Phillipines

Atlantis Dive Resort Sabang Bay Puerto Galera Mindoro Island Philippines 26/04/08 – 10/05/08 “Come as a guest leave as a friend.”

The idea to put this trip on started back in March 07 after viewing a brochure while visiting a local dive shop.  As I was progressing towards my advanced diver qualification I thought I could build on my previous organised trips and plan a larger group trip. After a few emails and hours on the Internet I came up with an itinerary and approached our club members. Ten people put their names down, so more time on the Internet and the phone researching the resort, flights, diving etc, resulting in a package including flights, transfers, full board at the hotel and a 10 days unlimited diving. Please do not let the next bit put you off from going. From leaving our front door it took 27hours till we parked our very tired backsides at the hotel. The trip included a car journey to Manchester Airport, a flight to Singapore, a couple of hours at Singapore before catching our connecting flight to Manila, then a 2-hour taxi ride to Batangas with a half-hour toilet stop along the way and finally a 1-hour boat ride to right outside the hotel. Once at the hotel we were met by smiling staff with a refreshing drink and a welcome neck and shoulder massage. The rooms I would describe as being like the houses out of the Flintstones. Very open plan, very clean with air conditioning and shower that gives you constant hot water. The website it will give a better idea of what to expect (www.AtlantisHotel.com). The staff at the resort are second to none and the food is probably the best I have had at a hotel.  The resort describes the dive centre as a PADI Five Star CDC. It is at the hotel and I would concur with the five star rating. They can provide a full range of courses from learning to dive up to advanced trimix and the hire kit looked like it was in very good condition, far better than most hire kit that I have seen in the other resorts.   The kit is stored in a large room, each person having their own cubby-hole, a rail for your BC, a rail for your suit and a place for your fins and boots. There is also a separate camera room and a computer room away from the wet area. After setting up your kit on the first day, the staff take it to and from the boat, clean it and put it away at the end of the day. When you get up in the morning your kit has been put together for you. I would advocate checking it as soon as you board the boat, although no-one in our party had any problems with it.  Diving is done from one of the three speedboats. As most dive sites are no more than 12 minutes away the fact that only one of them has any sun cover isn’t really a problem. We had ten people on the boat. There was plenty of room to kit up and room for everyone to enter the water together via a roll back entry. The dive times are sort of set, however there is some flexibility depending on what you want to dive and the state of the tides and currents. First dive is at 9am then 11am, 2pm and 4pm. If you are interested in doing a Night dive, this is at an extra cost of $47. Nitrox is available at an additional cost. A number of the group purchased a six-day unlimited Nitrox package, which worked out at $125 per person.

There are in the approximately 45 dive sites within easy reach of the resort. Apart from a couple of day trips the sites are no longer than a 10-12 minute boat ride. I would recommend “Dive Sites of the Philippines, Puerto Galera & Verde Island”, ISBN 978-971-0490-01-1. It gives you a description of all the sites and what you might expect to see. Each site is graded for diver suitability starting at Recreational Dives, followed by Recreational / Advanced / Tec Dives, ending up with Tec / Trimix Dives. Between the seven divers we completed 200 plus dives and visited nearly all the sites apart from the Tec / Trimix sites.  I have picked just a couple of sites that I thought were the best, otherwise I would end up writing a book! M/V Almajane Is a 30m steel hull Philippines cargo vessel that sits upright on a sandy bottom in 30m of water. It is in very good condition and is very safe for divers to penetrate as all debris and potential snagging objects have been removed. There is an abundance of life to be seen. Expect to see Sweetlips, Batfish, Snappers.  Coming off the wreck we saw a large shoal of Catfish going through the sand. Looking closely while on the wreck we found Ornate and Robust Ghost Pipefish, Frogfish and Nudibranches. At the end of the dive you have a choice; either come up the shot-line or swim over to the shelving shore for your safety stop. Both have the merits. I would recommend visiting this site twice and try both ways. Canyons There are three canyons over a large reef area. There is a vast amount of Hard and Soft Corals, Barrel Sponges and Gorgonian Fans making this a very beautiful scenic dive. Along with this you get the smaller fish such as Anthias, Damsels and Butterfly fish. Not forgetting the odd Octopus, Moray Eel and of course Nudibranches. They are everywhere. The area is prone to current, which brings with it the Pelagics. During our safety stop in the blue we came across a large of shoal of Trevallies and Jacks. All of a sudden the water approaching us changed colour. I can only describe it as like an approaching sandstorm. It looked like someone had kicked up the sandy bottom, which was 30m below us. It obviously wasn’t someone with poor buoyancy skills.  The next thing we knew we were down at 10m in a down current. Fortunately it wasn’t too strong and disappeared as quickly as it came. An interesting experience to say the least. We came back to the site on a later dive. This was when I acquired the nickname “Terry Titan Triggerfish Hooper.”  This came about as we were drifting along just chilling out admiring the site when all of a sudden I was attacked by a huge Titan Triggerfish which, managed to take a little chunk out of my hand causing it to bleed. I did for a couple of seconds think about aborting the dive, however it was that good I applied direct pressure for a few minutes, which managed to stop the bleeding and continued with the rest of the dive. But it didn’t half it hurt! Giant Clams As you would expect from the name of this dive you see plenty of Giant Clams in about 5-6m of water. Good buoyancy control is required as the Clams are privately owned and a guy is employed to sit in a boat on site to protect them. After exploring the area you then move off to a sandy bottom. Here you will be guaranteed to see Sea Horses if you spending time searching for them. We dove this site twice and saw them on both occasions. During this dive we also saw Cuttlefish, Scorpion fish, Garden Eels and more Nudibranches. While searching for the Sea Horses I thought I saw a Snake Eel popping its head and body out of the sand, but as I got a little closer it changed its shape. It was then that the guide pointed out that it was a very rare Mimic Octopus. After you have spent time searching for the Sea Horses you head back up to the shallows where you will see beautiful Hard and Soft Coral, Sponges, Mantis Shrimps and numerous types of fish. Verde Island The trip to Verde Island is an optional extra. If you go you must do it as it is the best dive site of the trip. It is a day trip and takes about 45 minutes to get there. The none divers are dropped off on the island while you go and do the first dive at a site called the “Drop Off”; two rocks jutting out of the water that go down to reveal a submerged mountain below identify the site. When the visibility is good you can experience the magnitude of this site as in certain places the wall drops off to over 100m. Expect to see large shoals of Pelagics if you keeping looking out to the blue. That’s if you can take your eyes of the Hard and Soft Corals, Sponges, free swimming Banded Sea Snakes, Scorpion fish, various Nudibranches and the hundreds of Red Tooth Triggerfish and Anthias all around you. The list goes on and on. It really is a fantastic dive site. After the first dive you go to the island for your surface interval. Sun bathe on the beach, go for a walk or just relax in the shade with a soft drink and some freshly made bread. The second dive is back at the drop off, however you visit a different side of the pinnacle. An abundance of everything again to see. After lunch, if the current permits, you go and do a dive called the “Washing Machine.”  This site is prone to up and down currents and the currents can change direction many times. Not a dive for the inexperienced. The day we visited the site some must have unplugged it, as there was no current at all. The site is a series of canyons that have been formed by the water movement over the years. There are large coral formations covered with Sponges, Tube Worms, Sea Squirts, Feather Stars and Sea Fans. We also saw Trevallies hunting and the only Turtle on the trip. There were that many fish you could describe this dive as being like fish soup. After this dive it is back to the resort for you well earned evening meal. That is if you have any room left after the barbecue.

Diving Summary It really is a great place to dive. You will experience Wall, Drift, Wreck and Reef diving. You will get dives with no current and dives with strong current. You will see an abundance of life with fantastic photograph and video opportunities. Whether you are a novice or are experienced diver the resort will cater for your needs. During our visit to the resort I completed my 500th dive. It is local tradition to do the snorkel test. This involves putting on your mask having to drink beer that is poured down your snorkel. Not being a big drinker I whimped out, but I was presented with a ‘T’ Shirt embossed with my name and the date that I completed my 500th dive. A nice touch by the resort. It’s a wrap As they say in the movie industry. It’s time to bring an end to my report. I could have gone on and on about how good this trip was, but all I will add is go and try it for yourself, I’ll be very surprised if you don’t enjoy it. As the resort’s strap-line says, “Come as a guest leave as a friend.” We came as guests and we left feeling that we had made some very good friends.

Terry Hooper