Category: Diving

Coming Again to Camiguin

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The magical Camiguin Island from afar

It was as a quick decision to have weekend dives in Mantigue Island and  I was grateful for my mentor who is always there to cater to my requests, it was too easy for him as they opened an outlet in Camiguin Island. As my trips to the island were always with companions – with friends, family or even with work mates, this time I went alone for my much needed dives. The desire was just too great to ignore, I want to explore more and meet again remarkable creatures in the island’s depths.

Arriving Balingoan port before 6am, there was a long queue already for the 2nd trip ferry – a scene like Holy Week when all people flock to the island. But it is still summer, so it’s not unusual that many people will cruise for the official summer destination in Northern Mindanao. My DM with instructions from my mentor was picking me up at Benoni port so there wasn’t much to arrange but be on board on the earliest ferry available.

Revisiting Mantigue Island

Decades ago, this island seemed so remote and in the late eighties DA people recoil from the mere mention of this place. We lost lives during a project visitation with no less than the head of the regional office, it was a traumatic incident not only for those who witnessed the tragedy but also for the whole Department. The story is now hidden in the past, just recently the island has been developed and now a nature park of LGU Mahinog – which is a commendable undertaking of the local government.

The colorful anemone fish in pairs never fails to attract a diver

Our first descent was a shore entry on the sanctuary going west, the shallows were covered with sea grasses until we went deeper on a sandy slope. The reef was covered with soft and hard corals, invertebrates and had an active fish life. Big snappers, anthias, herd of oriental sweetlips, clown fishes, damsels, angels and Moorish idols. The big frogfish was a real big bonus! After 56 minutes we wade back into the shallows fro our interval, having 29.3 m as my deepest.

The large frigfish was a surprise!
The large frogfish was a surprise!

We wade back again for our next descent going east of the sanctuary, the site is indeed blessed with marine life – nemos, sea stars, anemones and corals even on the shallows. The reef was decorated with sea fans, crinoids, basket sponge, colored soft corals, sea cucumbers, variety of anemones, finger leather corals. I was hoping to encounter again the large school of jacks, but only few was in view and quickly went away. My DM caught sight of a turtle, we tried to follow her but shy away. We swam back into the shallows after 67 minutes having 28m as my deepest.

The lowly turtle is always a friend!

My last descent for the day was in Black Forest, so the small boat brought us to the other side of the island, at past 2pm the waters started to be choppy. It was a sandy slope alternately decorated with hard and soft corals with variety of fish species around – boxfish, puffer, anthias, angels again, snappers, sand perch, goatfish. I lingered for few minutes on wide coral area with colored fishes hovering on top – lovely sight! My dive computer gave me flashing signals, I got erratic profile and have to maintain my depth for awhile. We swam until we got back to the sanctuary and ascend after 61 minutes having 26.2m as my deepest.

Giant clams can also be found in the sanctuary

Camiguin on the Surface

One thing I love with this island is that it has still maintained its laid-back atmosphere and the locals are always friendly. It’s good to be alone as I got to discover new things, now I know that it’s not expensive to get around as tricycles can be your mode of transportation in going down town. The next morning from the diveshop in Catohugan, Mahinog I went to Mambajao for two rides which only costs P 20.00. From the church after attending mass, I walked around to look for a Vjandep outlet (for the famous pastel) near the market. I walked again under the noon sun and asked around where to get a tricycle back, I was told to turn the next corner and the terminal was just under the big old acacia tree! Far cry from previous trips where I was with groups, we need to hire transportation which was some kind of expensive or if work-related, we would request from our local counterpart.

Pure, idyllic
Pure, laid-back and idyllic….

That same old charm I love in Camiguin is still there, it’s one of those local destinations that never ceased to fascinate me.  And now with easy access for my dive quest, I sure will be back again. There are more sights to discover in the depths!

Five Years Diving: From Blue Skies to Blue Seas

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I sank gently to the sand. I breathed sweet, effortless air.  The sand sloped down into a clear blue infinity.  The sun struck so brightly I had to squint. My arms hanging at my sides, I kicked the fins languidly and travelled down, gaining speed, watching the beach reeling past.  ~Jacques Yves Cousteau~

Sinking down gently…

I will never forget the feeling.  A sense of excitement, mystery, apprehension, awe and unbelievable reality came upon me as I got into the diving gears for the first time. The sunny blue skies and the blue waters in Balingoan is a witness as she engulfed me in the depths. That was five years ago when I came alone for my open water diver course.  Since then, it has been a journey and I’m still on the road.  Now, I want to pause and step back a while for some reflections as I reached my fifth year enjoying one of my greatest love and exploring the amazing underwater world.

As Professor Trevor Norton said, “Once you have a taste of the ocean, the intoxication lasts a lifetime.”  Indeed, I never felt such sense of equilibrium after I got into diving, it’s something deeper – it brings a sense of privilege seeing a magnificent display of nature in the raw – in an amazingly separate world – underwater.  Diving has changed me in many ways, life wasn’t the same after I became a diver.

In Two’s

Two years later after I got utterly fascinated floating in the deep blue, I took my open water diver course in 2007.  It took me that long to decide as I know I need to dive often, no doubt it is necessary and that would be too expensive, I thought.  But the desire was so great, I took the plunge.  Then another two years (2009) later when I took my advance open water course – alone again! The desire was great to acquire more skills and I found it necessary as I need to gain more confidence as I explore more of the depths.

Same rhythm, same vibrations…

Every Filipino diver’s dream without doubt is to explore Tubbataha – an underwater paradise and a marine world heritage site.  I shared such same dream with my favorite dive buddy carefully planning things, sure we did it! But again, this dream was answered exactly two years later when we committed for the plan.  And with the principle of continuing education and the concept of PADI learning system, I need to level up my certification so as not to limit my diving adventures.  Few months back, I got certified to use enriched air (EANx) two years later after my advance open water course.  Now, aiming for Rescue Diver certification with the objective to acquire the ability and skills for rescue and therefore be useful in such situation, I can only hope I got certified before the two year period would lapse!

Since diving is generally and strictly adopting the buddy system, I need a buddy whom I could be comfortable with and have aligned that same rhythm and vibrations when we go underwater, more so on the surface. I have been traveling and diving with my favorite dive buddy for more than three years now, hoping for more dives together in the days to come.

Such colorful world!

Looking back I am most thankful to two people who have been with me, two important people who inspired and gave me courage to go on and hope for the best in my diving pursuits.  My mentor, who got that enabling flair for his students in acquiring the necessary skills and confidence to make most in every dive. As a newbie, my dives was always with him – then one day, he said I must go and experience diving somewhere else – like a father telling a daughter to spread wings. I did and now exploring and learning many new things just as he said. He’s always there for my concerns and needs even until now, he’s just an SMS away – just few weeks back, he made arrangements instantly when I told him I want to dive in Mantigue Island.  And surely, my favorite dive buddy who is my companion in most of my diving trips including the Tubbataha Dive Cruise. I shared wonderful memories with him in my underwater escapades. I traveled with him often and in some ways spoiled me with all those getaways, I love it though!  I felt blessed and honored to have these two noble men who shared their time with me, cared for me and extended a hand in any way they can.

Reasons or Lessons?

I have both – they said supposedly mature adults must do things with objectivity and that sounds logical.  At first, it was quite personal – I was bitten in that one magical moment in the deep blue.  My sub-conscious kept nagging me to discover and experience such amazing underwater realm, which I could only do by strapping a tank on my back and go deep down.  I had no regrets, I’m enjoying every bit of the journey, and more importantly it gave me a new sense of balance.  On a deeper sense, I realize that this amazing marine world is in great peril as a result of man’s greed and exploitation, the whole mankind needs to save the degrading resources entrusted to us. We are just stewards, we failed and we have sinned against the Creator.  Now I know better, I have obligation to protect, preserve and enhance this last important ecosystem on earth.  It pained me to see all the atrocities of marine life done by humans who are supposedly civilized and educated as they claimed to be.

The marine world needs us!

I have much to say about lessons and my journals was filled with many accounts, indeed I have learned so much in many aspects.  There is always something in every dive trips – new friends to meet underwater, new sites to see, variety of sea creatures and new learning of characteristics and behaviors.  I learn to manage schedules and arrange trips with much flexibility without sacrificing my work obligations.  I meet people in the diving community, all of them as far as I could remember are kind, friendly and helpful – perhaps, divers belong to such breed!  I become more compassionate, undoubtedly more humbled and felt more privileged to be exploring the depths, when not all has the opportunity for such favor.

Going Places

There’s no denying the fact that traveling is part of diving, I would say I was seeing more places in the country for the last four years in quest for dive sites. It’s more than just counting  sites for my dive log but I believe diving gave one that itch in search for something new and unfamiliar or unknown.  My dive buddy and I found it exciting to uncover and unravel new sites, especially those off-beaten ones.  We learn more and bring home with us treasured lessons and cherished memories.

My deep blue world

I have favorite sites which I visited often, to name a few:  Coron in Palawan for the World War II shipwrecks, Moalboal in Southern Cebu for the sardines run and Banaug Shoal in Balingoan for its diverse marine life. And I will forever treasure my first thirteen dives in Tubbataha Reefs – it was a dream come true.  I love Apo Island, Apo Reefs, El Nido, Mantigue Island, Malapascua Island and Puerto Galera. But there are still more depths to dive right in our country, there are more to see than what I have seen.

Abounding Graces

Like a miracle unfolding, graces and blessings abound.  Indeed, finances is necessary for the trips but everything was provided, the Great Accountant was too generous. Surprisingly, arranging schedules become manageable even sometimes tough decision have to be made, prioritization becomes an art.  Undeniably, unforeseen circumstances intervene but I learned to be tough and knew that there’s  always good reasons for all events that happened along the journey.  The Lord has always lavished me with these gifts, and many times I felt spoiled with His generosity and kindness. Five years wasn’t very long but I gained so much treasures from this journey.  Cheers to the next five years!

At Work: Beyond the Surface

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Finally, the concluding phase of the transplantation project took off and the massive operations started few days back.  The stakeholders eagerly waited for the completion of the project, it has been delayed and long been overdue from its timelines. To finish it off, the one hectare nursery from the six hectares marine protected area will be transplanted with acropora corals, twenty five modules will be fully planted, approximately about 4000 pvc pipe molders will be in placed.  It’s a formidable task, as of last week they planted about 1/10 of the total target area.

Despite a long week at work, I chose to spend my weekend in Linamon for the underground work.  The desire was so great and the Lord again perfectly arranged things for the trip.  The last time I went down the area was twenty months ago when few substrates were plant-tested with acropora corals taken from the nearby area of the sanctuary.  There had been great changes after such period, I would say for the better.  The plantlets have grown and branched out greatly – the tower substrates now looked like full-grown shrub or a small tree.  The concrete substrates withstood two typhoons that hit the region during the period, which could only mean it could last long from water currents and fierce movements underwater.

On a larger scale, the socio-economic impact of this project has favorably affected the community, beginning to understand the obligation to protect the environment and the resources where they are dependent for their livelihood.  The fisherfolk association of Samburon and Magoong have unite themselves to enforce and support the ordinance for the marine protected area.

The descents didn’t just freshen my gills but in more ways renewed my hope that we still can do something to protect and enhance our degrading underwater world.  We just need to get our acts together.

Note:

Linamon is situated in Lanao del Norte, the first town after Iligan City.  The famous Tinago Falls (western bank) is under the jurisdiction of this municipality. Another Natural Resource Management (NRM) project, the Preservation and Protection of Tinago Watershed under the MRDP is also in place.