Trip Report Siquijor April 2009

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Izel

Contributor
Messages
127
Reaction score
1
Location
Philippines
# of dives
100 - 199
This is a bit late but I still have a huge hang-over from our trip in Siquijor. Hang-over in a positive way because I'm still Siquijor home-sick.

Despite the rough boat ride from Dumaguete to Larena (which probably left some of my family members scarred for life) and my bad luck on the 1st resort we went to, the charm of the island, the warm people we met and our awesome experience with the dives and with Siquijor Dive Safari, has more than made up for it.
1_575086845l.jpg

My family all took Discover Scuba (except for my mom). I was a nervous-wreck because if they will have a bad experience, it will be my fault. Afterall, it was all my idea. Thankfully, they all had a blast! They enjoyed it so much they took another session. Now, they understand now why I'm hooked.

Generally, the dive sites I went to were not teeming with fish like Anilao but it has its own unique merits. The sea was unbelievably quiet above and underwater (at least on San Juan side), the perfect viz makes the site good for macro, the sea grass may be the reason for some of the unique critters I saw on my dives.

Maite Point
I saw a snake eel on the prowl. It was around 3 feet long. Has orange head, white body with black stripes mimicking a sea snake. I saw several ornate ghost pipe fishes (the black ones), spotted garden eels, black pipe fish, anemone shrimps, porcelain crabs, boxer shrimps, squat shrimp, moray eel, yellow-stripped pipefish and nudis. I also saw congregating short-fin turkey fishes. They look like the dwarf version of the lion fish http://www.fishbase.com/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=4912&what=species. I saw 3 soft-ball sized cowrie in one area with their black caumouflage that covered their very pretty shells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C...pentis.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. On our safety stop, we saw two shy mandarin fishes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Synchiropus_splendidus_2_Luc_Viatour.jpg.

In the next few days, we dove the Coco Grove house reef, Sanctuary and Shower Point. I had an underwater cave adventure; saw big school of parrot fish (I didn't know they school) in the sanctuary; we saw a snake eel in a borrow http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?ID=8054&what=species. We also saw a flambouyant Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) which I learned afterwards, is one of the largest of all nudis. The one we saw was at least a foot long, swimming by whirling its skirt, hence the name Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines.

But the best was the night dive on my birthday! There was a moon, clear water (not murky like Anilao), shallow slope and white sand that made it easy to spot things. Shore entry and we were just a few kicks away when I spotted a Sole http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.php?StartRow=0&ID=22544&what=species&TotRec=5. It has two big eyes and a weird nose.

After that, it was just a barage of sea creatures left, right and center! There were several big, red, flat worms the size of a pancake. Which, later I found out, was another type of nudibranch called, Forskal's Pleubranchus. It has white markings on its back shaped like a fist Poppe Images - Marine Iconography in the Philippines. I saw boxer shrimps, spider crabs, hermit crabs, puffer and porcupine fish. The cardinal fishes replaced the damsels in the landscape. Even the once boring sea urchins were in action. They were grazing on the sea grass. We also saw a crocodile fish that has an awesome caumouflage http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/Pict...ession=&lme=&StartRow=-1&TotRec=7&SortBy=iucn. I saw the ordinary shrimps we put on the sinigang. They have bioluminescent red spots and the others, blue spots, on their backs. There was a fish net, by the way. Good thing I was paying attention.

But as if they were saving the best for last, on the way back, Bismark, the DM, pointed his light on two long fish resting on a rock. When our light got closer, the fish were remoras resting on the back of a big Green Sea Turtle! It was just 5 feet away. If it was air, we were sharing the same breathing space! Well, I was not breathing.... My first turtle and on a night dive to boot! It was twice the size of an office table but you can tell it was young because the carapace is still clean. It was resting on top of staghorn corals that it flattened like a nest. Solve!

It's ironic, but it was already visual overload. And on the way back, on a coral, I saw this glowing red ball the size of a coconut with fat red spikes. Its some kind of sea urchin from outer space. And on the same small coral, there was a sea cucumber, lion fish, trumphet fish and an angry crab (it was standing on it hind legs trying to look scary). Then at the shore, may humabol pang banded sea snake (Ano ba??? ok na!).

Siquijor Dive Safari
Tubod, San Juan, Siquijor
Tata Relacion (Owner, Dive Instructor)
+63 09088642570
 
Thanks! Nice report. I'll have to try and fit Siquijor into my next trip :)
 
Thanks! Nice report. I'll have to try and fit Siquijor into my next trip :)

Great! I'd be happy to give you trip details when you need it.

Other logistical details:
1. Trip Duma - Siquijor = take AM boats to avoid big swells in the afternoon (learned this the hard way! My family wanted to kill me.). Take bigger boats like OceanJet or roro
2. If afternoon, definitely take the bigger boats like Oceanjet or roro
3. There are 2 piers to pick from. If you'll stay in San Juan, better to land in Siquijor, Siquijor to avoid extra cost on land transpo there. If you're going going to Larena, then land in Larena.
4. If in San Juan, if you like ultimate comfort, room service and resort / hotel atmosphere, you can pick from any number of resorts in the area. The popular ones are Coco Grove and Coral Cay. I would prefer Coco Grove though.
5. I had to cut short our stay on one resort because of poor service and very obvious discremination on Pinoy guests. Good thing Siquijor Dive Safari helped us find better accomodations. See number 6.
6. We stayed in Residencia Diosa. Its a secure compound with 2 big houses for rent and small huts for back packers (P250.00/ day). The rent of the big house is only P850.00 / day (can fit 4 pax comfortably). It has two bedrooms, sala, kitchen with cooking utensils, toilet and bath. Fresh towels, linens and house cleaning are done daily. It has a beach front, garden, gazebo and bonfire area near the beach. No resto though. You can cook your food or have it arranged with the care taker or just eat on restos outside (not a lot).
7. I went with SDS. I liked them a lot. Family atmosphere and warm, happy, pinoy vibe. They went the extra mile to arrange our daily transpo, island tour and even took care of the beer on our birthay party. They have friendly dive packages, too.

I'm going back in August with my dive buddies to do a dive safari with SDS in Apo, Siquijor and Balicasag. I can't wait!
 
haha nice report, thanks for sharing. Overload ha....

:D The sites were simple in the day. I did not expect a disco on the night dive. hehehe
 
i like how personal you write your report... very emphatic and you communicate your emotions well...

sipag pa to put links and identify animals...

very nice!

Jag

Thanks! Glad you liked it. Ganyan talaga pag walang dive cam. I wonder why I don't see those critters in Anilao? Presence of predators, maybe. Or are they just endemic to Siquijor? Nobody knows. But my creature encounter was certainly enhanced 10 folds. :dork2:
 
belated happy birthday!

you're right. that sole's one weird looking fishie...

:D
 
i agree with jag on this one. very personal. had fun reading it.

dennis
Thank you, Dennis! I'm glad you had fun. It was indeed a memorable dive. :)

belated happy birthday!

you're right. that sole's one weird looking fishie...

:D
Iris, kinda comedic for a fish to be cross-eyed and it was staring straight at me :cool3:. It was hypnotizing (hehehehe). Thanks for the greetings! :D

Good times and good dives everybody! :acclaim:

Gi
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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