Over the years of travelling and diving we had
heard a lot about the Philippines. Stories of ship wrecks, frog
fish, seahorses, Mandarin Fish and recently technical diving (this
being Terry’s newest avenue to explore). But the country had
always eluded us. We were meant to go to the Philippines a few
years ago but there seemed to be a lot of bad press, so we decided
against it. We had also heard that work would be hard to find as
the country was so vast it might take all our time trying to track
a job down. So, when we saw that Coral Cay Conservation was
looking for staff, all be it voluntary, to teach diving at their
base in Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte, we decided to give them a call.
The telephone call turned into an arrangement for an interview in
London the next day. At the time, we had only been back from
Thailand a few days previous, broke as usual, and here we were
making plans to leave again! After a long drive to London we met
James at CCC’s headquarters and an hour or so later it was decided
that we would be ideal for the Philippines project starting in
mid-September. This gave us 3 months to save up some cash before
heading off.
Nothing was simple with CCC right from the
outset as the whole procedure of staffing for them is bogged down
with paper work (strange for an organisation that is trying to
save rainforests as well as reefs). There were many forms to
filled in, medicals, visa’s, travel insurance, liability
insurance, travel arrangements and contracts to be signed. We
started to get cold feet at all the bureaucracy and the general
lack of help from head office, but as we had already bought our
tickets we forged on in the hope that the actual on site operation
would be more cooperative and capable than what we were
experiencing in England. Also, they wanted one of us out there
earlier so that the departing Instructor would hand over. So, as
Tracy had a contract to finish with IBM and Terry was getting
itchy feet again, it was decided that Terry would go on ahead by 3
weeks with a stop over in Brunei to see Matt and Kirsty, and
appraise the situation. Top
It all sounded pretty simple – what could go
wrong for Terry in two and a half weeks on his own in the
Philippines….!!
Well, as it happened, quite a lot! Firstly on
his visit to Brunei, his long awaited interview with TEMD was
scheduled, but it was for a week after he was due to leave causing
problems with arrival at CCC. After a couple of phone calls,
everything was sorted out as CCC were not as desperate for his
arrival as they had made out, which meant we could have travelled
together with no need for Terry to have rushed on ahead. So, the
day after his interview in Brunei, he headed off to Manila only to
find that flight was delayed from Brunei meaning he would miss his
connecting flight to Tacloban and have to spend a night in Manila.
He had a night in an expensive hotel whilst using the time to
acquire a SIM card for his mobile phone and making various phone
calls and emails and arranging a re-scheduled flight to Tacloban
the next morning.
Finally, he arrived at Happy Dove, CCC’s base
in Leyte, a week and a half late, not in the best of moods having
just finished a four hour jeepney drive. His expectations for his
accommodation in Leyte were never high, but on arrival and shown
to his room by Stefan, the expedition leader, his expectations
were exceeded – unfortunately in a negative way! Not to put too
fine a point on it, it was a hovel, especially the bathroom which
looked like it had not been cleaned since the place was built –
and it stank! None of this helped to improve his demeanour, but
putting a brave face on he joined everyone for dinner at 6pm
sharp! Dinner was a quiet affair, no talking or joking. Then came
the next surprise – the “talky bit”, where introductions were
made, and a review of the day’s proceedings recounted by each
staff member, followed by “fish of the day”, “three things about
you” (complete with obligatory song), “Muppet of the day”,
(another song and ritual humiliation of a chosen person), and the
“shrimp fish dance”. Needless to say, Terry was flabbergasted by
the banality of it all. It seemed like what one would expect out
of a parody of some 1950’s jolly hockey sticks public school
scenario – unfortunately, it was all too real.
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The next day was part of International Clean Up
day and they all headed into the busy metropolis of Malitbog. None
of the locals seemed overly interested in the cleanup but were
fascinated by these odd white people who hide themselves away in
Happy Dove. Terry had a dive. A pier clean up dive and was
astounded by the amount of marine life in such shallow water which
almost made up for the 5am start. The whole day was a farce really
but it probably was reported back to CCC as a “great achievement”.
Terry’s next few days pass with varying degrees of bewilderment.
What with taking on a science project, doing a dive inventory of
very bad scuba equipment (nearly every tank was either out of
hydro or leaking), trying to get to grips with CCC’s bizarre
diving protocols and making new friends. Needless to say that by
the time Tracy arrived, he was at his wits end having made only 2
new friends (which is good for him), and two enemies, one of which
was the expedition leader, Stefan. After Tracy’s arrival and her
state of shock it was only another three days until Terry was
asked, in a very unfriendly manner, to leave, get off site
immediately. We did with great relish and relief. As it turned
out, Stefan and Fraser’s conniving was one of the best things that
has ever happened to us, but of course we were not aware of that
at the time…
We were packed and off site by 10am and moved
down the coast a bit to a little dive resort called Pete’s Place,
where we rented a luxurious bungalow on the beach, ate good food,
drank beer, slept in until we wanted to get up and caught up on
things we had done over the past few weeks away from each other.
We got so lazy we didn’t even dive – but they say it is very good.
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Eventually, after three days we decided it was
time to make a plan. Move on and try to find gainful employment
again. We headed up the other coast of Leyte and caught a ferry to
Cebu City, which looked dark and foreboding. A few phone calls to
an ex-workmate of Terry’s who lives somewhere on Cebu island and
we were recommended to stay at his favourite hang out in town
called Kiwi Lodge. As it turned out, Kiwi Lodge is a very
friendly, clean place and does decent food and has a nice bar, so
we were still on one of our unofficial holidays. The bar was where
our luck changed for the better. Having no idea which direction to
head next, Bohol? Moal Boal? Puerto Galera? Most of which we had
no idea where they were, Tracy happened to be sitting next to a
guy with a dive t-shirt with the island of Malapascua festooned
upon it. We’d never heard of the place so Tracy spoke to him
making polite enquiries. His name was Lars and he rated
Malapascua as one of his favourite destinations in the world as
there were Thresher sharks and Mandarin Fish there, amongst other
rarities. He asked if we were divers and Tracy informed him that
we were unemployed instructors looking for work, to which he
replied that Exotic Dive Resort were probably looking for an
instructor and we should give the boss, Dik and his wife Cora a
ring. Which is exactly what Terry did straight away and as luck
would have it, they would be in Cebu City in the next couple of
days and we should meet up for a chat. Two days later we were
sitting in Bo’s Coffee in the Ayala Centre in Cebu, with Dik and
Cora, chatting about the possibility of employment. We liked them
and they seemed to like us and as we had had enough of the choking
pollution of the city we decided to head on up to Malapascua
anyway and wait until they returned. So we took a cab to the
Northern Bus Terminal and from there a 4 hour drive to Maya where
we caught a “banka” to the island followed by a 10 minute walk to
the resort. We were met by Lando, the manager who showed us to our
room, a nice cosy little bungalow. So there we were. The resort
itself was beautiful. Nice restaurant and bar, coffee bar,
friendly staff, good looking dive shop and nice rooms ranging from
economy, like ours, to luxury with air con, hot water and cable
TV. The resort was still small enough to be nice and friendly,
plus it had a lovely white beach. We definitely wanted to work
here.
A few days passed until Dik and Cora returned.
We had only done a handful of dives in those few days and we were
not sure if we would remain as paying customers or become
employees. As luck would have it, after another lengthy week,
mulling over terms and conditions, we became employees – very
happy employees as it was the best place we have worked for so
far.
Unfortunately, Terry got offered the job in
Brunei and had to take it. So, we only ended up staying in
Malapascua for five months. But what an excellent 5 months it was.
So good in fact, that we even got married right there on the beach
in front of Exotic.
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EXOTIC HOUSE REEF
The Exotic House Reef is a man made project
constructed by Dik de Boer, owner of Exotic Dive Resort, together
with various members of his staff. It ranges from 6m in depth to
12m and is a 5 minute boat ride out from the resort. It is
abundant with life. The area is mainly a sandy bottom with
sporadic clumps of coral encrusted rocks. What attracts the marine
life is the various man made structures that have been sunk. These
include two Jeepneys, a concrete Thresher shark, concrete giant
clam, tyres bound together, and various wooden and metal framework
constructions. Add to this that Dik and the crew police the area
strictly to keep fishing away from the area demarked by bamboo
poles. The result is startling. The fish actually seem to feel
safe here. Schools of Sweetlips can be seen in and around the
Jeepneys, as can a large number of batfish. There are Dwarf
Lionfish and Scorpion fish, stone fish, frogfish, ghost pipefish
and even Cobia. Cuttlefish come here to mate and lay eggs then
stay around to watch over their brood. Schools of Jacks come in to
hunt as do the odd solitary giant barracuda. Other more rare
creatures found here include the Blue Ringed Octopus, and
Flamboyant Cuttlefish. The site is perfect for Open Water training
due to its shallowness. The only trouble is that students get
distracted by all the fish!
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MONAD SHOAL
This submerged plateau, about the size of
Malapascua, virtually due east of the Exotic Dive Resort, ranges
from about 18m to 24m in depth with vertical walls descending down
to about 300m. It is nice that it is due east, as one gets to see
the sun rise during the 30-40 minute boat ride out, as the boat
leaves around 5.30am to get to the site for 6ish. This being the
best time to spot Thresher Sharks which are Monad Shoals main
attraction, that is, apart from the Hammerheads, Mantas and Devil
Rays at the right time of year. Once the boat is moored up, one
descends down to around 20m and moves slowly to the drop off,
staying a few meters back and start looking for the Threshers. You
will often spend at least 15-20 minutes just in one place looking
and hoping, keeping an eye on the Divemaster for the hand on the
head “shark” sign. Once spotted, you just lay still and enjoy the
spectacle of these graceful creatures with enormous tails roughly
the same size as the body. Make sure you look behind you too as
they often come right on to the plateau. We have had days on which
wherever you look there are sharks but also days with nothing!.
This is reportedly the only place in the world with regular,
almost predictable sightings of Thresher Sharks and no-one is
quite sure why. So just follow your guide, lay on the bottom and
enjoy yourself and if you are really lucky, you might get to see
the other pelagics mentioned as well.
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LIGHT HOUSE BAY
Situated at the northern end of the island,
this protect bay is home to a major attraction, “Mandarin Fish”.
This shallow dive of about 8m maximum is done as a sunset cum
night dive. The boat arrives in daylight and you kit up and
descend just before sunset and move around very slowly giving your
Divemaster time and room to spot these elusive creatures. On
finding one, letting yourself hover or rest gently on the seabed ,
giving your eyes time to adjust to the Mandarin fishes erratic
movements, you will start to spot more and more of them –
sometimes up to 20 or more. Then as the sun sets and keeping your
torches off, you will see the mating ritual start. The male
(easily spotted as he is twice the size of the female) will select
a mate and both rise above the corals side by side and release
eggs and sperm simultaneously before dropping back into the corals
where the male gets another mate, and so on until the poor male is
exhausted! Then, they just seem to disappear into the corals as if
they were never there. By this time, it will be pretty gloomy so
on go the torches and the hunt for sea horses, nudibranchs, flat
worms and bob tail squid commences. Good buoyancy is required for
this dive as very little area is covered and there is heaps of
small stuff to be found by the patient diver. A camera is a must.Top
GATO ISLAND
Situated about 40 minutes to an hour off
Malapascua, this rocky outcrop of an island is home to some rather
good diving. The island can be circumnavigated easily in about
four to six dives but its generally the north side of the island
that is dived the most with each of the Divemasters having their
preferred spot, and depending on which way the current is running,
but usually the dives happen around “big cave”, “little cave” or
“the tunnel”.
From Big Cave you can drop down to 12-14m and
go in either direction. If you keep the island on your left side,
you should pass between a wall (part of the island and a submerged
pinnacle). This is a good area to spot yellow seahorses and a
multitude of nudibranchs. Continue on and you will come across
various pinnacles and tumbled down boulders under and around
which, white tip sharks are generally found sleeping, and if you
are lucky, sometimes swimming. Also here is a good place for
frogfish in a variety of colours which are very easy to swim over
and not notice as they are so well camouflaged. So keep your eye
on the Divemasters as they have an uncanny ability to find them.
Generally you will do an about turn after 20 minutes or so,
heading back to “big cave”, coming up into the shallows along the
islands walls and once again looking for nudibranchs. If your dive
was to go in the opposite direction keeping the island on your
right side, you head down over boulders to the sloping sand bottom
which is strewn with rocks covered with soft corals ranging in
colour from white, yellow, orange, red to purple. Another place
where seahorses and Nudibranch are found and also small bamboo
sharks under the overhanging rocks. Torches are recommended for
these dives as it is amazing what can be found under the many
nooks and crannies. After about 15 minutes one comes to some swim
throughs and large over hangs. This is the treat of the dive as
white tip sharks generally abound here resting in caves and over
hangs. They seem to be everywhere you look ranging in number from
a dozen to twenty often laying on top of each other. From here go
up into the shallows of “little cave” and search around for
Spanish Dancers, the elusive orange frogfish and seahorses.Top
If you started at “little cave”, you can do the
previously explained dive in reverse or keeping the island on your
right side, carry on around the island. This is often done as a
second dive as it is a bit shallower. Once again you will
encounter a myriad of colourful soft corals, anemone fish, nudis
and seahorses, and the ubiquitous white tips under over hangs and
caves. Coming up shallow near a pinnacle which breaks the surface,
you can pass through an overhang which will take you into the wide
opening for the tunnel which goes through the island. Torches are
a must here as is good buoyancy and slow diving. Staying close to
the bottom and creeping up to the caves entrance, shining the
torch ahead, you should be rewarded by a number of white tips
swimming around and around in the cave. Sometimes as many as six
can be seen. The dive often finishes here, but for the more
adventurous you can cautiously enter the tunnel keeping an eye out
for the sharks as they come from all directions. Its nice to be
inside the tunnel with them looking out into the blue water. Going
further into the tunnel it has an extra part which doubles back on
itself to a dead end. Once again sharks inhabit this cave so do
not agitate them too much as their only means of escape is past
you!!!. As stated before, the main tunnel passes through the
island so you can finish your dive in about 5 metres of water on
the other side of the island below the rangers station. Be sure
the captain knows if this is your intention as it could be a long
wait of surface swim if he is waiting on the other side of the
island for you! The tunnel can be dived from either end, starting
of or finishing at the rangers station depending on the current.
Torches are a must as you are not in the light zone for a minute
or two and you will be treated with a lot to see in the many
crevices and passages, including huge lobsters, Spanish dancers,
banded sea snakes, and loads more.
Gato Island is an excellent dive and should not
be missed if visiting Malapascua. Some of our divers returned
there day after day and still saw something new each time.Top
DONA MARILYN WRECK
The Dona Marilyn sank on 23 October 1988. She
was a 98m long Philippine inter-island ferry, sailing from Manila
to Tacloban. The ship was struck by typhoon Ruby which had not
been forecast, with 140 knot winds and 10m high waves. Her engines
failed and she flooded, heeled over and capsized. The top of the
wreck is at 16 metre and the bottom at 32 metres. It takes about
1½ to 2 hours to reach by boat.
She now lies in 32m of water on her starboard
side (lying in an east – west direction) on a sand bottom. Marble
Rays (Blotched Fantail Rays) and large White Tip Sharks can be
found sleeping in the sand under the ship’s bow. Flamboyant
Cuttlefish can also be found lurking around in the sand. The wreck
itself is covered in a very healthy growth of hard and soft
corals, and black coral trees. Fish life includes scorpion fish,
puffers, batfish, sweetlips and various nudibranchs including
Spanish dancers.
It is possible to safely penetrate the
passenger walkways on the port side of the wreck. This is a
perfect site for a NITROX 32% dive to greatly extend ones bottom
time.
Top
TAPILON WRECK
This unidentified wreck (one of Terry’s all
time favourites) is thought to be what remains of a WWII Japanese
Cargo Vessel (possible the Oakita Maru????) which was heavily
torpedoed (by the Americans whilst liberating the Philippines in
1944) and has broken into three major parts with much debris
scattered around it. It takes 30 to 40 minutes to get to by boat.
The ship now lies in 28m (20m on the top) of water scattered
across a sandy bottom. The major sections have good growths of
black coral bushes in various colours which are often home to
ornate Ghost Pipefish. It is also possible to make out the ships’
structure including the cargo hold, cabins with tiles on the
walls, davits, ladders, steel wires, walkways and much more.
Marine life includes schooling yellow tail barracuda, moray eels,
scorpion fish, sea snakes and numerous varieties of Nudibranch,
Pleurobranch and flatworms, not to mention a very unusual group of
schooling Remoras!? Wreck enthusiasts will love this wreck, though
not for the marine life. Digging around, all sorts of artefacts
can be found from bronze keys (Terry found 6 with old Chinese
script on them which apparently means “money”??), bullet casings,
bits of pots and plates, old belts and shoes. We even found a
steering wheel of some kind of Jeep – still attached to the
chassis but embedded in the sand. This wreck needs a lot more
exploring and is best done as a Technical dive to allow a nice
long bottom time with deco stops on the way up.
This is not a good dive for inexperienced
divers due to the strong surface currents and depth. The currents
generally weaken down on the wreck where shelter can easily be
found. Penetration is not advisable due to it’s age and restricted
passages.
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PIONEER
WRECK (Oakita Maru)
This
is the wreck of yet another unknown ship. Who actually started
calling it the Pioneer is unsure but one thing for sure is that
this wreck definitely is not that of the Pioneer which allegedly
was a passenger ferry that sunk in 1969 whilst being battered by a
typhoon. We found the real Pioneer in 100m of water in a
completely different place to this wreck. From what Terry found on
the wreck, it indicates that it had some Japanese connections and
that some of its equipment was dated around 1941, probably making
it some sort of Japanese WWII vessel. It could have been purpose
built as a military vessel or commandeered during the war and then
fitted out with an anti aircraft gun and some form of sonar
equipment and then put into military service – we just don’t know.
If this last theory is true, then it could easily be the wreck of
a Japanese ship called the AP (Auxiliary Personnel) Oakita Maru,
which American aircraft from the fast carrier fleet Task Force 31
reportedly sunk in September 1944 at a location about one nautical
mile from this wreck.
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The wreck itself now sits upright on a sandy bottom in 52m of
water and is pretty much intact This, in part, is probably due to
its depth making it difficult for local hookah divers to reach it
with their hacksaws and 45 gallon drums used for lifting, to strip
it for scrap metal, as they have done to the other local wreck
near Tapilon, and virtually every wreck in the Philippines in the
30m and above range. It’s a crying shame and in the long term a
loss of income as these wrecks are now uninteresting and not worth
diving. Anyway, this wreck is probably about 50m long with a beam
of roughly 8m. The front half is intact even though the
anti-aircraft gun has collapsed into the deck below its original
position. Anchors are in place and access into the forward hold is
easy but there is nothing inside. The mid-ship superstructures has
completely collapsed either due to bomb damage when sunk or the
toll of time is taking its course. This mid-ships area is where we
found most of the interesting artefacts which we salvaged only for
the purpose of identifying the wreck and all of which is displayed
in the resorts restaurant. Proceeding astern this is where
catastrophic damage has taken place looking like a direct hit by
an explosive device, tearing the stern apart and resulting in the
ships sinking. The ships main engine room is open wide, although
littered in debris, making any penetration impossible. However, an
auxiliary machinery space is accessible and once inside, it can be
seen that further bulkheads are rotting out. So who knows, one day
the next compartment could be accessed. Terry did try but stuff
started falling on him, so he thought it prudent to give up as he
didn’t fancy being trapped inside a wreck at 50m!!! In this
auxiliary space, is where one diver found a gas mask identical to
those seen in every Truk Lagoon wreck photo, thus lending more
credibility to the Japanese wreck connection. The stern is felled
apart with the rudder and a large piece of steering mechanism
laying in the sand. The propeller is still in place, once again a
miracle on a wreck in the Philippines since “bronzy” as its called
locally is a very prized item. One of the blades is missing
though.
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This was Terry’s favourite dive in Malapascua for many reasons.
Mainly the interest in trying to identify it, though
unsuccessfully. But the feeling that on each dive that maybe this
time it would reveal its identity. Also, due to its depth it has
only been dived by a handful of divers and you have this place to
yourself on each dive. For some reason the visibility on the wreck
is always excellent in the 25-30m range, which is very unusual for
the waters around Malapascua. The fish life was also stunning. One
group of Belgian divers complained that they could not see the
wreck due to the many fish – another unusual thing in Malapascua
waters!! But, once again because of its depth it makes it not
worth dynamiting, as is the local fishermen’s want on nearly every
other site. Fish found on the wreck include giant frogfish,
millions of cardinals and glass fish, barramundi cod, huge
groupers who are very shy and move quickly when disturbed by a
divers light, and massive Scorpionfish, some 12” to 15” inches
long.
On
he downside, this wreck is prone to currents and due to its depth,
bottom time is never enough, ranging in the 20-25 minutes time
frame. The currents can be hidden from though, and a short bottom
time is better than no bottom time. It just means you have to come
back and dive it another time. It’s the only site Terry would
return to on Malapascua, particularly to find that ever elusive
clue to the ships true identity.
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