Ironborn
Contributor
Introduction
My first Indo-Pacific diving trip to Puerto Galera and Anilao in the Philippines greatly exceeded my previous Caribbean diving experiences in the quality of both the diving and the dive operations. I greatly enjoyed my first exposure to Indo-Pacific fauna and the greater biodiversity of the local environments on both sides of the Verde Passage, despite diving conditions that I might have found unappealing if I had encountered them in the Caribbean. I indulged and reinforced my growing interest in small marine life and took my first steps as a serious underwater photographer. This trip also exposed me to a diving culture with different norms from what I found in the Caribbean.
I enjoyed my first exposure to the dive resort business model and my experiences with two dive operators whose positive reputations are well-deserved. Puerto Galera was a good place for me to familiarize myself with the region's marine life and diving conditions and enjoy both its marine biodensity and its urban environment. That experience prepared me well for Anilao, where the diving impressed me more with its greater biodiversity, albeit at the cost of isolation in a remote area. My experience with Atlantis in Puerto Galera has motivated me to consider their Dumaguete resort and their liveaboard for future trips, and my continuing fascination with the creatures of Anilao will likely motivate me to return there when I have matured as an underwater photographer. This trip also motivated me to visit other parts of the Philippines and other Indo-Pacific destinations in the future.
Genesis, Planning, and Logistics
The Philippines came to my attention as a dive destination when I joined Facebook groups for underwater photography, particularly macro photography. A high proportion of the photos and creatures that caught my eye came from Anilao, particularly from night dives, in which I have a high level of interest. Other divers that I met in Cozumel and Bonaire also recommended that I try muck diving in places like Anilao and Lembeh, as they observed my tendency to look for small creatures. I further developed an interest in the Philippines in general and in the Atlantis resorts in Puerto Galera and Dumaguete by attending presentations on them at Beneath the Sea in March 2017. A local diver acquaintance further persuaded me to visit Puerto Galera for the diving and for other reasons. I also considered Dumaguete but decided against it for this trip because of the need for domestic flights and because of a local holiday on the neighboring island of Cebu, which I would have also visited.
Atlantis stood out in my pre-trip research as by far the most popular and the most respected dive operator in Puerto Galera. It struck me that there was a disproportionately high number of reviews and trip reports for it and a much larger amount of feedback on it, compared to nearly all the other local dive operators. Atlantis is not cheap, so I looked into its competitors. None of them had anywhere near the track record of Atlantis, so I decided to stick with the most well-known and well-documented option. The solid reputation of Atlantis is well-deserved, but the dearth of information on its competitors may be due to linguistic and cultural barriers. Once I was in Puerto Galera, it appeared that many of the other dive shops cater to Chinese and Korean divers, which may explain the dearth of English-language reviews, trip reports, and other feedback on them. What I saw of those Asian-oriented dive operations, both topside and underwater, was not encouraging. It appeared that Atlantis caters to American and other Anglophone divers; all of the other guests during my stay were Americans.
Buceo Anilao also stood out as the most obvious choice among its many local competitors due to both its well-deserved reputation in general and its fixed pricing (in contrast to most other resorts in Anilao, where prices for freelance dive guides and the other components of dive trips vary according to the number of divers). I also wanted to ensure that I had reputable guides and crew, in contrast to the pool of freelancers that circulates among the various resorts in Anilao. The very positive reviews, trip reports, and other feedback on Buceo Anilao were persuasive to the point that I felt no need to research its competitors any further. Most of this feedback is in English, even though the resort's clientele consisted mostly of continental Europeans; I was the only native Anglophone guest during my stay.
As a resident of New York City, the length, cost, and complexity of travel to Indo-Pacific dive destinations is a significant obstacle, compared to the short, simple, and affordable flights to many Caribbean destinations. This issue became less of an obstacle for me when I learned that Philippine Airlines flies direct from JFK to Manila, albeit with a brief stop in Vancouver to refuel and board more passengers that would not require me or my luggage to change planes. My distrust of airlines makes me warier of connecting flights as yet another point of failure in an industry that is quite prone to failure already, so the availability of a direct flight halfway around the world assuaged one of my key concerns. Also appealing was its affordability – approximately $200 less than the other options, all of which would have required me and my luggage to change planes and longer travel times.
The flights themselves were not bad, all things considered. I nonetheless experienced significant jet lag upon my return (but not in the Philippines) for far longer than I expected. My only gripe about the airline was that they weighed my carry-on for my outgoing flight (but not my return flight), claimed that it was overweight, and required me to transfer the excess weight to a checked bag. I have heard of puddle-jumpers and other small aircraft with strict carry-on weight limits, but it struck me as ridiculous that a plane that flies half way around the world with hundreds of people could not bear the weight of my travel alarm clock and a few other items. The airline allows two checked bags; I used one for dive gear and another for clothes. Filipino airport security does not allow regulators in carry-on baggage on outbound international flights or domestic flights, so your regulator will have to go into a checked bag for your return flight and for any domestic flights within the Philippines.
I had to decide which destination I wanted to visit first. Anilao might have been the more obvious choice, as it is on the same island (Luzon) as Manila, whereas Puerto Galera is on the neighboring island of Mindoro and requires a crossing of the Verde Passage. I nonetheless chose to do Puerto Galera first for two reasons. The diving on Anilao sounded more interesting to me (which turned out to be the case), and I knew that it was a hot spot for underwater macro photography. I thus wanted to give myself time to adjust to the new environment and my new camera in Puerto Galera before I went to Anilao. In retrospect, the above was a wise decision, as my initial introduction to the local fauna in Puerto Galera enhanced my ability to appreciate the greater complexity of Anilao; it would not have worked as well the other way around. Anilao's location on the same island as Manila also reduced the risk of lateness or other complications in my transfer to the airport for my flight home, as it does not require a crossing of the Verde Passage. For my transfer between the two resorts, Buceo Anilao recommended booking my private bangka transfer with Atlantis, as the bangkas in Puerto Galera were both larger and cheaper.
Crossing the Verde Passage is a non-trivial factor in one's travel plans, as I learned the hard way upon my initial arrival. My transfer from Manila to Puerto Galera turned out to be more of an ordeal than the 22-hour flight from New York. The Atlantis airport driver got me to Batangas early, but private bangkas were not operating that day due to a gale warning and pursuant to Coast Guard guidance. The ferries were not running either, except for the larger ferry to neighboring Calapan. Even in that larger vessel, the longer ride of more than two hours was extremely rough. This crossing was the first time that I ever felt unsafe at sea, as the waves were high and the ferry rocked quite a bit out of position. Filipino passengers were puking their guts out into garbage bags. Atlantis had a driver pick me up in Calapan for the one-hour drive to Puerto Galera through hilly terrain on winding roads.
(to be continued in the next post)
My first Indo-Pacific diving trip to Puerto Galera and Anilao in the Philippines greatly exceeded my previous Caribbean diving experiences in the quality of both the diving and the dive operations. I greatly enjoyed my first exposure to Indo-Pacific fauna and the greater biodiversity of the local environments on both sides of the Verde Passage, despite diving conditions that I might have found unappealing if I had encountered them in the Caribbean. I indulged and reinforced my growing interest in small marine life and took my first steps as a serious underwater photographer. This trip also exposed me to a diving culture with different norms from what I found in the Caribbean.
I enjoyed my first exposure to the dive resort business model and my experiences with two dive operators whose positive reputations are well-deserved. Puerto Galera was a good place for me to familiarize myself with the region's marine life and diving conditions and enjoy both its marine biodensity and its urban environment. That experience prepared me well for Anilao, where the diving impressed me more with its greater biodiversity, albeit at the cost of isolation in a remote area. My experience with Atlantis in Puerto Galera has motivated me to consider their Dumaguete resort and their liveaboard for future trips, and my continuing fascination with the creatures of Anilao will likely motivate me to return there when I have matured as an underwater photographer. This trip also motivated me to visit other parts of the Philippines and other Indo-Pacific destinations in the future.
Genesis, Planning, and Logistics
The Philippines came to my attention as a dive destination when I joined Facebook groups for underwater photography, particularly macro photography. A high proportion of the photos and creatures that caught my eye came from Anilao, particularly from night dives, in which I have a high level of interest. Other divers that I met in Cozumel and Bonaire also recommended that I try muck diving in places like Anilao and Lembeh, as they observed my tendency to look for small creatures. I further developed an interest in the Philippines in general and in the Atlantis resorts in Puerto Galera and Dumaguete by attending presentations on them at Beneath the Sea in March 2017. A local diver acquaintance further persuaded me to visit Puerto Galera for the diving and for other reasons. I also considered Dumaguete but decided against it for this trip because of the need for domestic flights and because of a local holiday on the neighboring island of Cebu, which I would have also visited.
Atlantis stood out in my pre-trip research as by far the most popular and the most respected dive operator in Puerto Galera. It struck me that there was a disproportionately high number of reviews and trip reports for it and a much larger amount of feedback on it, compared to nearly all the other local dive operators. Atlantis is not cheap, so I looked into its competitors. None of them had anywhere near the track record of Atlantis, so I decided to stick with the most well-known and well-documented option. The solid reputation of Atlantis is well-deserved, but the dearth of information on its competitors may be due to linguistic and cultural barriers. Once I was in Puerto Galera, it appeared that many of the other dive shops cater to Chinese and Korean divers, which may explain the dearth of English-language reviews, trip reports, and other feedback on them. What I saw of those Asian-oriented dive operations, both topside and underwater, was not encouraging. It appeared that Atlantis caters to American and other Anglophone divers; all of the other guests during my stay were Americans.
Buceo Anilao also stood out as the most obvious choice among its many local competitors due to both its well-deserved reputation in general and its fixed pricing (in contrast to most other resorts in Anilao, where prices for freelance dive guides and the other components of dive trips vary according to the number of divers). I also wanted to ensure that I had reputable guides and crew, in contrast to the pool of freelancers that circulates among the various resorts in Anilao. The very positive reviews, trip reports, and other feedback on Buceo Anilao were persuasive to the point that I felt no need to research its competitors any further. Most of this feedback is in English, even though the resort's clientele consisted mostly of continental Europeans; I was the only native Anglophone guest during my stay.
As a resident of New York City, the length, cost, and complexity of travel to Indo-Pacific dive destinations is a significant obstacle, compared to the short, simple, and affordable flights to many Caribbean destinations. This issue became less of an obstacle for me when I learned that Philippine Airlines flies direct from JFK to Manila, albeit with a brief stop in Vancouver to refuel and board more passengers that would not require me or my luggage to change planes. My distrust of airlines makes me warier of connecting flights as yet another point of failure in an industry that is quite prone to failure already, so the availability of a direct flight halfway around the world assuaged one of my key concerns. Also appealing was its affordability – approximately $200 less than the other options, all of which would have required me and my luggage to change planes and longer travel times.
The flights themselves were not bad, all things considered. I nonetheless experienced significant jet lag upon my return (but not in the Philippines) for far longer than I expected. My only gripe about the airline was that they weighed my carry-on for my outgoing flight (but not my return flight), claimed that it was overweight, and required me to transfer the excess weight to a checked bag. I have heard of puddle-jumpers and other small aircraft with strict carry-on weight limits, but it struck me as ridiculous that a plane that flies half way around the world with hundreds of people could not bear the weight of my travel alarm clock and a few other items. The airline allows two checked bags; I used one for dive gear and another for clothes. Filipino airport security does not allow regulators in carry-on baggage on outbound international flights or domestic flights, so your regulator will have to go into a checked bag for your return flight and for any domestic flights within the Philippines.
I had to decide which destination I wanted to visit first. Anilao might have been the more obvious choice, as it is on the same island (Luzon) as Manila, whereas Puerto Galera is on the neighboring island of Mindoro and requires a crossing of the Verde Passage. I nonetheless chose to do Puerto Galera first for two reasons. The diving on Anilao sounded more interesting to me (which turned out to be the case), and I knew that it was a hot spot for underwater macro photography. I thus wanted to give myself time to adjust to the new environment and my new camera in Puerto Galera before I went to Anilao. In retrospect, the above was a wise decision, as my initial introduction to the local fauna in Puerto Galera enhanced my ability to appreciate the greater complexity of Anilao; it would not have worked as well the other way around. Anilao's location on the same island as Manila also reduced the risk of lateness or other complications in my transfer to the airport for my flight home, as it does not require a crossing of the Verde Passage. For my transfer between the two resorts, Buceo Anilao recommended booking my private bangka transfer with Atlantis, as the bangkas in Puerto Galera were both larger and cheaper.
Crossing the Verde Passage is a non-trivial factor in one's travel plans, as I learned the hard way upon my initial arrival. My transfer from Manila to Puerto Galera turned out to be more of an ordeal than the 22-hour flight from New York. The Atlantis airport driver got me to Batangas early, but private bangkas were not operating that day due to a gale warning and pursuant to Coast Guard guidance. The ferries were not running either, except for the larger ferry to neighboring Calapan. Even in that larger vessel, the longer ride of more than two hours was extremely rough. This crossing was the first time that I ever felt unsafe at sea, as the waves were high and the ferry rocked quite a bit out of position. Filipino passengers were puking their guts out into garbage bags. Atlantis had a driver pick me up in Calapan for the one-hour drive to Puerto Galera through hilly terrain on winding roads.
(to be continued in the next post)