Sweetlips beneath a table coral, Tubbataha Reef, Philippines

Hard to believe that's it's been five years since my first visit to the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef back in 2007. This remote dive spot in the middle of the Sulu Sea is only accessible from March to June each year and the two huge atolls which make up the reef - like diving on drowned mountains - are so unique they're a UNESCO World Heritage site. My previous trip (read the full 2007 Tubbataha Liveaboard writeup) had its share of variable weather - and we had the same problem this time, with initially beautiful conditions deteriorating into a persistent drizzle and grey skies for much of the time we were at Tubbataha. However, this was to be expected as this was the last trip of the season, departing Puerto Princesa on 9th June and, after spending 4 days at Tubbataha, making the transition to Cebu for the liveaboard's next season exploring the Visayas. We were on board the large and quite comfortable Hans Christian Andersen. (Read my Hans Christian Andersen liveaboard review for more details on the boat itself).

Despite the weather, we had an excellent few days at Tubbataha thanks to some spectacular sightings of huge schools of jacks circling over the top of the reef, inquisitive turtles fearlessly coming to investigate out dive groups, numerous sharks spotted cruising along Tubbataha's walls and a surprise appearance by several manta rays, who returned to their cleaning station on multiple occasions letting everyone get to see them. Mantas are always present at Tubbataha but it's not a given that every trip will see them - indeed, I'd seen very little big stuff on my previous trip. So seeing the manta rays was a real treat and caused a buzz on the boat. Certainly the reefs in general seemed a lot more active than I remember - again, probably just the luck of the draw compared to my previous trip. Besides the jacks, there were several huge schools of chevron barracuda sighted too on numerous occasions.

Manta Ray and photographer, Tubbataha Reef, Philippines

Where there wasn't big stuff to see, the dramatic topography of Tubbataha provided plenty of entertainment on its own. Visibility throughout the trip was stunning, with 30 metres easily the standard and looking down the wall into the depths seeming to go on a lot longer. As I noted in my previous Tubbataha trip report, the sheer epic scale of the vertical walls of Tubbataha's atolls combined with the viz and the profusion of sea fans to be found on most of the dive sites makes for a fascinating underwater environment. There are clouds of trigger damsel and bannerfish scattered amongst huge barrel sponges and a carpet of smaller corals that cling to the top and sides of Tubbataha's walls.

To be fair, if you're not a fan of walls, you're going to get a bit fed up as that is basically all there is here, along with some shallow topside reefs and the Malaya wreck, the rusted remains of which sit in less than five metros and provides a home for many docile snappers. Otherwise, most dives involve heading over the edge of the reef and scanning the blue both below and beyond while feeling very, very small in such a massive underwater seascape.

After four days of diving at Tubbataha, we headed towards Cebu, with two more days of diving scheduled at the islands of Calusa and Cagayancillo. Calusa was very quiet compared to Tubbataha's smorgasbord of marine life, and while it did have some beautiful coral patches, it was a little bit of a comedown. Nearby Cagayancillo was more interesting, with increasingly urgent currents around an underwater point bringing in big schools of barracuda, humphead parrotfish and jacks. Best of all of the three dives we did was exploring a wall with numerous dramatic overhangs, including a half tunnel eroded into the rock and filled with human sized fans along its length.

The trip concludes with a full day's sailing (and no diving) which gives time for dive gear to dry out and to relax - the boat passes Apo Island and Dauin, and it's a shame in a way the schedule can't be tweaked to spend less time at Calusa and more time Dauin, one of the best muck diving areas in the Philippines. The following morning transfers are made by speedboat to the shore and then taxi to Cebu airport. Tubbataha is a unique destination and getting to see Calusa and Cagayancillo as well for the same price as a normal 4 day Tubbataha liveaboard is a nice bonus - if you don't mind the possibility of rainy weather, doing a transition trip could well provide the best way to see Tubbataha.

Hans Christian Andersen Philippines LIveaboard

In June 2011 I visited Tubbataha Reef, Calusa and Cagayancillo on a transition trip from Puerto Princesa to Cebu on the Hans Christian Andersen Philippines liveaboard, I've written up a report about Tubbataha diving separately - this report focuses on the liveaboard boat itself. The Hans Christian Andersen spends March to June diving Tubbataha, then crosses to Cebu to dive the Visayas during July to November, and then returns to Palawan to dive the wrecks of Coron and the surrounding area during December to March. Follow the links for my previous diving reports on each area. (You might also find my Best Diving In The Philippines overview useful).

Essentially the Hans Christian Andersen is a large steel boat that's been repurposed from its original training vessel origins to become a liveaboard that can accommodate up to 34 divers. Such is the size of the boat that we had 28 on our trip and it still didn't feel crowded - there are numerous cabins below decks and six on the upper deck along with a saloon and then a very large outdoor dining area upstairs where all meals are served. In future the number of divers might be reduced to 24 maximum - check before booking.

The Saloon and Mess Deck
Given it's not been purpose built, the ship feels quite quirky but also very solid and reliable. The saloon bar which is fully inside the ship is split between two rooms and has groovy 70s green leather seating and stained glass, while the upstairs outdoor eating area feels very pleasant, even when it's raining due to rolled down plastic see-through covers (although it could do with a bit more protection to stop raining coming in at lower leg level. We had a downpour at one point and the chairs and tables got quite wet).

Moving around the ship takes a bit of getting used to - there are steep staircases up and down from the upper deck where meals are served and dive gearing up takes place, There's also a big step over for the main door into the saloon, and then two more steep staircases going up or down to the upper and lower cabins.

The Cabins
I had an air conditioned upper deck cabin with double bed which was spacious and with a good sized ensuite shower and toilet, as well as a decent sized window. The water pressure for the shower is good, but the water never gets super hot - pleasantly warm is about it. The aircon works quite well - not super cold but adequate, from a fairly ancient looking but reliable unit. Sometimes it felt a little stuffy as if the aircon was struggling to beat the heat outside, but this was just on a couple of occasions. There's a small desk and stool as well if you want to sit at a table to work, and a cupboard for storing clothes. In all, the cabin was very pleasant and definitely felt like a little sanctuary to catch some sleep between dives or work on photos.

The Food
Food was uniformly excellent - usually a meat dish, fish dish, pasta or rice and also a vegetable dish, with ice cream and or fresh fruit for dessert. (Breakfast always had eggs and sausage or meat of some kind available along with fruit juice). Generous helpings and second helpings usually available too. The food is served buffet style and the staff were very attentive about dishing it up and also clearing away plates and refilling water etc. There's also tea and coffee always available. At night after everyone has gone to bed there is usually bread or cookies and always fruit in the saloon for late night snackers, although some of the staff sleep in the saloon so you need to tread quietly.

The Dive Setup
There are four chase boats on the Hans Christian Andersen, three being used to send out divers and the fourth as a backup. They are carried on deck when not in use so each morning they're lowered into the water by hydraulic cranes. The engines are a bit elderly on the boats and could do with being beefed up. The boat boys are very helpful at getting you in and out of the water and understand how to handle camera gear. They can be a bit trigger happy with the engine when coming in to pick up divers on occasion.

Everyone's dive gear is stored upstairs on the main mess deck near to the eating area. Guests don wetsuits and masks and then go downstairs to the quite small main deck and get into the chase boat where their bcd and reg is already setup and their fins are waiting. At first this felt a bit weird but it works very efficiently and its great having so much space for everyone to change in and out of their dive gear on the upper deck. Care has be taken going up and down the stairs however as they are steep. Gearing up on the boat is a bit of a struggle, especially as care has to be taken to keep the boat balanced. The crew help you don your tank and it falls into an easy routine quickly.

Dive times are usually 60 minutes - each group has a guide but can wander off a little with their buddy. Our guide Omer was excellent, but he was a freelance guide from Puerto Princesa rather than full time on the boat.

Camera Gear Setup
Camera gear is very well provided for on the Hans Christian Andersen which was a nice surprise. There are large rinse tanks on the main dive deck where cameras can be placed as soon as boats return. Several small tables in the saloon are reserved for cameras to be left out and also there's a large battery charging area too. The boat boys, as previously mentioned, are very good at handling camera gear and remembering to remove dust caps etc.

Conclusion
Hans Christian Andersen is not a luxury, purpose built dive boat, but it's certainly a good contender for a comfortable few days diving. Once you get past the quirks of how things are set up to work around the ship's design, the boat functions reasonably well and the generous, well-prepared food at mealtimes and general friendliness and helpfulness of the staff make it a very pleasant boat to hang out on between dives too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGO-xUWWd6A

Sogod Bay is located on Leyte island in the middle of the Philippines. It's been a whale shark hotspot for the last 10 years when these gentle giants first started to been seen within Leyte Gulf. No one is quite sure why they started arriving, but one idea is that they might be attracted by the healthy coral reefs at Sogod Bay spawning and come to feed on the nutrient rich waters. Sogod is geographically quite near to Donsol, which has become world-famous as a place to see whale sharks, but also something of a circus as so many people go there in high season for a chance to see the sharks. At Sogod, there are only a couple of dive operators - I went with and recommend Sogod Bay Scuba Resort - and there is very little development otherwise. No condos, high rises, hotels, no nothing - just a local village and the small dive resorts. The diving itself is great and worth visiting Sogod for on its own. Trips to go and snorkel with the whale sharks (no diving allowed) run regularly, although they need a few people on the boat to make it worth the trip to pay for the boat fuel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uulR-Ki1UY

These videos were taken by Pedro, one of the divemasters at the resort who is a fish! As you can see, he got some amazing footage with my little Canon IXUS camera video setting, managing to get right in front of the whale shark at some points. The area is relatively shallow and the visibility is generally excellent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQNJHu3jVM

To get to Leyte, the easiest way to go is to fly from Manila to Tacloban and then get the resort to come and pick you up. The drive is about 2 - 3 hours. Alternatively you can fly to Cebu, then get a ferry to Leyte and the resort can pick you up - that's about 1 to 2 hours drive. The relative remoteness is what has kept Leyte so pristine. I am hoping to go back there in 2011 or 2012 and see if it's as beautiful as I remember it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8nFKsY7XRY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EawkY_4Mja0

Ornate ghost pipefish, Dauin near Apo Island Philippines

There are more Philippines diving images in the Divehappy Philippines Scuba Diving Gallery. Click any of the images in the story for a bigger version

Tubbataha Reef
A World Heritage UNESCO site like Komodo in Indonesia, Tubbataha Reef is located in the remote midst of the Sulu Sea and is only accessible for a few months each year from March to June. Huge walls plunge hundreds of metres down in the open ocean and attract all manner of big pelagics like manta rays and sharks, while the shallows harbour swathes of pristine corals and fish life. Access to Tubbataha is only by liveaboard, typically 4 days long, which depart from Palawan. See my report on diving Tubbataha on the Borneo Explorer liveaboard.

Harlequin Shrimp, Dauin near Apo Island Philippines

Visayas
The geographical area around Cebu City, the Philippines' second largest city, is collectively known as the Visayas and it holds some of the country's best diving. Malapascua, Moalboal and Dumaguete are all accessible from here and each is worth a few days diving. Malapasaqua is particularly famous for being one of the few places in the world you might encounter a thresher shark, which have uniquely long tails. Moalboal is a laid back island with a stack of dive sites to explore, while Dumaguete has some excellent muck diving on the mainland coast and also Apo Island just offshore. The easiest way to explore this area is on a liveaboard, as transport between the different resorts on land can be hard work. Read my Visayas liveaboard trip review on MV Borneo Explorer.

Clown Frogfish - Dauin near Apo Island Philippines

Apo Island and Dumin coast
One of the lesser known areas of the Philippines, Dumaguete is one of my personal favourites. There are several resorts in this area just along the coast from Dumaguete city where you can see Apo Island from the shore. A half hour boat ride gets you to Apo's beautifully well-preserved corals and steep sloping walls that are home to big schoals of fish , sea snakes and more. There are resorts on Apo Island itself too. If Apo is all about sea scapes and bigger marine life, the Dumin coastline back on the mainland has a feast of rare muck diving surprises - clown frogfish, harlequin shrimp and ornate ghostpipefish - for photographers, it's a veritable macro paradise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EawkY_4Mja0

Sogod Bay
Another of my personal favourites that is still not very well known, Sogod is located on the Philppines island of Leyte. Part of the huge Leyte Gulf, Sogod has excellent coral reefs that have been under protection for the last decade. Possibly as a result of the health of the coral, whale sharks have begun arriving in Leyte Gulf over the last couple of years and it's possible to go out on spotter trips and snorkel with them. Given Sogod's remoteness, there are usually not many other boats around, unlike the circus of seeing whale sharks at Donsol. Whale Shark season in Sogod is Feb to May, but it should be stressed that their appearance cannot be guaranteed. The reefs should be compensation enough as well as the natural topside beauty of the gulf which is largely undeveloped. There are only a couple of dive operators in the area. You can see more whale shark videos like the one above on my other blog Travelhappy

Sea snake, Apo Island Philippines

Anilao
One of the main attractions to Philippines diving that I have yet to visit, Anilao is heaven for those seeking the small and beautiful. There is a slew of dive sites here that harbour hundreds of different macro creatures - photographers love the area. There are numerous resorts to suit all budgets and by all reports a stay of four to five days will probably leave you wanting more. Anilao is relatively easy to access from Manila - it's a two hour drive which also makes it popular.

Diver and coral, Apo Island Philippines

Davao
The largest city in the south, Davao is a bustling port that holds an interesting secret - a short boat ride across the water from the huge industrial harbour, the island of Samal harbours a stack of great muck diving sites. Visibility is never that great, but there is a plethora of nudibranches, frogfish, harlequin shrimps and more waiting to be discovered. There are also comparatively few divers passing through Davao so you will get five star treatment from local dive outfits who want to show off their underwater backyard. It also lets divers combine the comforts of living in a big city - nice hotels, mix of restaurants, ease of access - with easy access to diving. You can read my trip report about scuba diving in Davao in September 2007

Diver and clownfish, Apo Island Philippines

If you're wondering why all the images (except the whale shark video) are from Apo Island and Dauin, it's because I wasn't a very good photographer when I visited Tubbataha, Visayas and Davao :)

On a recent visit to Apo Island in Dumaguete in the Philippines, I was introduced by my eagle-eyed dive guide Gilbert to the delights of muck diving on Dumaguete's coastline. While Apo Island itself has some impressive walls and sloping reefs, the mainland coastline is an unappetising mix of black sand, straggly weeds and wreckage from old cars -- quintessential muck diving conditions. The stretch of coastline near to the town of Dauin is incredibly abundant - I was stunned when Gilbert found not only a clown frogfish, which is rare enough, but then pointed out a baby clown frogfish.

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Baby Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

The baby clown frogfish is tiny - no more than about 2 to 3 centimetres long. The photos above are cropped in, as I didn't have a supermacro lens to fill the whole frame - it's such a beautiful and funny little creature, an exact minature except for the yellow rather than orange colours edging its feet and the darker red of its colours. The mature clown frogfish are still very small, about 6 to 8 centrimetres long, but a bit more bulky.

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

Clown Frogfish, Dauin, Philippines

This is just one of the amazing critters we found diving at Dauin and Apo Island and I'll be adding more pix of what else we saw soon.

asian-diver-issue-100-200

This article was first published in Asian Diver magazine, Issue 100, 2008. It appears here in a slightly different form.

Photos below are my own, and differ from those used in the magazine

To see more of my stories for Asian Diver and Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine, visit my Scuba Diving Magazine Stories page.

Scattered around Cebu City, the Philippines’ second biggest city, is a cluster of excellent dive destinations – Malapascua, Gato, Moalboal, Apo Island, Balisacag and Calibao - that could take weeks to properly explore if hopping from one dive resort to another. Despite being geographically quite near to each other as the crow flies, the vagaries of transport infrastructure in the Philippines means it can be several hours journey by several different modes of somewhat bumpy transport to get from one place to another. One solution is Expedition Fleet’s recently launched Visayas liveaboard, which runs in a week long voyage loop from Cebu City to explore the central island group of the Philippines.

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Seahorse

Malapascua provided a suitably dramatic beginning for my own Visayas trip, the island famous as one of the few places in the world where the enigmatic, long-tailed thresher shark can be regularly encountered. We hit the water by 6am for our first dive, as sunlight was already breaking over Malapascua’s white sand and palm-tree fringed beaches. Down below, however, the sun’s rays were barely penetrating, and the gloom felt distinctly sombre as we made our way to the edge of the underwater cliff known as Monad Shoal.

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Nudibranch Headshot

Here our group tried to keep as still as possible as we waited to see if the dive site’s famous inhabitants might put in an appearance. The flat plateau stretching back from the drop is blasted, both by currents and the after effects of dynamite fishing, so there is little distraction from staring out into the blue, waiting, and wondering if it really can be this easy to see one of the world’s most elusive sharks. As the minutes rolled by I was beginning to think not – and then our patience was rewarded as a thresher shark suddenly made its elegant appearance out of the gloom at the edge of the drop, following it around as if purposely giving everyone in our group a good look at the sheer bulk and grace of its silvery body and the iconic whiplash tail. It was a definite moment of celebration for some of our divers, who’d made three visits to the island and still not seen a thresher until now.

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Two Pipefish

Our dive the following morning was also a little sombre, as it was on the shipwreck of the Dona Marilyn near Gato Island, a passenger ferry lost in 1988. Lying on its side, the sizeable wreck’s hull now has a forest of soft corals sprouting from it, while cuttlefish and sea snakes have made it their home. The visibility can be poor and currents strong, but the profusion of marine life around the wreck makes it worthy of investigation, as is Gato’s Cave dive site, where a large hollowed out underground chamber provides a tunnel for divers from one side to the other of the reef. Beyond the cave lies a well-encrusted wall, and amongst the debris lying at its bottom we encountered a startling sight – a tiny harlequin shrimp, resplendent in its orange and white dotted livery, making a meal of a starfish leg at least 10 times bigger than its own body. It looked like he would be there all week.

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Boxfish

Moalboal’s Cathedral at Pescador Island boasts another beautiful cave, this one part of a sheer wall where the sea has shaped a sizable vertical chamber within it – we entered at 25 metres and exited through a couple of holes at 10 metres, all the while enjoying the spectacular play of light from above. Dense clouds of brightly coloured reef fish hovered along the wall’s length, while soft corals drooped under their own weight. We also encountered a big sea snake, easily over a metre long and thick bodied, sidewinding across the reef, his evident age a welcome sight that Pescador’s protected status is working.

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Clownfish

The quality of the reefs was also remarkable at Apo Island, another marine sanctuary that possessed spectacular viz. On our two morning dives I didn’t spot many critters because I was too busy marveling at the sheer abundance and density of the coral creating a vast carpet over Apo’s gentle slopes. I was so engrossed with gazing at what lay only a couple feet below that I nearly had a head on encounter with a giant trevally, its huge bulk glinting in the early morning sun as it dodged around me and sped off. I didn’t need to worry about my critter count - the afternoon and night dives at Ducomi Pier provided a smorgasbord of small stuff.

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Juvenile Batfish

Ducomi is a classic muck dive, an unprepossessing slope of silt into which the pier’s support pylons have been embedded. The whole area is strewn with trash, but the marine life here is astounding – not only are the pylons covered in soft corals to the point of metal being barely visible, the protective nature of the structure makes it a perfect nursery. I was quite excited when I spotted a batfish with the last vestiges of orange on its wingtips, until I saw a perfect juvenile batfish appear next to it, ink black and fluorescent orange. I’d only seen a juvenile once before, and while skittish, this one was quite happy to circle around the pier’s base debris rather than disappearing completely from the divers. I’d been so fixated on the batfish that I’d missed the seahorse, but our guide promised to find it again on the night dive back at the pier. I was a little skeptical, as seahorses are not the most forthcoming of creatures, but we ended up finding not one but three of them, curled around fronds sticking out from the pier’s pylons, perfectly camouflaged against the mottled growth around it.

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Seahorse

The following night’s dive at Balicasag went one better by finding that rarest, smallest and most dangerous of creatures, a blue ringed octopus. Between them Balicasag and Calibao, both located near Bohol island, turned up several surprises, including not one but two yellow leaf fish nestled together in a large clump of staghorn coral and a clutch of electric coloured nudibranches. Indeed, the only drawback of doing a liveaboard through the Visayas is that you quickly realise a day in each of these locations is not enough. However, it also provides an invaluable taster of the region for future exploration and pretty much every diver on the boat uttered the immortal words – “I’ll be back!”

Thanks to ExpeditionFleet.com for inviting me on this trip.

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Nudibranch

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Soft Coral

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I Forget The Name Of This One... If You Recognise It, Please Let Me Know!

How To Get To Cebu
Cebu City is the main airport in the Visayas. Direct flights are available from Singapore and Hong Kong with Cebu Pacific and other carriers.

Entry requirement
Most countries' citizens are allowed to stay in the Philippines without a visa for 21 days after arrival. Check http://www.gov.ph/faqs/visa.asp for more info.

Currency
The Filipino Piso is the national currency. $US1 = 48 Philippine Pisos. US Dollars are also widely accepted and prices are often quoted in dollars, although you should always carry Pisos as well. Remember there is a $15 US airport departure tax for international flights, plus a terminal fee of P550. There are similar, smaller taxes charged for domestic flights too.

Electricity
220V. Twin flat blade and also twin round blade plug sockets.

Best time to dive
The dry season for the Visayas is November to May

Climate
Temperatures can rise to 34 degrees in the tropical climate. Wear lots of sunscreen and a hat.

Language
Tagalog is the major Filipino language and English is widely spoken

Scuba Diver AustralAsia Issue 2008

This article was first published in Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine, Issue 4, 2008. It appears here in a slightly different form.

Photos were kindly provided by Jeff De Guzman, who also illustrated my story in the magazine.

To see more of my stories for Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine, visit my Scuba Diving Magazine Stories page.

If you were asked to picture what an emerging macro diving destination looks like, chances are you’d be thinking of somewhere remote and uninhabited, a Lost Eden island in the middle of nowhere. But less than 30 minutes boat trip from the huge city port of Davao on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao lies a plethora of spectacular small critters that will have macro enthusiasts grinning with delight. While locals have been diving in Davao’s waters for years, there has only been a trickle of foreign divers visiting up to now. It’s still an undiscovered dive destination in both senses - there are exploratory trips being carried out by local dive company Wind And Wave each month to explore further along Davao Gulf’s miles of coastline as it rolls out to the ocean.

Jeff De Guzman Davao

© Jeff De Guzman

Davao lies at the apex of Davao Gulf, a huge V-shaped swathe of flat calm water that eventually opens out into the Celebes sea. The Gulf is sheltered from typhoons thanks to being surrounded by a ring of mountains, crowned by Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines. Within the Gulf itself, and just across the water from the Davao city, lies the large island of Samal, which creates a natural channel between itself and the mainland and harbours virtually all of Davao’s dive sites. Unlike the mainland, Samal remains largely undeveloped besides one luxury hotel resort, Pearl Farm. The rest of the island features the thickly set palm trees and fringing white beaches for which the Philippines are famous. It’s hard to believe it’s only a few minutes boat ride away from the traffic clogged streets of Davao. Local fishermen paddle tiny one man outriggers up and down the shore as they go about their daily catch, and the occasional container ship heading in for the port is still dwarfed by the sheer size of the Gulf. And all the while, Mount Apo looms overhead catching clouds amongst the bright blue sky. It’s not a bad view at all from the dive boat.

5cm scorpion fish on the arm of a starfish - Davao - Jeff De Guzman

5cm scorpion fish on the arm of a starfish © Jeff De Guzman Davao

Davao’s 20 plus dive sites are situated in clusters around the Pearl Farm resort and Samal’s three smaller sister islands, Ligid, Malipano and Talicud, as well as scattered along the coast of Samal itself. It quickly became clear from our first few dives that if you want gin clear water and big pelagics, you’ll probably be disappointed by Davao diving. While sailfish, dolphins. dugongs and even whale sharks have been occasionally spotted by local fishermen along the coast of Davao Gulf, they’re rarely seen by divers. The water can be turbid and silty, giving an average viz of around 10 metres, and there’s the occasional strong current which can signal the beginning of an impromptu drift dive. But for adventurous divers who aren’t bothered by less than postcard perfect conditions, Davao provides some fantastic opportunities.

Kaputian is a dive site in point. Dropping in at dusk, it seemed an unprepossessing flat gentle slope of small rocks, with patches of sand and sea grass. Within seconds I was mesmerized by the cowfish that seemed almost as taken with me, backing away slowly but keeping its gaze firmly fixed on me as I had a quiet grin about its cute big eyes and horns. When the cowfish had finally had enough of me, I’d only moved a few more metres before encountering the frozen profile of a reptilian eel, looking like an ornate bottle buried in the sand. More dynamic was the tiny bright blue bobtail squid that resembled a minature cuttlefish, which I only left alone when one of the guides started arcing his torch in a gentle circle to illuminate the graceful seahorse he’d found, some 8 inches or so long.

Yellow Frogfish - Davao - Jeff De Guzman

Yellow Frogfish © Jeff De Guzman

We had split up into two groups to maximize our spotting time, and there was a flurry of excitement from the other group as they stumbled across one of the holy grails of macro diving: a clown frogfish. This tiny creature, panstick white with a huge red stripe running through it just like its namesake, was almost wholly buried amongst the small rock chunks that make up the slope. Our guide Ricci was all smiles when he got out the water as it was the first time he’d ever seen one, let alone found one – even more impressive given it was a night dive!

As we headed back to Davao that night, it was already decided we’d go back in search of the clown frogfish. Instead, we subsequently encountered a harlequin shrimp in all its polka dotted finery and a pair of Pegasus. We dived Kaputian three times in all and it felt like a different site each time and that there was something not only new but quite special too.

Red Frogfish, Davao - Jeff De Guzman

Red Frogfish © Jeff De Guzman

Besides the fine muck diving along Samal’s coastline, Ligid and Talicud, two of the islands just off Samal, provide impressive coral landscapes with teeming fish populations. Big Ligid and Little Ligid are located around the other side of Samal on the north eastern tip. Little Ligid is a private island that’s available to rent by the day if you’re feeling particularly decadent. Big Ligid is one of Davao’s signature sites and provides the best chance of seeing roving pelagics like packs of barracuda and whitetip sharks riding the currents, which also improves the viz.

The island’s craggy limestone walls provide a scenic backdrop topped with dense foliage above water, while underneath the surface the ocean has hollowed out a fascinating cave in Ligid’s wall and a pinnacle off its furthest point. The vertical wall drops at around 20 metres and the cave is a large triangular gap at its base. The cave repaid our curious torchlit investigation of its floor with some vibrant nudibranches. Ligid’s wall itself is quite breathtaking – the vivid golds of the clouds of fish hovering over emerald green coral with random spots of bright pink and red look like the work of some aquatic graffiti artist, a stunning and slightly overwhelming mix of colours and textures. Seeing a full sized black and white banded sea snake gracefully sidewind across this landscape provided the final touch to a great dive.

Mushroom Rock at the other end of Samal is also a local favourite, a collection of sites with steep walls dropping to 30 metres completely suffused with a neverending tumble of soft corals whose fronds reach out from their vertical incline. It’s comparable to Mansud Wall, on Samal’s other small island Talicud. Both provide the perfect conditions for an exhilarating drift dive. The abundance of soft coral on Mansud’s vertical wall which has a plateau at around 12 metres and then continues down is breathtaking, perfect for hanging in the current and simply taking it all in. The fish life is also abundant here, with plenty of clownfish and the usual reef suspects, along with a ghostpipefish which seemingly materialized out of nowhere, so good was its camouflage.

Snake Eel, Davao - Jeff De Guzman

Snake Eel © Jeff De Guzman

Mansud’s two neighbouring sites are very different – Coral Garden is a slightly murky coral patch that provided fantastic photo ops of jawfish peering suspiciously at us from their vertical hideyholes. There is an abundance of the always noteworthy spearing and peacock mantis shrimp in Davao Gulf as well – we spotted them on several dives, lurking amongst rocks and coral and, in one instance, defiantly standing out in the middle of the pebbles and facing us down. Babu Santa was particularly good for spotting mantis shrimp, another ugly looking site of scrubby vegetation on white sand that revealed playful pairs of puffafish cavorting wide-eyed around us, leading the way to the highlight of this dive and a first for me - a clown snake eel, much smaller than the reptilian eel and its crazy paving camouflage making it look a little less sinister. Even the trash on this site (Talicud island is a popular place for Davao partygoers) had become home to glass shrimp peering out of the neck of a discarded beer bottle.

Right by the Pearl Farm resort are the tiny islands of Malipano, on which are built the owner’s quite stunning array of beach houses. Two WWII era Japanese wrecks lie directly in front of the resort in murky conditions that make them only of interest to wreck enthusiasts. Besides seeing another seasnake racing across the deck of one wreck, we also encountered the biggest lionfish I have ever seen, nearly a foot across, only rivaled by the giant puffafish that hoved into view during our following dive at Bing’s Corner.

Hairy Pipefish - Davao - Jeff De Guzman

Hairy Pipefish © Jeff De Guzman

Bing’s is a site on Malipano island that encapsulates Davao diving in a way, with a contrasting mix of big, expansive reef and tiny creatures. It’s an excellent wall dive with a spectacular carpet of soft corals, lots of fronds and fans meshing in with one another, with a strong drift current in places too. The viz was a little silty but that didn’t really matter. Amongst the explosions of coral growth we went looking for pygmy seahorses in one of the immense scarlet gorgonian fans jutting out from the wall – we had no luck this time round, but the giant puffafish was a consolation, as was the plethora of nudibranches we found along the way, with no less than five vivid green and red nudibranches grouped together (easily identified post-dive as chromodoris nembrata).

When you add up the beauty of Davao’s natural surroundings above water with the fascinating array of critters under the surface, the ease with which you can visit the city and get to the dive sites as well, the convenience of having big city luxury nearby, and the genuine pride and excitement the dive guides have in Davao in showing off what is still a largely undiscovered dive destination, Davao has got a lot going for it. It may never be a chart topper like Palau or Sulawesi, but Davao has its own unique dive charm.

Thanks to: Albert and all the team at Wind And Wave Davao for organising a great trip in Davao. And to Carlos, for the cheese.

How To Get To Davao:
There are regular daily flights from Manila to Davao with Cebu Pacific , Air Philippines and Philippines Air. Air Philippines allow scuba divers 25kg of extra baggage for free on production of their scuba certification card. Check flight comparison sites and for current flight prices.

Entry/ Visa Requirements:
Most nationalities can get a free 30 day visa on arrival at Manila Airport. Check with your local Filipino embassy.

Language:
Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines. English is spoken widely.

Best time to dive:
Davao’s sheltered position means year-round diving is possible. The official off season is July to February - I went in September.

Currency:
Filipino Peso. US Dollars and credit cards are widely accepted, although check ahead with your dive operator to ensure you take acceptable payment.p

[This article originally appeared in Issue 101 of Asian Diver magazine].

Speeding along in the midst of a strong drift current, I look up from the reef wall that falls hundreds of metres below to realise there's a pack of sharks right ahead of me. There's five of them skulking on one of the wall's flatter sandy sections, and I'm currently on a collision course with them. They're all whitetip reef sharks, some up to a metre and half in length, but hopefully more intimidated by my fast moving black clad bulk that I am by them. I raise my camera to see if I can get a shot of the sharks as I hurtle towards them, but as I get to within a couple of metres propelled by the current, the five sharks suddenly scatter, a quick flick of their sinuous tails sending them in opposite directions. As they lazily regroup behind me, I'm busy checking my depth on my dive computer and grinning into my regulator. I may not have got a photo but scaring a pack of sharks won't be fading from my memory for a long time. Welcome to Tubbataha, home of spectacular reef walls and adrenaline drift diving.

Located 160km south east of the island of Palawan in the Philippines, Tubbahata Reef consists of two remote, uninhabited coral atolls that are part of a Marine Park first established in 1988. Given its unique diversity of life both above and below water, Tubbataha was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993, the only solely marine site to receive such an accolade in all of South East Asia. The result of such protection is a profusion of marine life which divers get to glimpse as they drift by the walls, riding the current through this unique place.

Tubbataha is protected not just by international recognition and local laws, but also by the weather. It's only possible to go diving in Tubbataha on a liveaboard between March and June, because conditions are too rough during the rest of the year. Situated in the heart of the Sulu Sea between Palawan, Negros and Malaysian Borneo, Tubbataha is wide open to weather and ocean current systems from every direction.

As such, Tubbahata's currents are unpredictable and you simply have to go with them, often reversing direction during a dive to go with the new flow and making every dive an adventure in itself. Sometimes, as when we dived at the Malaya Wreck site, a fragment of a boat left in the shallows above a beautiful wall, we had to give up immediately on the idea of seeing the wreck itself as soon as we got in the water, as the current was pushing us insistently the other way and was not to be argued with. This means divers must remain alert and watch their guide as well as their depth and air at all times.

It's precisely this exposure that makes Tubbataha great for diving, because the currents bring in the big pelagics while the reef walls provide shelter for a myriad of smaller critters. If you are not fond of wall or drift diving, then Tubbataha is probably not for you, because wall drift diving pretty much covers the topography of every dive.

If, on the other hand, you want to experience the true vastness of the ocean, Tubbataha is hard to beat. Everything about diving at the atolls is epic in scale, from the remoteness of its location, with no other land and barely another boat to be seen throughout the course of a 4 day liveaboard, to the truly vast reef walls that await below the water. The lighthouse on the South Island is the only feature to break up the expanse of sea and sky. Dropping in from a chase boat, it's hard to adequately describe just how huge Tubbataha's reef walls are - given the visibility is usually 50 metres downwards and around 20 into the blue, they fill your entire field of vision, like an inverted mountain. Even a group of 8 divers is dwarfed by the size of this underwater landscape. There are few other places I've dived that gives you such a dramatic sense of the true scale of Nature. It’s really quite humbling.

On several of Tubbataha's sites, like Bird Islet for example, the wall drops down to around 40 metres and then has a lip that juts out about 10 metres or so before continuing its descent into the depths. (On the others, like Delsan, it's simply vertical). This wall lip is a favourite patrolling ground for sharks - on numerous dives we saw big sharks, at least 2 metres in length, cruising back and forth along this perimeter, as if they were guardians for what lay beneath. They looked like silvertip sharks, but their depth and demeanour meant we didn't go and find out first hand. Indeed, given the clarity of the water even at 30 metres, it was important to keep a watchful eye on our depth - the clear viz and similarity of the wall all the way down can combine to be a little disorientating.

It's not just big sharks that can be seen at the lip of the wall. Manta rays are frequently spotted at the Bird Islet site, which is widely regarded as Tubbataha's best dive site. Our divemasters looked genuinely disappointed when we didn't get to see any during our trip, but that's simply the luck of the ocean. We did see something almost as good at the sheer wall of Delsan, a beautiful eagle ray at least a metre wide, speeding like a dart at 50 metres but clearly visible and then suddenly racing vertically up the wall itself after executing a split second 90 degree turn. It moved so fast I was barely able to keep my eyes on it, and within seconds of seeing it, it had disappeared once again. Talking to another boat group when we got back to shore who'd been at Tubbataha at the same time, I was told they'd see three manta rays and a whale shark over the course of their trip. Some people get all the luck...

However, even without the headline attractions, it would take a very jaded diver to be disappointed by Tubbataha. As we criss-crossed back and forth between the north and south island to avoid the occasional squall of bad weather, we discovered plenty of other activity out in the blue, like the several massive dogtooth tuna we spotted in the depths at Delsan. There was also the unforgettable sight of a big school of barracuda balled together catching the light a few metres below the surface while being circled by reef sharks at Malaya Wreck. My favourite was an impressively large shoal of jacks schooling by the wall, moving in synchronicity to present a liquid silver circle in perpetual motion, pouring off the top of the reef and down the wall vertically. Thanks to the visibility, we could clearly see the entire school moving as one over what must have been a 20 square metre area, all the while hanging in the blue witness the whole event.

Indeed, there is an abundance of fish at Tubbataha thanks to its marine park status - the clown triggerfish is probably my favourite individual fish as its idiosyncratic markings always make me smile, and at one point I saw three of them gnawing the coral - a personal record. Other coral munching favourites include Tubbataha’s turtles, who surprised me on several dives by launching themselves into the blue from the reef only a few metres in front of me. Watching a turtle ascend to the surface is something I never get tired of. There is also a lot of young sharks on the reef too, which is heartening given the worldwide onslaught against the ocean's shark population in general and Tubbataha’s own ongoing battle with illegal poachers. There are occasional signs of the aftermath of dynamite fishing as on the reef at Staghorn Point, but for the most part Tubbataha has genuinely spectacular coral wreathing its dive sites. Fans of huge fan corals will be well rewarded on virtually all dives, with a plethora of hard corals up in the shallows too that provide perfect territory for exploring at the end of a dive.

After four days of diving at Tubbataha, I felt like I had just got completely used to the rigours of drift diving its massive walls when it was sadly time to head for home. Exploring these vertical faces while drifting past them, sometimes at speed, provides a little more adrenaline than normal reef dives, but that just adds to the excitement of exploring Tubbataha’s unique underwater panorama. It’s one of those places that feels like a true adventure to visit thanks to its remoteness and the huge hidden world that lies underwater beneath a seemingly tiny atoll.

--
Thanks to all the staff on the M/Y Borneo Explorer (www.ExpeditionFleet.com) for their help
--

Bearings

Getting There
Liveaboards are the only way of accessing Tubbataha. Puerto Princessa on the island of Palawan is the main departure point. Puerto Princessa is served mainly by domestic flights from Manila (1 hour flight) - Air Philippines (www.airphils.com) allows extra weight for scuba divers at no charge if you produce your Diver Certification Card at checkin. You can book Air Philippines flights via email and collect and pay for them on arrival at Manila domestic airport. See and for flight comparisons to find the cheapest fares.

Entry requirement
Most countries' citizens are allowed to stay in the Philippines without a visa for 21 days after arrival. Check the official Philippines Government Visa FAQ for more info.

Currency
The Filipino Piso is the national currency. $US1 = 47 Philippine Pisos. US Dollars are also widely accepted and prices are often quoted in dollars, although you should always carry Pisos as well. Remember there is a $15 US airport departure tax for international flights, plus a terminal fee of P550. There are similar, smaller taxes charged for domestic flights too.

Electricity
220V. Twin flat blade and also twin round blade plug sockets.

Best time to dive
Tubbataha is only accessible by liveaboard from March to June each year.

Climate
The Tubbataha dive season from March to June coincides with the Filipino Summer. Temperatures can rise to 34 degrees in the tropical climate. Wear lots of sunscreen and a hat.

Language
Tagalog is the major Filipino language and English is widely spoken

Issue 101 of Asian Diver is now out, and I have two stories in there as part of the Philippines special.

One is my account of going to Tubbataha Reef, the remote and spectacular wall off Palawan - and the other is my trip around the Visayas, visiting several of the Philippines' top spots like Moalboal, Dumaguete, Cabilao and more easily on board a liveaboard. Both stories are accompanied by beautiful photos from Yvette Lee.

Asian Diver issue 101

Asian Diver issue 101

The issue also features a stunning photo portfolio from my mate Jez Tryner - you have got to see his pictures of whale sharks and manta rays over a reef - absolutely amazing.

I am already thinking of going back to Dumaguete, as Apo Island and the muck dive under the Ducomi Pier were my favourite spots on the whole Visayas trip - very few other people there and reefs in great condition.

I'm just back from my trip to the Visayas in the Philippines, been a bit sick since I returned, but will be posting some photos soon. Seahorses! is all I will excitedly squeak for now.