Interested in diving Sombrero Island I think?

[clgsamson]

yes all within Sogod bay. Here....

Voltaire's rock (between 5 and 6) and Max Climax (No. 5) are just infront of the resort; (see parked boat)

Napantaw Wall (no. 11) is directly across the bay (in San francisco town). That's Coral Cay office over there.

Whalesharks can be found feeding (Dec-Feb) at the bottom end of Panaon Island in San Ricardo.

Hugpa Map | Philippines Google Satellite Maps

 

[annasea]

yes all within Sogod bay. Here

Very good. Thank you! Hopefully they still have space... I had a look at the website and read a few things online... they seem to be a first class dive op!

 

[jigo]

Please clarify the first part of your post... are Napantaw, Voltaire's Rock and Max Climax dive sites within Sogod Bay? Or are there sites within Sogod Bay that compare to these 3 places? (Sorry if this doesn't come across clear...)

The reason I ask is I'm still putting together my PI itinerary, and am now considering spending a week in Sogod Bay by cutting down my stay in Siquijor and cutting out Davao altogether. Just waiting to receive an email reply from the dive op in Sogod Bay before I make my decision.

Thx!

yes all three are dive sites in sogod bay. napantaw is a marine sanctuary with good coral growth and macro on the wall and lots of fish in the blue. voltaire's rock and maxx climax are also sanctuaries just in front of the sogod bay scuba resort.

if you like macro, dont discount davao yet. lots of macro there. my friend does a lot of exploratory dives there and so far has found tiger shrimps, froggies, pygmy seahorses, lots of nudis, boxer crabs and a whole lot of other critters in some often ignored muck sites.

 

[annasea]

yes all three are dive sites in sogod bay. napantaw is a marine sanctuary with good coral growth and macro on the wall and lots of fish in the blue. voltaire's rock and maxx climax are also sanctuaries just in front of the sogod bay scuba resort.

if you like macro, dont discount davao yet. lots of macro there. my friend does a lot of exploratory dives there and so far has found tiger shrimps, froggies, pygmy seahorses, lots of nudis, boxer crabs and a whole lot of other critters in some often ignored muck sites.

Thanks for the additional details, jigo! Unfortunately, 5 weeks goes by fast and I don't have enough time for every place I'd like to get to so something's gotta go. I'm still going to GenSan though.

 

[shugar]

Thanks for the additional details, jigo! Unfortunately, 5 weeks goes by fast and I don't have enough time for every place I'd like to get to so something's gotta go. I'm still going to GenSan though.

ninja: i've just been told (via text message just now) that i'm NOT going to gensan... bugger bugger bugger! was looking forward to it all year! ARGH!

Jag

 

[World Wide Diver]

Guys - I certainly don't doubt anyone's word, and did not mean for my comment to be taken out of context. I just think that this is very interesting and important topic (for us and others) where there are many different viewpoints.

The debate about 'what is pristine coral' has been going on for years. Indeed my wife and I often even disagree between ourselves about this. Out of interest, we were both diving with Dr Tom Goreau (President of the Global Coral Reef Alliance) earlier this year in Tubalan, Davao del Sur.

His opinion is that there is less than 5% pristine coral left in the PI's and Indonesia. Personally, we think that this is a bit harsh, but again this depends on your definition of 'pristine coral'.

We really think that it would be good to record the areas that we all know have pristine coral and post some images of the coral. Without a doubt, divers on the PPD forum know more about these areas than most marine biologists and so-called experts (no offence meant to marine biologists and so-called experts!!!).

For our part, we have dived many areas in the PI's, Micronesia, Thailand and Indonesia and have always sought out areas where there is said to be healthy, pristine coral and reef life. Some places have been good and others have brought tears to our eyes (literally!). We have approx 1000 dives in the Philippines - about 75% in Southern Mindanao (from Cap San Agustin to Palimbang).

For information, Dr Goreau considers Balicasag to have some of the best coral in the PI's. We thought that the coral was good there - healthy, unspoilt and undamaged and very pretty. However, we have seen many places as good/if not better and certainly very different.

We are happy to start the ball rolling by posting information and photos of new/unknown areas we have dived with pristine coral (healthy, unspoilt, undamaged and high% coral coverage). We just wonder if this ought to be a new thread?

What are your views?

WWD

 

[bill22]

Good information... thanks for sharing (and clarifying) for everyone. I've read some of your other posts so I didn't think that you meant it to come across in a bad way. Like I mentioned before, the written word can be tricky sometimes

This thread is really about helping someone decide where to dive in the Philippines.

Seems to me if we're going to have a discussion about it, that it should be a new thread....

I have a feeling though that if we are going to talk about what "pristine coral", is (or isn't), we're going to have a lot of disagreement .

It might be quite interesting to read your wife's viewpoint whenever it differs from yours though .....

Just to clarify for the sake of people who are reading this thread because they may be interested in diving in the Philippines... If I can venture a guess if someone like you who has dived in so many places has chosen to live here in the Philippines; and has made close to a 1000 dives here... I would guess that you think the diving here is "pretty good" ?

 

[World Wide Diver]

If I can venture a guess if someone like you who has dived in so many places has chosen to live here in the Philippines; and has made close to a 1000 dives here... I would guess that you think the diving here is "pretty good" ?

We spent a lot of time and money in an attempt to find the best reefs and marine life in SE Asia. Though impossible to cover all but a fraction of the reefs along the coastline of any place, we have dived several reefs reefs here which are superb.

In our opinion, there are many places in the PIs which cannot be bettered anywhere for coral and reef life. Some of these places have unique and extraordinary coral. Marine life continues to flourish on many reefs in a natural state contrary to what many people read. I'm talking about 5*+++ sites.

The best areas that we know are around Southern Mindanao where we have done lots of exploration diving and have good contacts along the coastline. Unfortunately - very few people ever see these areas due to fears about safety (even though we have travelled/dived extensively here for 3 years without a single problem).

My wife and I often discuss when a small patch of coral is damaged on a reef which is otherwise superb, can this be called a pristine reef? Also, if this is the case, what % coral coverage/pristine coral qualifies a reef to be called pristine?

We think it will be good to start a new thread to discuss this matter and to showcase reefs and reef life here - particularly areas which are generally unknown.

I'll add one caveat; giving a specific location of a pristine and healthy reef which is not yet protected can signal the death warrant of the marine life. We know of places which have had their territorial fish and visiting pelagics wiped out by spear fishers (with tanks) and by unscrupulous fishermen using any method possible to take as much as possible without controls.

Better to give the general area of the reef and a trusted contact to avoid these people from taking too specific info from this forum.

WWD

 

[glenver]

Better to give the general area of the reef and a trusted contact to avoid these people from taking too specific info from this forum.

WWD

don't sorry WWD, we're pretty trustworthy when it comes to these things... well except that one episode where they all wanted to eat the whaleshark with soy sauce..

 

[shugar]

don't sorry WWD, we're pretty trustworthy when it comes to these things... well except that one episode where they all wanted to eat the whaleshark with soy sauce..

yeah... matthew said just wasabi...

what a nut job... ptth

everyone knows whaleshark = soy... like lamb and mint...

Jag