16 April 2009 Rangers – NAVY Team Leader: Elmer “Jhing” F. de los Santos Jhing mans the radar and radio 24/7 Secille G. Balot Secille tills their little garden for the ranger's vegetable needs Romeo “Romy” O. Bellezo Romy assists in catching a baby booby for bird banding Richard [...]
15 April 2009 Dive 1, 7:30, Black Rock N8 47.868 E119 50.440 Hmmm -- 6:30 morning rain. We’re going to be rained on in Bird Islet in a few days! Not a nice thought. Before the dive, our German dive group mates ordered pygmy seahorses, and guess what -- our guide Welmer found one. Hippocampus [...]
14 April 2009 Dive 1, 7:30, Delsan Wreck We went a way back from the wreck, to the point where our boatman said it was a different dive site altogether! But the drift was so strong, we ended up in the wreck at the end. Saw long lines, and coral was dangling from under one [...]
13 April 2009 Dive 1, 7:30am, Malayan Wreck Blue water hang at 20 meters, waiting for schooling hammerhead sharks to pass by. This was a test of patience. We have never been lucky with hammerheads and often have to explain to the dive masters that we bring bad hammerhead luck. But the plankton was interesting. [...]
12 April 2009 Dive 1, 7:30 am, Bird Islet’s Washing Machine Schooling jacks - LOTS Hardly any current, but this dive was fantastic. Our dive master Omer Alanis already pre-checked where the huge school of jacks was, and made us go down exactly where they were. The water was finally crystal clear, and [...]
11 April 2009 Dive 1, 7:30am, Malayan wreck Malayan wreck with jacks in the shallows It was the first dive of the trip, and it started with very slight current and some fan corals. The highlight of the dive came towards the end, when we reached the wreck in very shallow waters. There [...]
10 April 2009 Puerto Princesa Pier Again had lovely breakfast with Angelique, Norman and their son Nathan Songco. Their house is just so lovely and a squirrel decided to pass us by hopping from tree to tree. Not everything with four legs gets eaten in the Philippines, as is the common knowledge. We had crispy [...]
9 April 2009 Puerto Princesa Wet Market We arrived Puerto early evening of the 8th and immediately after checking in, were whisked away by our friend Angelique Songco, boss woman of Tubbataha Marine Park, to dinner at Ka Lui’s. Our host for the evening was Rolando "Boy" Bonoan, the Palawan Provincial Government’s Information Officer. What [...]
