This site has three P47D American planes that were caught in a dogfight. Finding themselves without enough fuel to return to their base, they decided to crash land near a small island. All of them survived and the planes are almost completely intact. The most shallow plane lays 30m while the deepest one lays at 45m in topsy turvy. On this dive, there is slight current and as the depth is at 30m, diving is short.
Friday, May 25, 2007
The Passage - Raja Ampat (Dec 06)
Never was I interested to check out a coral garden after travelling hundreds miles and spending thousands but this garden was pretty amazing. The Passage narrowly separates Waigeo and Gam Islands. On descent, we met strong current in the channel where we quickly shelter into the huge rocks, crawled into crevices and surface below a hole surrounded by forest. Very cool site.
On the other side, the forest hangs out creating a canopy that passes shimmering lights into the water filled with beautiful red, yellow gregorians fans. The rays of lights penetrating does remind me of the beaming transporter that was shown in Star Trek. Overall, this garden is absolutely stunning, filled with lots of small nudis, jawfishes, gobies and seahorses.
On the other side, the forest hangs out creating a canopy that passes shimmering lights into the water filled with beautiful red, yellow gregorians fans. The rays of lights penetrating does remind me of the beaming transporter that was shown in Star Trek. Overall, this garden is absolutely stunning, filled with lots of small nudis, jawfishes, gobies and seahorses.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Manta Point - Raja Ampat (Dec 06)
The most spectacular site to see Mantas in Raja Ampat is here in Manta Point. This site is merely 15m deep but current can be really strong. The stronger the current the more Mantas you will see.
The dive I did was of moderate current. Water temperature is pretty bearable with a 3/2mm suit. In the middle of the sandy bottom, stood a large boulder where the Mantas will get themsels clean. There are atleast 8 Mantas in this dive, frolicking with each other. Most mantas are black and they are not shy to swim over your head. We spend almost an hour in the water. This is one awesome place I will remember for a long long time.
The dive I did was of moderate current. Water temperature is pretty bearable with a 3/2mm suit. In the middle of the sandy bottom, stood a large boulder where the Mantas will get themsels clean. There are atleast 8 Mantas in this dive, frolicking with each other. Most mantas are black and they are not shy to swim over your head. We spend almost an hour in the water. This is one awesome place I will remember for a long long time.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Aerborek Jetty - Raja Ampat (Dec 06)
Closed to Manta Point, rays of sunlight penetrate through the wooden planks of this jetty creating beams of rays onto the schools of shimmering fishes creating a beautiful sight for photographers.
Manta Bowl - Donsol (Apr 07)
Manta Bowl, located in the open sea 8km off Ticao island, took us 2 hours from Donsol to reach with GPS. A large plateau of depth 17m, it slop gradually downwards at its edge. This site is always associated with strong currents and rather cold water. Besides Manta Rays sighting, hammerheads are sometimes spotted. The day was calm and on our first dive, surface current are strong but water temperature is pretty okay with 3mm. At seabed, the current is surprisingly manageable from .5 knots to none. However, no current may mean no mantas. We kept northeast and after 20mins of navigation, our first white belly Manta glide gracefully passed us lasting around 20s before it disappeared into the blue. Visibility was around 15m and hence with a huge moderate moving giant, stealth by one of them sometimes is inevitable. Our next two dives met with relatively no current and similarly, we got 1 and 2 sightings of the Manta respectively. 3 sightings out of 3 dives is pretty awesome. Overall, if strong currents and cold water is in your menu, Manta Bowl is the only site worth trying. The other site San Miguel is personally boring if you have tried the likes of Lembeh.
Butanding Interaction - Donsol (Apr 07)
With a wave of his palm, Jack, our Butanding Interactive Officer (BIO) asked us to get ready for the 15th times. Donning our snorkeling equipment, we sat patiently for our BIO to jump. Donsol, Sorsogon has always been visited by these beautiful giants during the January to June period due to the abundance of krills in the water just off the shore. Though a very remote area, in the recent years, Donsol has been flooded with visitors all over the world who wants to get close to these ‘Butanding’, also known as the Whaleshark. We did a total of 3 days of whaleshark interaction, jumping, swimming after and climbing back on board for 0, 9 and 15 times respectively. Duration for the interaction is 3 hours each. Visit very early in the morning is what my advised or else get a capable BIO for the late morning job.
Once you are in the water, follow the BIO always as he will always be the one that will give you the best spot for viewing, that means, you will have to swim after him. Visibility is around 8m due to the streaming of river water into the sea. Hence, sometimes you will be surprised by how closed the Butanding crept under you silently. Once you sighted these beauties, you can then gracefully glide with them, one at a time with some fining effort. A few rules though that govern the interaction :- 1. Do not touch, 2. Stay beyond 3m 3. Do not stop their path are some of them which at times, are hard to adhere. Though we did 15 whaleshark sightings, some of them are the same ones. One of them which has a torn tip, has been especially friendly, staying most of the time on the surface. Although some may submerged, these sociable giants will surfaced if you persist on your track. Overall, this is one sure placed that I recommend a must to visit if you want guaranteed viewing and getting really close to not one but atleast 3 of these beauties at a good deal during the season.
Once you are in the water, follow the BIO always as he will always be the one that will give you the best spot for viewing, that means, you will have to swim after him. Visibility is around 8m due to the streaming of river water into the sea. Hence, sometimes you will be surprised by how closed the Butanding crept under you silently. Once you sighted these beauties, you can then gracefully glide with them, one at a time with some fining effort. A few rules though that govern the interaction :- 1. Do not touch, 2. Stay beyond 3m 3. Do not stop their path are some of them which at times, are hard to adhere. Though we did 15 whaleshark sightings, some of them are the same ones. One of them which has a torn tip, has been especially friendly, staying most of the time on the surface. Although some may submerged, these sociable giants will surfaced if you persist on your track. Overall, this is one sure placed that I recommend a must to visit if you want guaranteed viewing and getting really close to not one but atleast 3 of these beauties at a good deal during the season.
Friday, May 18, 2007
BobTail Squid - Raja Ampat (Dec 06)
Taken in my dive trip in Raja Ampat dated 19 Dec 2007 at Site Aeborek Jetty. This little guy is about the size of my little toe and is actually bringing its supper back home when I spotted it.
Bobtail squid is closely related to cuttlefish. Bobtail squid tend to have a rounder mantle than cuttlefish and have no cuttlebone. They have eight suckered arms and two tentacles and are generally quite small. Live in shallow coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean and some parts of the Indian Ocean. Like cuttlefish, they can swim by either using the fins on their mantle or by jet propulsion.
Bobtail squid is closely related to cuttlefish. Bobtail squid tend to have a rounder mantle than cuttlefish and have no cuttlebone. They have eight suckered arms and two tentacles and are generally quite small. Live in shallow coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean and some parts of the Indian Ocean. Like cuttlefish, they can swim by either using the fins on their mantle or by jet propulsion.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Start of the New Era
Today is the day that I decided to go into the world of blogging. Mainly, I would like to share the dive experiences that I have with my dive videos via vodcasting. In the next few days, I will start posting the videos I did since 2002, starting with Malapascua. So stay tune and hope you beautiful people enjoy this...
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