must be doing something right!

On to the night dive – we head off to Mainit Corner – less than two minutes in the boat and enjoy a spectacular night dive around the fine tip of a headland which is festoon with life during the day and then takes on an amazing transition in colour at night time when all the bright yellow cup corals come out to play – just awesome.

We are heading back to the boat at around 80 minutes in when Jo makes friends with a squid – I decide to get on to the boat – Jo and Nani return some time later!!! The dives here are not very short.

Back on dry land for tea, preceded by drinks at the bar – for me – Red Horse (as usual) and for Jo – a new cocktail (Crazy Jo) consisting of Mango, Banana, lots of Malibu and a dash of sugar syrup.
Tea consists of Sweet and Sour Chicken, Vegetable Chop Suey, Fried Rice and Coleslaw – all super delicious. Then its back to the room for photos, blogging and snoring ZZZZzzzzzz………

The wind got up yesterday afternoon and it was still windy this morning. Down to breakfast at 6.30 where we chatted with Timothy and Michelle from Tennessee, they arrived last night and their journey had taken three days, including stopovers at New York and Korea. We had met them previously when we were last here in May earlier this year.

After breakfast it was camera time. We must be getting into the swing of it was all done in a blink of any eye.

Same divers and crew on the boat again this morning. No Wendel as his wife had a baby the first night we were here, so we have Saldy Jr as captain instead.

First dive was on Kirby’s Rock which is on the other island sheltered from the wind. Beautiful dive including a wall, coral covered slopes and large pinnacles.

On this dive we saw many nembrotha slugs, bright yellow sea cucumbers, shrimps on wire coral and two frogfish, one large black one and the other a small yellow painted frogfish which decided to swim directly towards me as I hurriedly tried to backup to get out of its way.

Stayed in the boat between dives, and talked about Darral and Dianne’s camera and lighting equipment. This is their first trip out with new Olympus TG6s, housing, a backscatter snoot for Darral and new video torches for Dianne. All going well but Dianne’s lights are not working as they would like. Out was decided that Dianne would have a go with the backscatter snoot and Darral would assist her.

Second dive of the day was Aguhuta. We went in search of nudis and the site did not disappoint. Load of them everywhere. My favourite was not the nudis but a couple of very bold featherduster and fan worms. They are just so delicate and so beautiful.

Where we dived this morning was sheltered. As we crossed the sea back to Buceo, we wind became apparent. One wave completely soaked our Captain. He literally was soaked through to his skin. The winds was onshore at the dive resort but getting off the boat was completely fine as long as there was a hand to hold to.

We had a spot of lunch, in fact, we both had BLT and shared a large bowl of coleslaw. The coleslaw here is make using extremely finely sliced cabbage, a little vinegar, sugar and caraway seeds. Delicious!

Lunch was followed by a spot of picture work and blogging.

Next dive was at three. Manit School, around the corner from Buceo, so sheltered. This is a coral slope going down to sand with lots of critters. Many different nudis of types and colours and gobies on wire coral.

The winds is picking up again. Whilst we were doing our surface interval in the pool the rain came in. The islands opposite us disappeared as did most of the sea. It absolutely hammered down!! The wind really came up. Large waves on the shore.

Some people had their night dives cancelled but Nanni was happy to go, so us and Martin were up for it.

As getting the boat to the show was a little difficult, Michelle and Timothy came on our boat, out to the dive site, Secret Bay, where is was flat calm, then they “walked the plank” to their boat.

No waves. No current. Not many divers. We saw bob tail squid, skeleton shrimps, tiny octopus and an even tinier yellow (hairy) frogfish which decided it wanted to climb on the camera and when I moved it, it decide my hand was a good bet!

A very excellent dive! By the time we good back to Buceo the waves had calmed a bit and there were not issues on the shore.

It was tea of lumpia, spicy salt and pepper squid, mango and cucumber salad with fried rice.

Then picture work and lights out by 9.50pm.

After dealing with various emails we dive down to a breakfast of omlettes and spicy pork, yum.

Shocking news, someone was sat at our table, that’s not the kind of upset I need at this time of day, that needs to be sorted out!

Off to sort cameras shortly then the diving shall commence!

.. And so it did!

Dive #1, Bethlehem, this is a flat seabed full of coral rubble where everything hides. Many different nudi’s and the elusive Rhinopia were spotted.

My first dive with the snoot today, I am determined to master snoot ology!

We spend the surface interval on the boat drinking coffee and eating oreos, yum.

Dive#2 is at Olympic Point, another coral rubble area with all sorts of Nudi’s and other life including Coleman and Donald duck shrimps.

Back to base for spicy chicken curry and BLT – the chicken was a bit super spicy then back to the room to recuperate before the afternoons diving.

At three we head across to Apols Point, a particular favourite with amazing topography, all colours of feather stars. Essentially: plenty to see though I think it was the Nudibranchs that we focused on mainly (see what I did there?).

Also seen: large anemones with porcelain crabs.

After the dive we retire to the pool for hot drinks and biscuits before the night dive. We then head out to Siam Saim for the night dive. A sandy slope down to about 20m for fun and frolics with various critters including a tiny flamboyant cuttle and a bobit worm. Bobit worms are particularly nasty killing machines, thankfully they are only small themselves though I think they could still give you a fearsome bight.

For dinner it’s Lumpia followed by sweet and sour chicken, fried rice and vegitable chop suey. This time washed down with Pina Colada and Red Horse.

During dinner, plans were hatched to give Dave Santos (the manager) a bit of a break (because he never gets a holiday) so we are going to run the resort for a few weeks whilst he and his wife visit the UK and stay at our house. Everyone thought that this was an excellent idea, except for Dave who looked quite scared.

Then its back to the room for picture action!