cim72lando
Contributor
Here's a short report of my transition trip with the Borneo Explorer, one of the liveaboards of Expedition Fleet.
After diving with Club Ocellaris in Anilao for 6 nights/7 days we were looking forward to seeing the big stuff in Tubbataha. So we boarded the Borneo Explorer in Anilao on March 12, 2010 with the boat crew picking us up from resort. Transfer time was about half an hour by dive skiff. The first night was for orientation, setting up dive gear and cameras, relaxation. 16 divers showed up for boarding. Nationalities included 2 French, 4 Russians, 2 Polish, 2 Americans, 1 Scotsman with his Filipino wife, 4 Dutch or German. I would say the sexes were equally divided, the youngest I judged to be in her mid-20s.
All diving was by skiff which we boarded via a platform on each side of the liveaboard. Each skiff had 8 divers, a divemaster and a boatman.The first dive was always at 6:30 a.m. 22 day dives and 4 night dives were offered.
April 13- We did 4 day dives in Apo reef. The water temp was 82-83F, so was much warmer than the 78-79F in Anilao. The seas were calm and viz ranged from 40 to 75 feet. Marine life included giant clams, giant turtles, and some white tips, besides the usual school of small tropicals. Reef was beautiful enough and abundant in certain areas but not uniformly so. One time, on our way back on the skiff we did see a pod of dolphins which stayed for about 5-7 minutes. The visit to the ranger station and the lagoon is worthwhile.
April 14- We did 2 dives in one of the Cuyo Islands. Because the viz was from 25-35 feet, these were macrophotography dives. There were nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs, eels, etc. but my own highlights were a blue banded 3 inch shrimp which I have never seen before; and a group of 5 identical nudibranchs in an area of about 5"x8", 2 of which were mating (what a grouping). The area was spotted with dead corals and there were 2 decent sized commercial fishing boats on the surface as this was not a sanctuary. The water temp was a bit cooler but not as cold as Anilao. Current was mild.
April 15 to 18- Tubbataha diving. The seas were rough because of strong winds but not rough enough to cancel any of the day or night dives. Because of the winds, our diving was limited to the southern areas of the North Atoll and the northern areas of the South Atoll. We also saw the Stella Maris Explorer and 2 other liveaboards linger around this areas for a couple of days or so because of the weather. There were always currents but some of them were mild and we went with the currents. The currents can change direction at any time but never going down to the abyss and a couple of times the divemaster was slow to react to change course. My feeling about the curents was that they really never posed a real danger but the waves could be because it could be a challenge climbing back to the skiff. Some divers would skip a dive or two because of the waves and a couple of times I decided to leave my housed slr camera in the skiff because I wondered how I could ever get it back safely to the skiff.
My highlights were giant turtles, marble sting rays, napoleon wrass, white tips, reef sharks, tuna, schooling trevally, schooling barracuda, and a group of 3 spotted eagle rays with the largest having a wing spread of perhaps 15 feet. The corals/reef are the most beautiful (in abundance, color, size, variety, etc.) I have seen in more than 10 trips to the Philippines. The barrel sponges are frequntly big enough to accomdate a 300 lb individual. The most outstanding dive in this trip was near the Densal Wreck wherein we saw a dozen white tip sharks, half dozen reef sharks, schooling jacks, schooling barracuda, 3 marble rays, and schools of smaller tropical fish. all congregating in a depression along the wall the size of perhaps 2 basketball courts. I had a feelig that a feeding frenzy was about to begin but it never materialized.
I was satisfied with the boat and crew. The Borneo Explorer is smaller than most liveaboards but it looked dependable enough. It was clean, the cabins were comfortable with the airconditioning but I never experienced hot showers and the boat would roll quite a bit with the waves. Having the upper bunk bed did not help either. The food was delicious, varied, and plentiful and always consisted of soup, salad, 3 main entries, 2 desserts, and fruits (the sweetest mangos I ever tasted were served everyday). The food catered to the western taste. Iced tea and purified cold water were free and sodas and beer were decently priced. This was a much better boat than another Explorer Fleet boat we used for our trip in late March 2005 (but the seas were much better then).
The crew was very helpful and knew how to give help, even to the point of wringing and hanging your wet suit for you. Dry towels were always available after each dive for you and your camera. AND there was a room designated as Camera Room.
