DesertEagle
Contributor
During the last two weeks I had the pleasure of visiting Coron and Puerto Galera. Coron was chosen for the topside scenery and it lived up to expectations. I didn't go diving there but I did get some over/under shots at Twin Lagoon.
The highlight of five days in Puerto Galera was taking two separate day trips to Verse Island. This was my second trip to the Philippines and again I did my diving with Asia Divers. They have a large and diverse staff with instructors from the Philippines, China, America, Britain and Australia. I like that they operate multiple boats so getting a trip to Verde was easy.
My first dive was at Monkey beach. The deeper end had a lot of critters with the shallowest parts having more reef fish. The second dive was at Kilima Steps which had more fish life and very nice soft corals.
Day two was a full day trip and picnic at Verde Island. The visibility was excellent, making perfect conditions for videography. I used my new LenzO housing for my iPhone 6s, along with a Light & Motion Sola 2500 LED light. The hiding has built in UR Pro filters for blue and green water diving. I find the red filter makes images too warm, but I'm looking forward to editing more later. I used my older Watershot housing for the afternoon dive. While I forgot to enable 4K video, the 1080p footage came out alright.
During the surface interval our group had a nice lunch and combed the beach for pottery shards from a galleon that sank in 1620. Pieces of porcelain still wash up. I bought a few from the locals too, and made friends with a kitten.
Day three started with a morning dive at Canyons, a spectacularly beautiful and deep dive. Bottom time was limited and I had of trouble getting my video lit properly. The currents were raging and we mostly used that to our advantage, getting into the sheltered "bowl." I'll post that later. The afternoon dive was at another local reef. It was good but not in the same league as Canons.
Day four was another trip to Verde in the Speedboat. Travel time as maybe 35 minutes from Sabang. The previous evening was stormy which brought down the visibility a bit, plus the currents were strong. I used the Watershot housing with its slightly cooler red filter. In retrospect I should have used the Lenzo because it has a corrected dome optic. The images are sharper with less distortion.
Overall Verde Island is an incredibly colorful and fishy place to dive.
Here is some video:
The highlight of five days in Puerto Galera was taking two separate day trips to Verse Island. This was my second trip to the Philippines and again I did my diving with Asia Divers. They have a large and diverse staff with instructors from the Philippines, China, America, Britain and Australia. I like that they operate multiple boats so getting a trip to Verde was easy.
My first dive was at Monkey beach. The deeper end had a lot of critters with the shallowest parts having more reef fish. The second dive was at Kilima Steps which had more fish life and very nice soft corals.
Day two was a full day trip and picnic at Verde Island. The visibility was excellent, making perfect conditions for videography. I used my new LenzO housing for my iPhone 6s, along with a Light & Motion Sola 2500 LED light. The hiding has built in UR Pro filters for blue and green water diving. I find the red filter makes images too warm, but I'm looking forward to editing more later. I used my older Watershot housing for the afternoon dive. While I forgot to enable 4K video, the 1080p footage came out alright.
During the surface interval our group had a nice lunch and combed the beach for pottery shards from a galleon that sank in 1620. Pieces of porcelain still wash up. I bought a few from the locals too, and made friends with a kitten.
Day three started with a morning dive at Canyons, a spectacularly beautiful and deep dive. Bottom time was limited and I had of trouble getting my video lit properly. The currents were raging and we mostly used that to our advantage, getting into the sheltered "bowl." I'll post that later. The afternoon dive was at another local reef. It was good but not in the same league as Canons.
Day four was another trip to Verde in the Speedboat. Travel time as maybe 35 minutes from Sabang. The previous evening was stormy which brought down the visibility a bit, plus the currents were strong. I used the Watershot housing with its slightly cooler red filter. In retrospect I should have used the Lenzo because it has a corrected dome optic. The images are sharper with less distortion.
Overall Verde Island is an incredibly colorful and fishy place to dive.
Here is some video:
