Bohol Alona Beach - Arco

If there was one site in the Alona Beach Area I would have to call my personal favourite that site would be "Arco".  So named for the Arc formed at the top of a crevasse in the wall arco is a shallow wall just bustling with marine life and fish activity.

Being an Easterly facing wall Arco is best done during the morning hours of the day as the morning sunlight lights up the wall beautifully; bringing out the wall's true colors.  The wall is covered in an array of soft and hard coral formations filled with lots of macro life to shoot.  Make sure to check the soft corals for the ever present candy crabs found within, and the numerous bubble corals for the little orangutan crabs hiding between the bubbles.  And dont forget to keep an eye out for the nudis as they are present here in great numbersand varying colors and species.

Dont forget to explore the bottom of the shallow wall which is at about 18m/60ft.  The sandy bottom provides a home to some interesting creatures like the mantis shrimps who usually burrow into the sand; and if your really lucky they'll even be out and about searching for their next meal.

Descending even further search the elephant ear sponges for the giant frogfish hanging on the insides camouflaging themselves with the colour of the sponges that they hang onto.

Slowly ascend to the walls top at about 10M and explore the reef above; critters such as cuttlefish, clown frogfish and turtles are numerous and quite unnerved by the presence of divers giving you a chance for up close encounters with these marine creatures.

No matter how many times I dive Arco I always find something new to see; and though it is quite a boat ride from Alona's main beach the dives here are more than worth it.

For Packages to Bohol feel free to email me at m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net

Negros Oriental - Dauin

A little south of Dumagete in Negros Occidental is the town of Dauin, for all intents and purposes Dauin is a town that Scuba Diving Literally built.  Being the home of probably some of the Philippine's best Marine Protected Areas, Apo Island included;  Dauin is truly a destination serious Divers and Under Water Photographers should not miss.  (more on Apo Island in the next post)

Apo Island Aside though; diving on the Dauin coastline has alot to offer on its own.  With almost all of its shoreline reclassified as marine protected areas, Dauin has probably the best supported sanctuaries in the philippines.  What is amazing is that these sanctuaries are mostly run by the Local Government Unit, funded with funds coming from different fund raising events as well as diving ticket collections.  And boy are they strict about their policing and making sure that Dauin sanctuary rules are followed to the letter.

The only downside of Dauin is their high dive fees; fees on their own are already high for Philippine Standards at150php per dive an extra 200php for cameras divers specially photographers will shell out close to 10USD per dive on sanctuary fees alone and that equates to about 210USD for a 7Dive Day Holiday on top of our already lofty dive operator bill.  That being said though Dauin is known to produce some of the best Macro Photography situations nationwide, only challenged by Anilao on the main island.

In any case Dauin does have its share of really good dive sites and let me name a few here.

one of the sites of special mention in this area is the Dauin South Sanctuary; this sanctuary is half of a coral garden bustling with marine life.  Animals such as Turtles, Cuttlefish, Frogfish and sea horses roam this site freely.  It is generally a very easy dive in none to weak current.  Photo subjects shot against the colorful coral garden backdrop provides for a more vibrant image of species being photographed in the area as compared to most of the Coastline's Black Sand bottoms

The true allure of Dauin though are those very Black Sand Bottoms and the muck diving they provide.  Black Sand dives such as the Cars and Buluarte located all within an area of less than three Acres are not to be missed; as most of the best Macro photography subjects can be found here.  Alien looking creatures such as razor wrasse, clown frogfish and hairy frogfish of all colours and sizes; sea horses, Devil Scorpions and leaf fish are plentiful on this black sand slope mix that in with a few flying gurnards and this is a dive which could take far more than an hour if your gas can reach that time.

On top of the critters found above these sights also offer almost every species of ghost pipefish; from the leafy looking robust ghost pipefish, to the colourful ornate variety are present in large quantities and are found in a wide array of different colors and sizes.

And WAIT there's more!!!...  Is how you will feel on most dives here as adding to the long list above are the number of cephalopod species which are present here as well.  Special sightings of the mimic octopus, the wonder pus, short legged octopus are all around.  Just wait for the sound of your eagle eyed guide's tank banger as he points them out to you.

Also present on these slopes is my personal favourite cephalopod, the flamboyant cuttlefish.  These colorful festive critters can usually be photographed doing a number of behaviours in these waters.  From feeding to courtship to mating these little colourful critters are never shy to put on a performance for the cameras for hours on end.



Sometimes I try to imagine how it was i the days of film when 36 shots was all you got on a sigle dive... Boy was that too few....

Muck diving aside the Dauin Coastline also offers one hell of an Adrenaline dive on the eastern facing coast.  Mainit Sanctuary so named so for the volcanic vents divers can observe at about 7ms.  These vents though are only a small plus to what this dive has to offer.  The ripping current that is always present at Mainit attracts big schools of fish of all shapes and sizes.  There is a grouping of silversides here in a school so big they make a whoosh sound as they pass by,  to large chevron Barracuda just hanging out in formation in the strong currents, to diff types of sweetlips, groupers, and sometimes the occasional black tip shark.

This dive is not for the faint hearted and it is suggested divers follow the guide closely as he knows the path behind the numerous boulders sheilding the group from the ripping currents.  If for any reason you get separated from the guide most likely you will just be pushed by the current down to the end of the sanctuary where the dive ends and your boat will be ready to pick you up and this trip from one end to the other if you dont know the stopping points could take as little as 15mins but boy what a ruch those 15mins would be.

Though I only mention 3 sites here these are in my book the 3 must do dives in this area but in no way are they the only ones.   Dauin has a number of other shoreline sites which provide rich marine life just as the sites mentioned above.

It is these special sites found in Dauin that make it truly a photographers dream destination.


For info to Dauin and Apo Island email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net

Negros Occidental _ Sipalay Danjugan

Now Im from Bacolod, my mom's family is originally from there and when you talk about Scuba Diving with the older people in this region they always have so many macho stories to tell about the good old days of diving.  The days when skip breathing was the norm and spearfishing  instead of photography was the only way to shoot underwater.  They had stories of shooting giant manta rays, 50 to 100kg tunas and every kind of shark Ive ever heard of at least.  And in my younger days I always used to look at the Philippine Diving Map and wonder how come Negros Occidental was not on it.

Being so rich in Diving Heritage it was like time forgot about the diving in Bacolod and the rest of Negros Occidental.  For years that thought was parked in the back of my mind.  In early 2011 i was tasked to find a new destination for the Liveaboard I was managing to visit.  We had a 15 day tubbataha itinerary and right smack in between there was a 2 day no diving lul mid trip after the boat left from dauin enroute to tubbataha.  

My search began as always with the scientific community.   I asked my good friends in conservation and marine biology about the west coast of Negros; it didn't take long when Danjugan Island was mentioned.  Mario Marababol told me of Danjugan, a place where no recreational diving was allowed but the reefs were healthier than even Apo Island he said.  He then mentioned Gerry Ledesma; wow I knew that name, and one story above all came to my mind upon hearing it.   

It was 730am on a febuary morning when I finally met Tito Gerry for the first time.  We met at a cafe in Bacolod and he continued to tell me of the history behind danjugan.  As the story goes; in the late 80s the owners of the island needed some money and they planned to cut down a very old tree in the middle of the island to sell the hardwood. (The tree is the nesting site of sea eagles and it is still an active nesting site till this very day)  For tito Gerry this was the last straw.  He could no longer stand idly and watch as the people of negros continued to destroy their environment.  He proposed to the owners of danjugan that he buy the whole island and dedicate it to the conservation of even just a little of Negros' environment.  The rest so to speak is Philippine Conservation History.

The next day My cousin and I set out to go and see for ourselves just what danjugan had to offer.  since i was on a tight schedule we only had two dives scheduled that day and we wold drive back to bacolod that night.

The first Dive at Manta Reef (nope there are no more mantas here! and when I asked tito gerry why? his answer was coz your i$%8t uncles shot them all!  hohum... the Lacson legacy :P )  

Name aside though the Dive at Manta point was amazing.  The vis was at least 30Ms and the coral cover was comparable to the best ive seen.  The sanctuary at Apo island would be a good comparison.  There was a good mix of hard and soft coral and it was just so colourful that i wished I had brought a camera with me.  Fish life was good I remember watching a really big school of banner fish swim up and down the reef last time i saw that many of them was in Palau.  Anthias were all around and the reef was just bustling with life.  As we continued our descent I saw a good sized Napoleon Wrasse swimming just above us.  Swimming down the reef I couldnt help but think... why did people stop diving here?...  

The second dive scheduled was on Bonifacio Reef... Bonifacio was on the south west point of danjugan; with no bouy our guide just triangulated its position and threw a makeshift marker bouy attatched to a weight into the water.  Unlike Manta reef, Bonifacio was a mini Pinacle.  The middle of the reef was the shallowest part and it descended downwards from there.  The coral here was also in pristine condition.  Large cabbage corals, stag horns, different types of sponges and softcorals were all present.  The fish life here was limited to anthiases but boy was there a whole bunch of them.  A few minutes into the dive I spotted a frogfish, and it definitely wasnt the last one too.  There were many types of nudibranchs on this reef as well and for the second time in one day i wanted to kick myself for not bringing a camera.

All in all my first diving experience in Danjugan was a hit... And as we drove home Jet and I started talking about the next business venture.  That day I never forgot... And its lead me right back to where I am now.  It was the beggining of Philippine Bluewater Expeditions Inc.

www.bluewaterexpeditions.net  for info email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net

Palawan Tubbataha

pinnacle of philippine diving

Palawan - Club Paradise

What can I say about Club Paradise... Ive had a love hate relationship with this island since I was about 13 years old.

Being a more expensive resort and dive operation Club Paradise was never on the usual menu of places that my family would visit on our diving vacations when I was younger.  But since my first instructor was from there and he constantly harped about it all of us children always wanted to go there.

In the summer of '93 my mom finally planned a trip to CP and from the first time we jumped in the water it was everything we were told it would be.  The reef was alive with soft and hard corals, they had giant clams bigger than ive even seen before and for the first time in my life I saw a shark.  CP was everything Lou promised it would be.

We had a great diving vacation that week and saw more than we ever did before, going deeper than we ever did before.  Too bad it ended with our parents announcing their annulment.

For 2 decades I never went back to CP until in 2010 my stint on the siren brought me there.  In 2010 it was diferent though, el nino 2 years previous had killed almost all the colorful soft and hard corals i remembered CP for.  What was left was mostly mossy rocks.

But giving it a chance like i always do I found CP to have more in the form of bigger things.  there were turtles galore (duh its a turtle sanctuary) that didint mind when people swam right up to them.

But the most interesting if not surprising thing I saw at club paradise was the interaction of the cuttlefish with the sharks with the divers.  At first I thought the cuttlefish were friendly, coz they seemed to always stay wherever the divers were even following us around at some points.  One was so used to divers that it even let me tickle its belly and hold it long enough for a friend to take a really good photo of me with it.  Surprising for an animal that ussually shys away from humans, even more so human contact.

Then there are the sharks blacktips and whitetips constantly swimming by going round in circles.  It was only later when the owner of Club Paradise's Dugong dive center explained it to me that i realized that the cuttle fish were actually using us as a deterent from the sharks.  Wow I thought I guess its a behaviour passed on through the years.

All in all CP is a great resort... and even though the colorful corals are gone there is still so much to see on their house reef.  if youve got the time and the money I highly suggest a dugong tour for a truly special underwater experience.

Thanks to Nat Geo Photog Chris Huss for this portrait of me with a cuttlefish... taken at CP Feb 2011


For more info on club paradise email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net

Aklan - Boracay

Now if one were to ask me should I dive in Boracay... my unanimous and definite answer would be "your better off enjoying the party on the beach!".  Thats how I used to feel about the diving in Boracay with prices geared towards foreigners, and no real reefs to speak off boracay was never a diving destination for me growing up.

Spending time though in those water for work... my view on Boracay has changed; just a little!...
There are actually two dive sites of note in this area.  Yapak and Camia Wreck.

Yapak is what I would describe as a coin flip Divesite.  Because just like a coin flip its either a really good dive or a useless one.  First of all don't try to dive this site with the newbies. (sorry guys! im a big fan of all diving is for everyone but this is one site youve gotta sit out)

The reason for this is that its a negative entry dive that depends largely on the current.  Once in the water the group is trying to drop in and secure itself to a little area on the reef to watch what passes by.  I imagine the feeling of landing on yapak is sort of like the feeling you'd get from landing an f14 on an aircraft carrier.  Except on this dive you dont get to circle around and try again if you miss the zone abort ur dive and the boat will come and pick you up.

When its good lots of animals make an appearance here, sharks are not uncommon white tips black tips and sometimes a few greys will play in the current.  bigger fish are holding their positions around you and it makes for a great dive.

Only drawback is when there is nothing at yapak... there is just that nothing... you can make the perfect entry... with the group whole(that doesn't happen often) and you get down there and there's nothing... just like i said earlier... a coin flip...

On the other hand there is one dive site on boracay island that i would do over and over again given the chance.  that Dive site is Camia Wreck.  Laid down as an artificial reef about a decade ago, Camia sits in 30M of water upright.  The wreck is crawling with macro life to photograph, ghost pipefish are almost in every chrinoid, different types of flatworms and nudie are all over the wrecks hull i love just taking a camera down there and shooting till my gas runs out.

It does lie in 30Ms of water though so 32%nitrox is a must if you want to spend any considerable amount of time down there clicking away.

One day Im going to go back there and just shoot a whole album full of the life on Camia Wreck.

So if you ask me now what I think of the diving on boracay... I still think its mainly a party island, but if you must blow bubbles you have at least two sites to choose from.

Bohol - Balicasag Island

The MSY Philippine Siren... My Knowledge collection platform

If you ask diver's what the top ten dive sites in the philippines are there is one island that will be mentioned in that list more than 90% of the time.  A small Island lying off the coast of Alona Beach in Bohol this destination has been a dive haven for a few decades.  I speak off course about the diver's heaven that is Balicasag island.

Balicasag is surrounded by 5 very big and extremely colorful dive sites.  The dive sites circumnavigate all of this small island.  Balicasag is one of those reefs that give you a taste of a little of everything; from big schools of trivially and barracuda, to turtles, to amazing macro life not as easily spotted.

On the side facing pamilacan Balicasag has a black coral forrest one of the few ive seen in waters at home.  Yes it is a little deep but very much worth burning some bottom time for difinitely one of my favorite parts of the island.  If youve got a guide who knows what he's doing a dive on this side will start with a large school of Trevally or Barracuda (ive never seen them together) after which youll descend to the black coral forrest.  After a few minutes of that a slow ascent to end right on the shallow reef top to see some turtles as well as other critters in the sea grass area.

Balicasag is a Photographers dream dive destination as one can just spend hours and hours on the reef top just snapping away at either the interesting and intriguing uw species, or even just the colorful scene as a whole great photos are sure to come from this destination.  And not available to most unless your on a live aboard, night dives at balicasag are simply amazing.  With a cast of critters such as spanish dancers, flatworms, decorator crabs and on many occassions blue ring octopus night dives on balicasag are simply wonderful.

The first time I dove balicasag I was but a boy of 11 maybe 12, and 20 years later the dives seem just as good as they were 2 decades ago.  This cannot be said about many of the philippine's Diving Destinations.  Pure political will keeps Balicasag as beautiful and pristine throughout the years and for many more to come.

Hopefully one day my 11 yr old child and I will dive this reef and I can tell him "its just as good as it was when I was a Dive Guide"...


For more info on Alona beach and balicasag packages email m.santos@bluewaterexpeditions.net