Philippines

//Philippines

Club Paradise – A Special Place in the Sun

18 – 22 April 2010 Dimakya Island, Club Paradise Night shot of Club Paradise restaurant. Right in front of this is the house reef where the dugong was waiting for us in the seagrass bed! Some thirteen year ago, Yogi already had a very special relationship with people working in Club Paradise resort, Busuanga, Northern Palawan, [...]

Seagrass Bed for Marine Life in Club Paradise, Northern Palawan, Philippines

18 – 22 April 2010 Dimakya Island, Club Paradise Many snorkelers and divers quickly swim past seagrass beds without stopping to check out the interesting marine life that live there.  Seagrass beds are very important marine habitats and ecosystems. With their root like stems, which can extend horizontally under the sand, seagrass beds serve as binders [...]

A Dugong in Club Paradise, Northern Palawan, Philippines

18 – 22 April 2010 Dirk Fahrenbach is a dear old friend of Yogi’s. He owns and runs Dugong Dive Center in Club Paradise and we met him in Singapore during ADEX 2010.  Upon finding out what we’ve been up to, Dirk immediately asked when we were visiting him in Club Paradise. Still too many places to go, [...]

Good Friday in Bulacan, Philippines

2 April 2010  Kapitangan & Baliwag The Philippines is predominantly a Catholic country with a minority of Muslims living in southern Mindanao. The Catholic faith is strong and thriving and Folk Catholicism finds its major outlet during Lent, where traditional Philippine style rituals can be observed in different towns and provinces throughout the country. In 1997, I produced [...]

Club Ocellaris in Anilao, Batangas, Philippines

27 – 31 March 2010 The charming clownfish finds a symbolic home out of water in this quaint dive resort by the sea in Anilao, Mabini, Batangas.  Club Ocellaris is where I first entered the water with a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and Boy Venus was there to teach and introduce me to this wonderful world of [...]

More Anilao, Mabini, Batangas Critters

27 - 31 March 2010 The province of Batangas has more than a 30-kilometer long coastline – Balayan Bay in the west and Batangas Bay in the east. To the north is the town of Bauan, and on the south is Maricaban Strait. Known to scuba divers as Anilao, the prime dive sites are found [...]

Nudibranchs of Anilao, Batangas, Philippines

27 - 31 March 2010 Anilao Batangas was where I learned diving in 1997. I had been coming here camping on the rocks when I was still in college in the 80's! Anilao was where Manila divers went for diving because it was closest to Manila and we all thought it was a pretty cool [...]

Newest Dive Resort in Mindoro – Apo Reef Club

15 - 22 March 2010 Sunset illuminates this charming dive resort in Mindoro Guenter Taus was my dive instructor for my PADI advance course many years ago. He also is part owner of Occidental Mindoro's newest dive resort called Apo Reef Club. Michi Roos is the founder and operations manager of this resort in [...]

Apo Reef with Apo Reef Club, Mindoro, Philippines

15 - 22 March 2010 The colors of Asia comes out with this bright outrigger boat turned liveaboard Apo Reef Club I. Diver about to surface after a good dive With the expedition team complete with our writer Alya Honasan, our first Philippine journey for this leg was to Apo Reef.  We spent [...]

Dry Lands and Effects of Climate Change in Mindoro, Philippines

18 March 2010 We spent a whirlwind day traveling Mindoro on rocky roads from Concepcion to Mamburao to Sablayan back to Concepcion. It was from an early tuna festival activity at 7 in the morning to visiting Sablayan villages affected by climate change. Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located southwest of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. It [...]