Tag: diving in palawan

Exploring Sibaltan: A Hidden Gem for Divers

Exploring Sibaltan: A Hidden Gem for Divers

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At the start of the year, many agendas were set in place and some of these were plans that were put off for awhile due to other priorities. But just like every year beginnings, so many recurring interruptions occurred just the way it used to be. Nevertheless, terminating my services in my workplace was final and the necessary arrangements have continued carefully and smoothly to cushion the impact of expected bumps of my departure.   Keeping my cool was the least I could do to manage a smooth transition.

Obviously, diving trips is included in the plans for the year. Perhaps to compensate during the pandemic era when I had none for three years and last year with only one dive trip was almost nothing.  Exactly, I need to start off with somewhere new, a place to discover and gain more learnings as I wanted to. And I waited long enough to once again immerse myself in the stillness and silence in the depths!

Sunrise every morning!

Sibaltan has been in my list for some time, coming here though has been shelved momentarily for some valid reasons, visiting this barangay required much longer time than the usual quirky weekend trips.  I managed a brief visit last year during a detour from an official trip and eagerly promised to return in no time for the depths. Marine enthusiasts had been arriving in this remote coastal community for the wonderful rare manta ray sighting.  There are only three (3) sites in the country for mantas and Sibaltan is one! Although I wasn’t sure when but I was resolute to set foot again in this laid-back barangay.

Thankfully, my volunteer works in the town of San Vicente (in March and April) gave me good access to other towns in Palawan, so after my two-month works I went straight to El Nido setting aside four days for the detour. Right, solely for the awaited dives in Sibaltan!  I was like a fish out of water after almost ten months of no dives, my gills were just pretty dried up.

I was aiming for Dive Sibaltan diveshop after a brief encounter with Ms. Rose in my last visit, the good thing was the shop have environment friendly cottages now ready for guests.  And being on the eastern side, it gave an ample view of the beautiful sunrise.  I needed to slow down and decided to have a relaxing night before the scheduled three dives the next day.  Yes, in my comfortable pace.

Eco-friendly cottage at Dive Sibaltan

Apart from El Nido

This northeast barangay forty-one (41) kilometers away is a stark contrast from the main town, far from being congested, rowdy and busy.  It was so peaceful and the locals were very helpful and friendly.  I was just in time when one cottage was vacated few hours after I arrived, so I went for a relaxed long lunch at Floresita’s Beach Resort until 2pm for the check-in.  I love the cottage facing the waterfront, the wide expanse of the horizon was so calming.

View from the cottage veranda

The next morning was slow and unhurried with the lovely sunrise appeared cheerily. I took it as a promise of a wonderful day!  There were two group of divers for that day, I was joined with three Deutsch who were also aiming for the manta, under DM Timur.  I have to use the shop’s stuff for my gears except my dive computer, rarely will I do without my own wetsuit but I had no choice. We all boarded the dive boat with the crew and cruise for “Saan Ka” for about twenty five minutes, where the mantas have four cleaning stations. We all entered the waters in giant stride, one of the Deutsch (Christian) was assigned as my buddy, DM Tim signaled to follow him. We descend to sandy bottom and carefully followed our DM as we hopped from one station to the next, in between were some rocks that sheltered few critters and reef fishes.  The visibility was a little shady, but it was good enough to find blue spotted ray and a turtle. DM Tim inspected a whip and found a skeleton shrimp! We waited after every station stop but the was no sign of mantas.   I spent a good 73 minutes with my deepest at 18.1 meters, my air down to 70 bars.

After an hour of interval, our boat maneuvered and anchored for the Wild East site, which revealed a colorful reef filled with variety of corals – soft, branching, rubber, cabbage as well as barrel sponges. Taking a closer look was good enough to find critters, bivalves that quickly snap as I passed, nudis and a stonefish!  Lots of reef fishes swimming coyly over the reef – chromis, sand perch, batfish, angels, butterfly, banners, wrasses, lizardfish and the ever-wiggling anthias.  😊 Androids, whips and some worms were also tucked between and under crevices.  The second dive had 60 minutes bottom time at 17 meters deepest, still with 100 bars.

Our late lunch served as our surface interval for more than an hour, the boat anchored just of of Binulbulan island.  I had a brief chat also with my buddy Christian and the LAMAVE volunteer for manta ray conservation who joined us in the dives for data works of the day.

DM Tim randomly suggested to try again Saan Ka for our last dive, in case a manta would give us a chance. Out of curiosity I asked the volunteer the usual time that mantas visit the cleaning station, casually Gucci said it’s normally in mid-morning.  So, it would be pure luck if we got one but there’s no harm in trying.  I quickly turned to Christian before we jumped off and asked to hold unto him, just in case I have trouble with my buoyancy during my safety stop of which he said not a problem. 😊

We descend to the sandy bottom carefully observing any signal from DM Tim, we followed him slowly as he carefully peeked on whips, corals and grasses looking for critters.  A blue spotted ray camouflaging on the sand suddenly flipped away as we approached. We leisurely went around on the sandy bottom, a turtle showed up unperturbed of our presence. DM Tim gave it a handful of sea algae which gobbled it hungrily! Then, slowly DM Tim poked something on the sand, it revealed a pair of flounder which quickly wiggled away. I rarely had encounters with flounder, it was interesting.  Then, unexpectedly not far from us, a shadowy figure hovered above the last station over few rocks and corals with fishes swimming coyly. Our DM pointed it out and carefully we came closer watching in awe of the lone manta, it stayed in our midst flapping slowly. We came too close that our DM tugged our fins signaling to move away a little, my buddy and I stayed anchored on the sandy bottom just looking up making most of the remaining time until my NDL was down to 3 minutes. I signaled to our DM for the safety stop as I slowly ascend with a little wave for the manta. It was a success, a wonderful surprise from the wild!  My dive computer went Greek when I was doing my safety stop, which our DM signaled okey until my thumbs up for the ascend. I did 59 minutes with 17.8 meters as deepest, my air still at 70 bars.

We had a cheery mode as we got into the boat, so glad with the sightings until we sailed for the shores. In awe, the encounters affirmed how diverse and mysterious the depths as always.  It was a good decision to be back for the last dive at Saan Ka after all.  Ms. Rose was so glad when she learned we found a manta in our last dive, it’s been more than three weeks since their last sighting. 😊It was another memorable descent, new learnings and successful trip in search of the elusive manta!

Leaving Sibaltan next morning

For me, Sibaltan is a place to be, a hidden gem tucked in its remoteness.  A spot to recharge, relax and appreciate the serenity of rural setting.  And, obviously to be one with nature, to be in the bosom of its depths!

NB.  Sorry, no underwater photos during my dives.

Exploring the Deep Seas of Tubbataha Reef

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Last month of May was the fifth year of our Tubbataha 2011, but until now it still bring a lot of fond memories. Reminiscing and scribbling once more those wonderful moments…..

If you are a Filipino diver, chances are you have cruised to Sulu seas towards Cagayancillo, Palawan for the only UNESCO marine heritage site in Asia – the Tubbataha Reef National Park. If you love the marine world, this is your place and you will never get disappointed. Most often, works and beauty of nature are beyond the surface and it can only be revealed to curious spirits who choose to tread afar for a paradise quest.

Diving in the Tubbataha Reefs was a dream come true, the four-day expedition was total immersion in this hidden paradise. What about having four dives in a day? It was really wet! The richness and diversity of the park is hard to equal – from bobbies to sharks! Not to mention turquoise waters, azure skies and vast open horizons decorated with sunrise and sunsets. There was stillness and serenity.

My thirteen dives were filled with great sightings and here is my account for what I encounter in different spots in the park.

Malayan Wreck

A wall dive decorated with active fish life, then with a sandy slope to the wreck. It is the home of white tips and gray reef and giant trevallies. We sighted two white tips perching on white sand as if sleeping, so with gray reef in different locations. There were triggers, large snappers, groupers, sweetlips, napoleon wrasses and breams. There was a turtle, a school of barracuda, moray eel with a remora, fusiliers and emperors and there was lot more I couldn’t name them all. Of course, I didn’t miss the large gorgonians in lavender, yellow and green.

The small shipwreck here was also an attraction, I love wrecks and my last of the three dives here had a safety stop going around searching every corner of the wreck!

Wall Street

It is another wall dive with filled with white tip & gray reef sharks, variety of tropical fish
variety of colorful sea fans and soft corals. You must be careful not to bump with the sharks!

Amos Rock

This is located in the southwest of the North Atoll with a breathtaking wall decorated with large gorgonians and variety of colorful corals. Sharks are again often seen here, we found more than ten swimming coyly. Other species are sweet lips, groupers, trigger fish, large parrots, giant moray eel, boxfish and puffers.

Ranger Station

It was already late afternoon almost a night dive when we descend here. Large groupers, sweet lips, snappers were the common residents. Variety of sea cucumbers like ananas and leopards were sighted here.

Seafan Alley

I found more fish life here than the seafans.Like snappers, triggers, wrasses, parrots surgeons, emperors, angels and pufferfish. Sighted here at least two turtles swimming coyly before us.

Shark Airport

This dive site is also located in North Atoll, is one of the best places for spotting a variety of marine life. Perhaps, it is a playground of white-tips, gray reefs and silver tip sharks as they abundantly swam in the area. We encountered a giant manta ray here! Or was it a devil ray? It was a real surprise!

Delsan Wreck

I could still vividly remember having a relaxed dive here waiting for some little surprise that day. Indeed, a whale shark about 5 meters trooping with white tips & gray reef sharks, giant tunas and trevally parading before us! And as if to emphasize its splendor, they made another round for all of us to watch. It was a real show!

There were triggers, blue fin trevally, sea turtles and one of my favorite – a large school of jacks!

Lighthouse (Delsan)

Located in the South Atoll, the site features a large reef and a steep wall with another active marine life – black tips, gray reef, blue fin trevally, barracuda, moray eel, turtles to name a few. Anemones, sea fans, sea cucumbers and colorful hard & soft corals abound in this site.

The excitement of getting into the waters and breathing deep down or discovering the unknown are just coating of this incessant aquatic adventures. It’s more about passion of the marine world, the life beyond the depths – just pure love for these creatures, admiring and watching in awe all these wondrous forms of life. You can’t help not to fall in love and feel grateful you had the chance to witness its splendor. My dive buddy and I agree it was worth for another visit.

The great waterworld of Tubbataha is a piece of heaven on earth. The exhilaration of being surrounded by colorful fish of great variety is simply hard to equal. It was a very moving experience. While you’ve probably seen photos and videos on diving, you won’t understand what it’s really like or how it really felt until you’ve experienced it yourself.

Tubbataha – where a brave and passionate diver’s dreams come true!

NB. This piece was written for letspalawan.com

The Pulchritude of Puerto Princesa

The Pulchritude of Puerto Princesa

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Those “hitting two-birds with-one-stone” trips are the kind  that I usually look forward to, I found it more productive and obviously it is time and money saving and with trip arrangements in place, all I need is to extend one more day to accommodate flying restrictions after diving. Being the gateway in the last Frontier, Puerto Princesa is impossible to be unknown and more than that, the city evolve in tourism as it cradled one of the seven new wonders in the world!  And its being the greenest and perhaps cleanest city is not for nothing.

My dive plans at the start of the year was clueless as other priorities that needs my immediate attention were at hand, but the week-long official trip in the city was just perfect.  All previous visits in the city were too brief being just for stop-over to El Nido, Cuyo and Sulu Seas.

Puerto Depths

After haggling for a slot for a Friday dive, they took me in and informed the diveshop as a caution that I was alone.  Actually, the confirmation was last minute on Thursday, later I learned the water conditions was unfavorable. The big waves were uncontrollable and all water activities in the city were cancelled for safety reasons. So on that Friday morning, I took a trike though I knew the diveshop can be reached for a walk but I need to be early for the appointment.  It turned out the driver was not familiar with the streets, how come? – such a pity. I was much earlier from the rest including our DM and after almost an hour of waiting, we all piled up in the multicab heading for Pristine White Beach.  And again, we were a bunch, majority was foreign nationals!

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Although the sun was brightly shining, the waves were insurmountable.  At the back of my mind, I trusted the DMs judgment, and we all piled up on the speedboat after assigning our buddies. We sped off riding on the big waves, spraying us with salt water like rain!  Our first descent was in Crossing, the DM offered me to go down immediately thru the anchor line to avoid the surface turbulence, and wait until we go around down together.  Indeed, it was more calm down but alas, the viz was hazy.  It rang a bell in my mind, I must be careful not to get lost! Despite the blurred vision, I found active fish life.  A parade of breams swimming coyly at a distance, there were variety of trigger fish but no titans! 😛 And there was a turtle!  Our DM had to drag me to catch up but there was only blurry outline of the turtle swimming away.  I think if not for the murky viz, I could have sighted more of the marine life. We surfaced after 52 minutes, my deepest at 19m still with 100 bars air.

We sped off back to the beach for our surface interval, which is much better than stationed there with waves rocking our boat high and low. The Taiwanese couple begged off after the first dive.  We stayed on the shallows biding our time, the waters was perfectly calm.  With the sun shining and blue skies, it was a picturesque summer scene.

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As we prepared for our next descent in Maris Rock, I heard the friendly Canadian asking if it was safe with the big waves, and again I trusted the DMs judgment.  We sped off holding fast for safety, I knew the waves were getting higher!  The site has rock clumps scattered over white sands, the surface was still choppy so immediate descent was appropriate.  The viz wasn’t any better, it was still foggy but thankfully there was no current.  The fish life was much better, sighted giant puffer fish, clown fish, triggers, anthias and throng of juveniles over corals.  We went slow and perhaps I was more observant in the second descent, even with the haze we found cleaner shrimp, some nudis and a small frogfish!  We surface after 45 minutes, my deepest at 21 meter and with air still at 100 bars.  The choppy water was heart pounding in a way, but it was another learning to my advantage.  I believe the depths of Puerto Princesa has much in store even more in clear visibility.

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Around Puerto

There were much more to see around the city – Mitra Ranch, The Bakers Hill, the Crocodile Farm, the famous Underground River , the island beaches in Honda Bay. The last two requires more time and getting a quick hop of the first three visibly offered more improvements compared a decade ago.  Personally, I was more impressed what I saw in Iwahig Colony, it have transformed into an agricultural community with the detainees as workers and producers. The rice fields were maintained as well as the fresh water fishpond, other crops were also produced at the same time working with their handicrafts.  It is a big boost for all the detainees inside Iwahig, aptly the facility is now called Iwahig Penal Farm.

Unfortunately,  I failed to visit the public market , my office mates always aimed for pearls and dried fish getting cheaper deals!  Puerto has now a mall which is another improvement in terms of market & economic activity.  There are new cafes and restos down town, Angel and I used to have lunch in barefoot at Ka Lui for their delectable dishes and lounge at Atoy’s Café while waiting for our flight.  Well, indulge after a dive is the usual thing, and I went to White Fence for that French café ambience. To my delight –  the homey atmosphere, good food and reasonable price was a perfect combination. I think the café deserves another visit in the future!  🙂

Another Reminder

I thought there would be no hitting the grounds as I go through the transports heading home alone, the perennial flight delays almost created disaster in my connecting flight. I thought I wouldn’t make it, but I literally race for the gate as soon as I got my luggage from the carousel.  It was miracle, my final flight towards home was accordingly delayed and in less than five minutes after I step on the area still catching my breath, the gate opened for boarding!  And these are the kind of circumstances that prod travelers, which I correlate in diving as S R T A.  A dose of adrenaline was in the rise. 🙂  Just the same, it was another miracle!

Travel Notes

  1. I booked at Dive Puerto Princesa (www.divepurertoprincesa.com) for my dives
  2. Best month to dive is between March to August, January is still habagat and waves can be too rough
  3. There is lot of low-priced accommodations around the city, some have easy access to the airport

 

Orange Nudi

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This nudi (risbecia tyroni) is frequently found on pairs in single file, the slug at the back using its head to maintain contact with the one at the front. Tyron’s nudibranch as they are called have an ingenious defense system, just like other nudis they are fond of eating poisonous prey.

Indeed, one needs a keen eye to find them, they are silent and most often lurking on soft corals. We found this in the depths of Puerto Ptincesa, while the viz was far from good we caught sight of it in the yellowish reef almost hiding in the colors. But it was all alone, silently waiting perhaps for its prey.

Have you encountered this nudi?

Calamian Group: Diving in History

Calamian Group: Diving in History

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For some time since I was hooked in the blue world, exploring a wreck has been a major highlight in my dive trips. Just as I love history, wrecks are akin to museums holding important artifacts, stories and information. What is more interesting is it is out there in the depths in silence, barely visited and untouched by human hands.

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I believe there are places meant for another visit, those kinds that you will never get tired coming over and over again. For me, Coron lured my inner senses more that its pieces of paradise on the surface – but the secrets in its depths! We explored almost all of the wrecks in Coron Bay, yet there are still reasons to be back in Calamianes. So, last October I took leave from work, booked tickets, packed my gears and head to Busuanga undaunted of the coming typhoon. Leaving office earlier than usual, taking things slow, having booked for the late night flight. I was alone in the shuttle heading for the airport, which I found comforting as I watch the night scenery on the road to Laguindingan silently. Even at past 10PM, the terminal was still teeming with people.
Welcome to Busuanga

I had a long wait for my flight the next morning, the cheery weather welcomed me as the Dornier taxied on the airstrip amidst the greeneries of the Yulo King ranch. But I had another long wait though for Angel whose flight was in mid-day. Unlike our previous trips, we headed for Brgy Decalachao which is about seven kilometers away, the northern part of the town. Our hosts in The Riverhouse welcomed us warmly, Mr. H’s reception trick was kind of ceremonial and perfectly gave us warm smiles as we step on watching the grand view form the terrace! 🙂

The remaining hours was for some good rest to compensate for my sleepless night, our large comfortable cottage was just perfect then. Our sumptuous dinner was even more to our liking. So, it was sleep and eat kind of relaxing for the rest of the day, such indulge. I felt spoiled in some way. The Riverhouse was a perfect refuge in our get-away. I might add that the lavish environs engulfed me – mangroves, river view, mountain view over the wide horizon, lush vegetations and peaceful silence. The stillness of the night peppered with cicadas singing, more beautiful and relaxing than the booming videoke in the downtown area. 🙂

Pure, Idyllic and World Away

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The next morning was cloudy but not a deterrent for our exploring the quiet and laid-back side of Busuanga. Wrecks always thrilled me and I was hoping for discoveries again as I always expected. The port was just down the house garden over the steep pathway, our small boat was already waiting for us when we got there. We had a river cruise over the vast mangroves, the tranquil scenery was a good start as I remembered my childhood days in the Agusan River back home. Towards the river end to the open sea was the immaculate dive boat of Dugong Dive Center docked near a coastal community, we transferred, met our DM and finally headed for the bay. The other side of Luzon was greatly disturbed by a typhoon but our location was perfectly calm, the waters flat and mild breeze blowing.

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The only wreck in the area lies near an uninhabited Dimalanta Islet at the north coast of Busuanga, Kyokusan Maru which is a 136 meters cargo ship of the Japanese imperial army was like the others, it sunk in September 1944 now lying more than 70 years underwater. Other ships anchored in the area was believed to have remained afloat and managed to escape the raid of US troops. This wreck was sunk on the north side of Busuanga Island and, because of its distance to the other wrecks the Coron dive operations don’t make this trip very often. The wreck lists about 10° to starboard and has a compass bearing of 160°.

Our first descent was at port of the wreck, going down to the mast at 16 meters now fully covered with corals, over the deck area and to cargo room. I barely noticed the fish life except for the giant bat fish that tried to get near us. You can still see the remains of trucks and cars in the cargo holds. The wreck is still almost intact and quite easy to penetrate. We found the fossilized truck, its chassis, and tires; we inspected also the machine gun platform fossilized and full decorated with corals. We went our deepest at 31.6 meters lingering over the deck area covered with corals. I have always loved the mystery and the stories behind this piece of history. Although I still wanted to linger, my 43 minutes was good enough considering the depth, I signaled for surface when my NDL went down to 2 minutes!

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Our surface interval was spent for our light lunch and hearing the stories of our DM. It was a relaxing break embracing the stillness of the surroundings.

Our last descent was still at Kyokusan Maru exploring its bow end, as suggested by our DM taking advantage of the flat waters, going to another site could be with choppy conditions. They always recommend at least two dives in this wreck to cover at least major attractions, it depth can never allow longer bottom time. Going down again to the mast and went inside a hole in the right wall into some dark chambers. We lingered over the bow area all covered and fossilized with corals, some bivalves quickly snapped close as we passed. We sighted few nudis, puffers, chromis, damsels, anthias, crinoids and feather stars. We lingered until my NDL was down to 1 minute! I had forty minutes at 31.6 meters as deepest. 🙂 The two dives had been another discovery and learning opportunity, again it was a mind blowing experience.

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We had our river cruise again when we got back to our house.

History Treasures

Diving on a WWII wreck helps us connect to our heritage and gain insight into our past. When our favorite diving environments host a piece of history, it’s our duty as a scuba diver to honor this gift. It is fortunate that in the country’s depths lies and had share of WW II wrecks, not all sites held such piece of history. Our affair in Coron has not ended, other wrecks lie farther (like at Black Island) and it is a reason to be back again.

Travel Notes:

Transport to the north is rare and expensive, public utilities from Coron have specific schedule which likely are filled from the town

  1. Decalachao Port is for boats heading to Club Paradise in Dimakya Island and El Rio y Mar in San Jose – two exclusive resorts in the area.
  2. There are two available dive shops in the area – Dugong Dive Center and Club Paradise.