DonnaC
Contributor
My 2014 trip to Anilao was so amazing that I had to go back. And Bluewater Photo Travel does such a great job that there was no need to change a thing the second time around.
One of the things that I found difficult in 2014 was the layover in Taipei. Fortunately, this time around there was a direct flight from Vancouver, BC to Manila. Leaving Vancouver at 2:30pm and arriving Manila at 8:30pm. Fourteen hours in the air. Easy. Arrived in Manila – not at rush hour – currency exchange and a 20 minute taxi ride to Makati. I felt comfortable going back to the Best Western Oxford Suites in Makati. It felt safe.
I got up the next morning and after a hotel breakfast, walked to the Greenbelt Ayala Center Mall. After spending the day at the Mall, I taxied back to the hotel and then explored the neighborhood. There was a street fair close by with live music and food stalls – I found the safest looking food (roasted pork) for dinner.
The next morning, I took a taxi to Chinatown (Binondo) for the “BIG Binondo Food Wok!” Tour with Ivan Man Dy of “Old Manila Walks”. This was a fun tour and the food was great! A warning though….the traffic was crazy! Getting in and out of this area is nuts. Once I arrived (nice and early) I sat in the Starbucks (free WIFI) and people and vehicle watched. It then took an hour to get a ride back afterward. One of the hotels set me up with a ride with a service similar to UBER called “GRAB”. This worked really well and was much less expensive than my ride to Binondo.
Back at the hotel, I waited for my shuttle to “Crystal Blue”. They were also stuck in traffic trying to get from the airport after picking up Vijay Ramen, one of our photo pro workshop leaders. After the three hour drive to Anilao, we arrived at Crystal Blue Resort. Checked in, unpacked, cameras set up and we were ready to dive!
On this trip, I chose to arrive a day early to relax before the crowd arrived, so the first couple dives were relaxing - with Edgar as our dive guide. After the crowd arrived, we were put into groups based on experience and type of camera gear. And just like last year, I can’t emphasize enough – if you haven’t been muck diving before – watch YouTube videos for technique and get a pointer stick for balancing in muck without stirring it up. And think about ALWAYS keeping your fins up and not resting on the muck or reef. Out of 5-6 boats carrying 4 – 5 divers each, the only problems came from disagreements over buoyancy issues and critter hogging.
With Edgar as our dive guide, we had a very experienced critter finder. And he enjoyed finding the itty-bitty sea creatures for us to use our Macro lens’ on. On my next trip, I will have a prescription dive mask. There were a number of times that Edgar was pointing at something tiny and I was taking photos…just hoping that whatever it is – is in focus. As a “mature” diver, I can see most things just fine – but critters like skeleton shrimp were a little “blurry”! One of my favorite memories is being next to Edgar watching skeleton shrimp. They have really funny movements and while I was taking photos, Edgar was just watching and laughing at them…
As before, the food was wonderful at Crystal Blue. And it’s such an easy process to dive and have food ready and waiting when you return. We had a boat full of slow breathers (long dives!) so were frequently late back for meals. And as before, the dining/hanging out area was the only area where WIFI was available – and unfortunately difficult to get on with a group all trying to access at the same time! This trip, there was organized instruction and image review. Every morning after breakfast, we shared images that we provided to Katie Yonker – one of our photo pro dive leaders. And then had instruction most days on different subjects after lunch – about 1pm.
I had gear issues this trip. Mostly having to do with my “upgrade” to a Subal housed Nikon D300 (old set-up was Subal housed Nikon D100). I found out that the 105mm lens is an extremely tight fit in the #3 size port. It was very frustrating to fight the port every time that I needed to get into the camera. This led to a rinse tank flood and some lost dives while my gear sat in the bag of rice. Fortunately, everything was ok after about 24 hours….My lesson is to put new gear together before leaving home in the future!
The return drive to the airport was fine – I planned my flight this time to NOT be at rush hour so the airport “forever looping and merging” traffic wasn’t quite as bad. Then the direct flight to Vancouver was so easy! All in all another great trip to Anilao…and I’ll be back soon
Some photos:
2015 Best of Anilao - DonnainBlaine
One of the things that I found difficult in 2014 was the layover in Taipei. Fortunately, this time around there was a direct flight from Vancouver, BC to Manila. Leaving Vancouver at 2:30pm and arriving Manila at 8:30pm. Fourteen hours in the air. Easy. Arrived in Manila – not at rush hour – currency exchange and a 20 minute taxi ride to Makati. I felt comfortable going back to the Best Western Oxford Suites in Makati. It felt safe.
I got up the next morning and after a hotel breakfast, walked to the Greenbelt Ayala Center Mall. After spending the day at the Mall, I taxied back to the hotel and then explored the neighborhood. There was a street fair close by with live music and food stalls – I found the safest looking food (roasted pork) for dinner.
The next morning, I took a taxi to Chinatown (Binondo) for the “BIG Binondo Food Wok!” Tour with Ivan Man Dy of “Old Manila Walks”. This was a fun tour and the food was great! A warning though….the traffic was crazy! Getting in and out of this area is nuts. Once I arrived (nice and early) I sat in the Starbucks (free WIFI) and people and vehicle watched. It then took an hour to get a ride back afterward. One of the hotels set me up with a ride with a service similar to UBER called “GRAB”. This worked really well and was much less expensive than my ride to Binondo.
Back at the hotel, I waited for my shuttle to “Crystal Blue”. They were also stuck in traffic trying to get from the airport after picking up Vijay Ramen, one of our photo pro workshop leaders. After the three hour drive to Anilao, we arrived at Crystal Blue Resort. Checked in, unpacked, cameras set up and we were ready to dive!
On this trip, I chose to arrive a day early to relax before the crowd arrived, so the first couple dives were relaxing - with Edgar as our dive guide. After the crowd arrived, we were put into groups based on experience and type of camera gear. And just like last year, I can’t emphasize enough – if you haven’t been muck diving before – watch YouTube videos for technique and get a pointer stick for balancing in muck without stirring it up. And think about ALWAYS keeping your fins up and not resting on the muck or reef. Out of 5-6 boats carrying 4 – 5 divers each, the only problems came from disagreements over buoyancy issues and critter hogging.
With Edgar as our dive guide, we had a very experienced critter finder. And he enjoyed finding the itty-bitty sea creatures for us to use our Macro lens’ on. On my next trip, I will have a prescription dive mask. There were a number of times that Edgar was pointing at something tiny and I was taking photos…just hoping that whatever it is – is in focus. As a “mature” diver, I can see most things just fine – but critters like skeleton shrimp were a little “blurry”! One of my favorite memories is being next to Edgar watching skeleton shrimp. They have really funny movements and while I was taking photos, Edgar was just watching and laughing at them…
As before, the food was wonderful at Crystal Blue. And it’s such an easy process to dive and have food ready and waiting when you return. We had a boat full of slow breathers (long dives!) so were frequently late back for meals. And as before, the dining/hanging out area was the only area where WIFI was available – and unfortunately difficult to get on with a group all trying to access at the same time! This trip, there was organized instruction and image review. Every morning after breakfast, we shared images that we provided to Katie Yonker – one of our photo pro dive leaders. And then had instruction most days on different subjects after lunch – about 1pm.
I had gear issues this trip. Mostly having to do with my “upgrade” to a Subal housed Nikon D300 (old set-up was Subal housed Nikon D100). I found out that the 105mm lens is an extremely tight fit in the #3 size port. It was very frustrating to fight the port every time that I needed to get into the camera. This led to a rinse tank flood and some lost dives while my gear sat in the bag of rice. Fortunately, everything was ok after about 24 hours….My lesson is to put new gear together before leaving home in the future!
The return drive to the airport was fine – I planned my flight this time to NOT be at rush hour so the airport “forever looping and merging” traffic wasn’t quite as bad. Then the direct flight to Vancouver was so easy! All in all another great trip to Anilao…and I’ll be back soon
Some photos:
2015 Best of Anilao - DonnainBlaine
