bshort4
Contributor
Here I sit writing this report at a friends house south of Manila after another week of diving in Dauin. I miss Dauin and always look forward to returning each year (this was my fourth year in a row) and visiting with my friends at Mikes Beach Resort and roaming the small village of Dauin. Yes there is another post on this forum about the Phils being rated as the best dive destination but I would never go so far as to say that--it's totally so subjective. But I keep returning to the Phils year after year to dive and see old friends again and Mikes is always on the top of the list now. Although the management team and person in charge of the dive operations changed this year the rest of the team there remains the same. From our favorite boat captain Victor who has become a great friend to the "Three Mosquitos" guides Aceboy, Marlon and Gaby---people make the difference. We've seen our bar boy Vince grow from that young boy to a great young man and the rest of the gals that work in the restaurant rush to meet us when we first showed up. It's like coming home again. Mikes is changing--they've expanded from eight to fourteen rooms now but this being the low season I still dived three days out of six with just my guide and me. The dives were split between the "muck" diving right off the coast in front of the resort and of course the great reef diving at Apo Island. I love taking pics and videos but the macro stuff was off the boards this trip as my snap on macro lens for my camera had taken a tumble into the deep blue the week before in Bali and I was limited to only the larger stuff--no biggie and my guides keep pointing out the small stuff and I had to take a peek and move on. After the recent typhoon had moved on the weather was perfect and water temps were in the 79 to 80 degree range everyday. Apo Island never fails to impress---no you won't find much if any of the larger fish life there except turtles but the reef just keeps going on forever and is the healthiest I've seen just about anywhere I've dived.
There are other considerations that make the Philippines a great place to dive---getting here is pretty easy and relatively cheap (from the West Coast). Yes flying into Manila is not something I look forward to but I've done it so many times I've become immune to some degree from the hassles of Manila and the airport. Yes Cebu is a better option but my friends live on Luzon so it isn't a option for me. But a new option as been added to get to the airport from various places outside of Manila. A new P2P (Point 2 Point) bus line for transportation to all four terminals in Manila has made the trip there much easier. From Sta Rosa city south of Manila they have a bus leaving every hour 24 hours a day (from Robinsons Mall) and for 190 pesos they will drop you at arrivals at any of the four terminals and when we returned we just waited for our bus to show up and we were on our way out of the city. The P2P bus travels to many different places outside of Manila including up to Clark. I still have a few more weeks remaining here in the Phils---staying to celebrate the New Years with them then heading back to chilly Colorado. As English is spoken by just about everyone here it makes it a bit easier for visiting too. Once you are out of Manila (Cebu City too) the people make the difference--mostly poor yes---mostly happy also yes---I've had nothing but great encounters with the people wherever I've dived in the Phils---oh did I mention the diving is pretty darned cheap too. So I'll continue to visit the Phils each year (other places too) and smile each time I arrive in my second home away from home. I've included a few pics--I had to include this first pic--somehow my phone camera took a double exposure lol
There are other considerations that make the Philippines a great place to dive---getting here is pretty easy and relatively cheap (from the West Coast). Yes flying into Manila is not something I look forward to but I've done it so many times I've become immune to some degree from the hassles of Manila and the airport. Yes Cebu is a better option but my friends live on Luzon so it isn't a option for me. But a new option as been added to get to the airport from various places outside of Manila. A new P2P (Point 2 Point) bus line for transportation to all four terminals in Manila has made the trip there much easier. From Sta Rosa city south of Manila they have a bus leaving every hour 24 hours a day (from Robinsons Mall) and for 190 pesos they will drop you at arrivals at any of the four terminals and when we returned we just waited for our bus to show up and we were on our way out of the city. The P2P bus travels to many different places outside of Manila including up to Clark. I still have a few more weeks remaining here in the Phils---staying to celebrate the New Years with them then heading back to chilly Colorado. As English is spoken by just about everyone here it makes it a bit easier for visiting too. Once you are out of Manila (Cebu City too) the people make the difference--mostly poor yes---mostly happy also yes---I've had nothing but great encounters with the people wherever I've dived in the Phils---oh did I mention the diving is pretty darned cheap too. So I'll continue to visit the Phils each year (other places too) and smile each time I arrive in my second home away from home. I've included a few pics--I had to include this first pic--somehow my phone camera took a double exposure lol
