News
It’s more fun in the Philippines!
We have just returned from an amazing trip to the Philippines that took in three diving destinations and offered a wide variety of marine life and experiences. Out itinerary was intense, and we were determined to pack in as many dives as we could in our two week assignment. We will be writing a series of blogs and features about the trip over the coming weeks. To kick this off, here is brief overview of what we did.
Our itinerary:
We flew from Heathrow to Manila with Philippines Airlines (approx. 14 hours) and then on to Cebu (just over an hour). Philippines Airlines have a generous baggage allowance of 2x 23kg hold baggage per person plus 7kg hand luggage, so we had no issues with all our camera & dive kit!
A 3 hour transfer by car took us to our first resort – Magic Island Dive Resort in Moalboal. We had three days of diving (4 nights stay) and we packed in 9 dives, as well as snorkelling with Whalesharks! The diving offered plenty of variety with the beautiful reefs of Pescador Island, millions of schooling sardines in Moalboal, a truly amazing Mandarinfish mating dusk dive, diving and snorkelling with Whalesharks, as well as plenty of macro critters. We even tried a black water (drifting over deep water) night dive. It was quite a start to our travels!
For our next two transfers between resorts we travelled by land and sea, to enable us to dive as much as possible. Our second destination is Magic Oceans Resort in Anda, Bohol and we got there via road, ferry and road journeys that run very smoothly, arriving in time to unpack and get organised for another three days of diving. The diving here is macro-lovers heaven, with an epic night dive, and wall dives covered in coral, with nudibranchs everywhere, including the amazing Shaun the Sheep nudibranch which is tiny! We do another critter-packed 9 dives before it is time to move on once again.
Our final destination was Atmosphere Resort & Spa in Dauin near Dumagete. This involved another car, ferry, car journey to get there, taking in all the sights and sounds of this bustling nation as we passed. The diving here is famous for its muck diving, and frogfish are one of the key species that live here in abundance. We have never encountered so many in a single dive and the dive centre has a dedicated marine biologist on site who is obsessed with these enigmatic creatures. Apo Island, famous for its incredible reefs and abundant turtles is also just a short boat ride away. We also experienced some of the more relaxing opportunities this resort has to offer, such as a wine tasting, a massage and a trip on a more local style of transport…
Please watch out for our tales from the Philippines on Scubaverse.com in the coming weeks.
For more information please visit:
Philippines Department of Tourism
All images & text by Frogfish Photography
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Blogs
Northern Red Sea Reefs and Wrecks Trip Report, Part 3: The Mighty Thistlegorm
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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