DivePhotoGuide &
the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance

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A joined venture between DivePhotoGuide and Alliance Partner Resorts in the Philippines, Matt Weis from DivePhotoGuide is arriving shortly to explore the marine biodiversity of Puerto Galera and Palawan.
Of course Matt is staying with Asia Divers and El Galleon in Puerto Galera and in Palawan we put him up at Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center.
We all looking forward to Matt's visit and his report once his Journey is completed, the articles will be published in the DivePhotoGuide later this year.
Thanks to all the Alliance partners who have contributed and make Matt's visit a enjoyable one.
Above some of our new banner Ads in DivePhotoGuide click on the banners and go direct to our Partners and DivePhotoGuide.com
GD

Tags: DIVEPHOTOGUIDE, Exploring The Philippines

Just click on the banners and go direct Asia Divers

Hi everybody, this is Allan I like to share a short story from my resent trip to Davao.

SAFARI TO THE EAST CAPE OFF DAVAO

It was May 19 when we boarded a plane for Davao city on our way to explore the Cape, east of Davao bay. Some weeks before the trip I was asked if I would join the trip as an advisor on the dive sites and fish life found in the area. Out of curiosity and the promise of big action, tiger sharks and strong currents I said, I’m on.

After arriving in Davao, checking ourselves in, we met up with Andrew Macdonald, Jane, Carlos, Peewee, Maeng and Frank the owner of Davao Scuba. After a very good brief of what we will be looking for (big action and tiger sharks) and how we intend to proceed, it followed with a tour of the dive centre and the boat we would spend the next few days on. It was to be roughing it as one would say, sleeping on a camp stretcher on the open deck of a Bunker and showering from a camp shower rigger from the roof, no mirror for the morning shave and little if any privacy with the exception from the bathroom toilet, Ha me hearty, those were the good old days!

We met the next morning at 4am and set off at around 5ish. The weather was perfect and as the sun rose we were well on our way heading east for the cape. Arriving at around 12:30 we were anxious to see the dive area and what the currents were doing. As expected, it was howling! We looked for a suitable place to jump in and take our first look at what the conditions would be like and if in fact the fish life was as prolific as we had been told.

After deciding on a course of action we developed a plan that incorporated the safety needed to be diving in strong currents and in a very remote area as it was. We entered in some howling current, descended to about 20 meters in waters that had at least 60m visibility and drifted along the back wall of this very long underwater extension of the cape. During the dive we seen a turtle and some very small reef fish, but no big fish! We were surprised to see little coral and an area that would have been half the size of a football oval completely dynamited without any life on it at all. Disappointment was setting in after our hopes of big fish and shark action. We ascended and gathered for a dive debrief and to recalculate our course of action for the following dives. The second dive was on the east side of the cape, this time much better reef life with some soft and hard corals, schooling fish at one point, and towards the end some big fish were spotted at around 40 plus meters, but little else except a screaming current.

After our first night of spaghetti Bolognese a couple of beers and a very early night, it was time to go over our plan for chumming the waters. Andrew and Jane had built this very elaborate system consisting of a bottomless plastic bucket and a metal waste paper bin lashed to the bottom of the plastic bucket with cable ties. With over P5,000 of fresh finely ground fish and large fish heads we set ourselves up to start the chumming process. We had thought that after four hours the chum we had placed would drift to a reef called Widows reef (70 plus meters deep and some 7k away) where it has been said some large tiger sharks would hunt the area. We had hoped the chum would draw these sharks to the cape, where we would be patiently waiting to see them. After an entire day of waiting and doing three dives we came to the conclusion, either we were not putting enough chum, not enough patience, or there was not tigers. In fact we had not even a small fish try and take our fish heads we had dangling over the side for hours! It was quiet an unhappy sight seeing this fish head dangling inches below the surface, and in my experience, had there been any sharks or pelagic, they would have been there for a feed.

Disappointed and exhausted, as we were after waiting for the sharks and wearing ourselves out fighting with currents during our three long dives, we decided we had had enough and retired back to the small bay to rethink our next move. We invited a local Barangay official to come and speak with us on the boat. She told us that the dynamiting and cyaniding had stopped some year and a half ago. However she also told us, as did the fishermen we talked to, confirmed the Taiwanese long liners had just finished fishing the area two week prior. With other information on the over fishing of the area and a brief explanation of what we thought would be appropriate action for her Barangay, (ruling the cape) we decided that any further dives would lead us to the same conclusion. The area needs at least three years of no fishing to bring back the fish and corals to an acceptable level where divers could be interested in diving the area. Shame as it may be, the cape has all the ingredients of an exhilarating dive area. If the sharks and fish had have been there, we would have with out any doubt said it could have been one of the Philippines premier dive destinations for big fish action, we certainly had the currents, that the fisherman can’t remove.

Setting our course back to Davao we decided to do a dive off Davao, one of the more popular dive sites called Lapot (spelling, sorry guys) a very advanced dive with again lots of current. The time of day we got there proved to be slack tide and we had almost no current, however what a fantastic dive it proved to be. Fantastic formations, sea fans and ferns with walls covered with soft corals. We did not see that much fish life, but I’m told, if there was current there would have been big fish! The fact is, the fish life we did see was everything from pigmy seahorses to fire gobies and lodes of other small reef fish, more than enough to satisfy the keen diver.

A very big thank you to Andrew and Jane for organising a wonderful exploration trip, even if it did not prove to be a great spot, it was in deed adventure and fun. Thanks to Peewee and Maeng for their company and great humour, I don’t think I have met with happier people. And not to mention the crew who took care of us and made sure everything worked and went well.

Allan Nash
PADI Course Director,
Asia Divers with El Galleon,
Puerto Galera, Philippines
Certificate IV workplace training

Tags: TRAVEL NEWS, DIVE SAFARI, DAVAO PHILIPPINES, PADI Course Director

Just click on the banners and go direct to their sites

Well, our last stop has us at one of the Alliance partners, Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center. Again we’d like to thank them both for a wonderful time. We stopped here for the rare opportunity to swim with, what else, Dugongs. While we did see one, it decided to play shy and swam away rather than being usually curious allowing guests of the resort to swim with them in their natural environment. The other major attraction here is Apo Reef, and we had one of the best days at Apo you can imagine. At first, we were concerned about the 3.5 hour banca ride in open ocean to the reef, but we had smooth as glass conditions the entire way out and back. And when I mean smooth as glass, there wasn’t so much as a ripple on the water. Dolphins jumped for us several times on our way out and upon reaching the reef, we were greeted by over 100 foot visibility and great conditions for snorkeling. Although we had a brisk current, it was just enough to allow us to see everything without the need for swimming. We just drifted over the hundreds of reef fish, including Pyramid butterflys and White-tail surgeon fish as they congregated in massive schools in the currents to feed. After a nice walk up in the lighthouse for a birds-eye view of the reef, we snorkeled the nearly current-less north reef and were treated to nice coral and plenty of reef fish. Turtles and sharks were spotted throughout the day. We returned, tired but excited at our day’s events.

Photo: © Lee Goldman - Strapweed Filefish

Overall, our first snorkeling and kayaking expedition to the Philippines was a huge success. Many might be wondering why I am so excited about snorkeling in the Philippines and perhaps even why this is being mentioned on a website that caters to divers. The obvious is that many divers are avid snorkelers, but more importantly, this trip is designed to expose divers to areas of the Philippines, especially El Nido, that they wouldn’t normally see. The whale shark portion, quite frankly, would appeal to any admirer of ocean critters as it is one of the best big animal encounters in the world. Thus, getting divers excited about this would not be hard. The main part of the trip is in El Nido, and since it is not known for it’s diving, it may be overlooked by many divers coming to the Philippines. I assure you though; it is one of the best the Philippines have to offer.

Photo: © Lee Goldman - yellowtail Coris (Coris gaimard),
juvenile phase belongs to the Wrasse family

Not only is it recognized as one of the most beautiful tropical destinations in the world (and this is Lonely Planet and Conde Nast Traveller saying this), but as a marine biologist who spent many years guiding in the Indo-Pacific, I can tell you that the snorkeling here is world class. One doesn’t need dive gear when everything is in less than 3 meters of water. There is incredible diversity and abundance of coral and plenty of rare fish in El Nido. In addition, there are juvenile fish that divers may only see as adults in the outer reef environment.
My point? If you are planning to visit the Philippines, it is more than worth your time to visit El Nido and camp, kayak, and snorkel among some of the most breathtaking scenery. Even the seasoned diver and naturalist will be amazed at the opportunities to see unique terrestrial and marine organisms.

Tags: Fish species, The DIVERS CHOICE, APO REEF, PALAWAN

© Gunther Deichmann - the wrecks of Truk Lagoon

Truk Lagoon is recognized as the world’s greatest wreck diving destination and for good reason. More than 60 World War II Japanese war ships and aircraft were sunk during Operation Hailstone in February of 1944 and now rest peacefully on the floor of Truk Lagoon. All of these sunken monuments are accessible to the scuba diver – most at a depth suitable for the novice or sport diver.

© Gunther Deichmann - the wrecks of Truk lagoon

The Truk Lagoon is roughly 40 miles in diameter and encircles 14 major, populated islands. Weno Island is the Capitol Island of Chuuk State and home to the Truk Lagoon Dive Center. Our Dive Map will show that the majority of these wrecks are highly concentrated in just 3 areas – all within a few miles of each other. Travel time from the Truk Stop Hotel’s private dock to most of these wrecks is less than 20 minutes.

The Truk Lagoon Dive Center offers a two tank am or morning dive then additional one or two tank dives in the afternoon. The most commonly visited or favorite wrecks chosen by divers are:

http://www.dive-truklagoon.com/main.php

Tags: WWII WRECKS,, Lagoon DiVING, TECH DIVING,, REBREATHER,, HELIUM,, Micronesia, Dive Center, Pacific

© Gunther Deichmann - Nature at its best...pristine Jungle in Palawan
http://www.alliancediving.com/main.html

The main focus of the trip is the incredible area of northern Palawan; El Nido and Bacuit Bay. This is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever been (and I worked in Palau, San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest, Belize&hellip so I have an idea what pretty is. We spent our time here snorkeling, kayaking, and camping.
While it is hard to say what activity is best in El Nido, for me snorkeling ranks up there at the top. There are over 400 species of coral in Bacuit Bay and in a recent survey lead by the world famous ichthyologist, Dr. Gerald Allen, they recorded over 800 species of fish, including several new species and records of fish. What make it so special are the gigantic islands in the bay that provide protection from potentially large ocean swells that may damage coral. Fields (and I mean fields) of staghorn coral, table corals that measure 3 meters in diameter, un-imaginable colors radiating from all types of hard and soft corals, beautiful and rare fish and all this in 1-2 meters of water! On our trip we spotted hundreds of juvenile fish with some of the guests favorites being the Humphead grouper, Zebra lionfish, Helmut Gurnard, and Javanese Damselfish. I am a coral guy, so to see such healthy and diverse coral gardens was the ultimate treat for me.
While most of the bay can be accessed boat, kayaking is the only way to see this place. Picture perfect shallow lagoons, intimate stands of mangroves, and paddling next to a 300m vertical cliff face that erupts from the water is a pretty amazing experience. We conduct our kayaking with complete boat support, so we transport the kayaks to our designated area. We had great weather; calm seas and cloudless skies. Our daily excursions were designed to go to places that not many other tour groups go and because we are camping out in the heart of the islands, we could easily time our visits between other operators.
We are also the only outfitter that provides luxury camping in Bacuit Bay. Our campsite provides large walk-in tents with mattresses, fans, lights; a dining tent with sit-down meal service; a chef (who did a fantastic job preparing 3 – 4 course breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for us); a generator to charge batteries (and make fresh fruit shakes or margaritas); a comfort room tent and shower tent and we also had a certified masseuse there to help with folks whose muscles were in need of attention after a day of snorkeling and kayaking. Arriving at camp in time for the sunset was a great way to end the day. Of course, waking up to a beautiful morning amongst the islands was a great way to start the day as well. For those wishing to get the most they can from El Nido, our expeditions should not be missed!
Lee Goldman

Tags: NATURE, WILDERNESS, Snorkeling, Tauchen und Meer, TRAVEL NEWS, Tauch REISEN, Inselhuepfen,, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES, Island hopping,

The FISH Mystery is solved...


© Photo Lee Goldman - Carpet Eel Blenny Dottyback!

Hi Gunther,
the mystery is solved! I have identified the fish I photographed at Donsol. A very reclusive, cryptic fish that is not seen very often. It looks like an ell, but it's not. It looks like a blenny, but it's not. What is it? Of course, it's the Carpet Eel Blenny Dottyback! Dottyback? Aren't they the small cryptic reef fish that often have amazingly brilliant colors? Yes, that's them and this guy is the 'blacksheep' of the family. Not only is he very cryptic in their morphology, but at up to 45cm long, they are easily the largest. Well, another new one for me and happy to say that after almost 20 years of exploring the world's oceans, I can still be so easily entertained ! ...and YOU are so right Lee

Tags: Science, Fish species, Discovery, Oceans, Environment, Rare MARINE Life, DIVING, Snorkeling, PHILIPPINES

© Gunther Deichmann - composite image
Global Warming & Save Our Planet.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Earth Day 2008 at Asia Divers! check this link http://asiadivers.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much to those who jumped in to “splash for trash” this past weekend. There was good and bad news for this year’s event. The bad was that the trash bags came back a wee bit empty; the good news was the trash bags came back a wee bit empty!! We hope this means that people are considering the environment more and throwing less into the water.
You can make a difference throughout the year by doing 2 simple things:

1) Consider your actions every day to minimize your eco footprint on our ocean planet.

2) Always inspire other divers to be responsible eco tourists.

It is our world, our water, our choice – thanks for getting involved.

Tags: Environment, Dive Center, The DIVERS CHOICE, Puerto Galera, PHILIPPINES, Earth Day

Who can Identify this Fish? Please help...


Photo © Lee Goldman, image taken in the Philippines

Snorkeling the Islands of Palawan. Okay, so the title sounds like we spent the entire time in Palawan, but our first 2 days of the expedition were snorkeling with Whale sharks in Donsol. Come ‘on, how can I invite guests to the Philippines and not expose them to one of the best big animal encounters a snorkeler can have!
This entry will be a quick one because how can I describe the experience? Amazing, exhilarating, sometimes exhausting. Because visibility often does not exceed 12 m, when you see a whale shark, it is an up close and personal encounter! The guides put you right near them and as they swim by, you are sometimes only a few feet from them. My guests all commented on how amazing it was that they actually had to swim away from the sharks rather than having to chase them down. Needless to say, our experience with the whale sharks in Donsol was exactly as it has always been promoted; come and swim with lots of whale sharks. We swam with no less than eight. We also had a chance to snorkel in the area. Due to proximity of the rivers, visibility was not optimal, but we didn’t miss a beat. Many varieties of fish and coral exist there and for most of my guests, new species of fish were checked off in their fish identification books. For one guest, an avid admirer of nudibranchs, a new species of Phyllidia was her treat for the day. As a guide who spent many years in the Philippines and Palau, you may think I had seen it all. No way, that’s what I love about the Philippines; new species of fish I may know but not seen, or in my case in Donsol a new species of fish I had no idea existed.
Even some of the better ichthyologists could not help me with the identification. I intend to pursue this one and will keep everyone updated as I know more. Anyone out there with a suggestion?
Lee Goldman

Our Philippine-Micronesia Alliance partner in Palawan Philippines is Club Paradise & Dugong Dive Center for all your travel arrangements and for Lee Goldman's Wilderness travel contact our partner in Manila Blue Horizons.

Tags: MARINE, Science,, Snorkeling, Kayaking, Whale shark, WILDERNESS, NATURE, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES

NATURE is a lot closer now....
BUSUANGA AIRPORT Palawan Philippines...

CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR and the DUGONG DIVE CENTER

Busuanga Airport, landing point for CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR and the DUGONG DIVE CENTER now has a 1500 meter concrete runway plus a 400 meter gravel extension.
 
This gives a new dimension to tourism in the islands of the Calamianes. Whereas before only 19 seater planes were able to land, Busuanga airport is now being served by the super fast 32-seater Do 28 (needs only 35 minutes to get there from Manila) and the 50 seater Dash-7.
 
Starting next week, May 17, 2008 the service of a 72 seater plane from Phil Airlines will begin daily flights. This will bring the total seat capacity per year to about 100.000 seats yearly. New hotels, lodging houses and resorts are under construction and on the planning board. Present room capacity of 400 rooms will be double within an year.                                                                   

© Gunther Deichmann - the spectacular marine life in Palawan

The Government has decided to pave the road from Coron to Busuanga Airport to modernize the road system and create more comfort for all travelers. Guests of the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance and CLUB PARADISE, EL RIO Y MAR and DUGONG DIVE CENTER will get to their destination a lot faster and more comfortably now.
This will increase their time to enjoy all the exciting dive sites to see the Turtles, Dugongs, WWII Wrecks, a whole fleet was sunk in this area and of course beautiful reefs in this area.

Another great NEWS is, several Whale-sharks have been in sighted in the Coron, Palawan area, a good reason for planning your next trip to PALAWAN...the Philippines best kept secret...NATURE at its best.
 

© Gunther Deichmann - the WWII Wrecks of Palawan


© Gunther Deichmann - the WWII Wrecks of Palawan

Tags: DUGONGS,, Dive Center, WWII WRECKS,, Conservation, Wreck Diving,, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES, NATURE, Inselhuepfen,, Island hopping,

Tags: Conservation, PALAU, NATURE, Protect, Environment

Tags: The DIVERS CHOICE, Tauch REISEN, TRAVEL NEWS, DIVING, PHILIPPINES, Dive MANTAS, Micronesia, PALAU, REISEN, URLAUB, Inselhuepfen,, Island hopping,

Tags: Dive Center, DIVING, NATURE, Discover PALAU, PHILIPPINES, Puerto Galera, Exploring, Micronesia, Boracay, TRAVEL NEWS, Digital, Underwater Photography, Tauch REISEN, CRITTERS, Tauchen und Meer, Tauchen, UNTERWASSER

Part of the NEW HOME page...click on the image and go direct to Truk Lagoon Dive Center
http://www.dive-truklagoon.com/main.php

The Truk Stop Hotel & Dive Center is a PADI Resort Facility offering great accommodations plus an excellent, full service dive center for both the recreational and technical diver.
Truk Stop Hotel inventory of rooms include 2 apartments, 4 suites, 6 deluxe ocean view rooms, and 10 standard rooms. The apartments are air conditioned and fully furnished with kitchenette. All suites and rooms are air conditioned, have a balcony, private bath and furnished with a refrigerator plus TV/DVD player.

LOCAL TIME: 03:20:58 pm | May. 05, 2008

The Truk Lagoon Dive Center offers up to 4 dives a day (wreck, reef, shark, night), and our private dock, dive lockers, rinse tanks and shower make diving with us easy and convenient. We have Bauer Compressors and use a Haskel Pump for blending Nitrox and Trimix, and our expatriate PADI certified professional dive staffs take care of the technical and recreational diver with equal care and consideration.

Our Hotel Restaurant serves international, western style and local food daily from 6:00am till 10:00pm and offers inside dining in air conditioned, smoke free comfort or outside on our patio right next to the world famous Truk Lagoon. Enjoy our Wi-Fi broadband internet connection in the restaurant or on the patio – for FREE!

© Gunther Deichmann - the view from your room Balcony at night.
http://www.dive-truklagoon.com/main.php

The Hard Wreck Café & Bar is the favorite hangout for resident expatriates, the traveling businessman, island visitors and local residents and is the place to enjoy a friendly game of pool, your favorite beverage, karaoke with friends, or just rest up for your next dive or business meeting.
Other services available through the hotel include a relaxing, stress busting massage at The Body Shop, fresh breads, cakes and desserts from our Bakery, handicrafts & souvenirs from our Gift Shop, u-drives from our Car Rental fleet, and business services at our well equipped Conference Facilities.

Tags: TRUK LAGOON,, WWII WRECKS,, CHUUK MICRONESIA,, NITROX, OXYGEN, TRIMIX, Tauchen,, Lungenautomat,, TECH DIVING,, Wreck Diving,, HELIUM,, REBREATHER,, TEC DIVING,

DUGONGS at THE HOUSE REEF ...

CLUB PARADISE PALAWAN.


© Courtesy of Dugong Dive Center in Palawan, Philippines
click the image or the link below to visit the website @
http://www.dugongdivecenter.com/

I have just received this report from Dirk Fahrenbach, yes three (3) DUGONGS right at the House reef at Club Paradise grazing the seaweed bed.
This is the only place in the Philippines where you can observe these amazing and gentle creatures in the wild, the area is well protected by a conservation Park.

Another article but not related to our Dugong sighting is that of a Auction where some fossilized Dinosaurs dung has been sold for some US$ 1000.00 very interesting reading...
GD

Dino dung snapped up at auction

Jurassic-era coprolite, or fossilised dinosaur dung

Two pieces of dinosaur dung have been sold at auction for $960 (£486) at an auction house in New York.
The fossilised dung, which resembles rock on the outside, and a colourful mineral inside, is 130 million years old, from the Jurassic period.
Auctioneers Bonhams of New York said it sold for twice the expected price.

The buyer is reported to be Steve Tsengas, the 71-year-old owner of a company that sells products to treat pet animal waste in Ohio.

Marketing tool... for the full story click the link below...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7377982.stm

Tags: Unerwater, DIVING,SCUBA DIVING, Science,, DUGONGS,, PHILIPPINES,, NATURE,, Island hopping,, Dive Center,, PALAWAN, HOUSE REEF,, Tauchen,, Exploring,, Inselhuepfen,

DID YOU KNOW? Is brought to you by the Philippine - Micronesia Alliance, the Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!



To go to the Center click on the image
The Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art: ACCEA
" NPAK" in Armenian acronymis an alternative center for avant-garde
and modern art in Yerevan, Armenia

We have to take care of our PLANET and the ENVIRONMENT otherwise there be nothing left for our Children…
we all need to contribute & STOP Global Warming.

Some of Gunther Deichmann's images have been recently part of an international Exhibition in Armenia...for more detailed information some links below… many other international Photographers have contributed images for the Exhibition and environmental awareness, for a complete list of all the participants and sponsors including the WWF World Wildlife Fund in Armenia go to the provided links below…
I am happy and proud to have been part of this Exhibition in providing images creating awareness for our fragile environment.

Click on the image above and view the Exhibition
with images and slide shows from all
the international participants.

The image above was taken in Palau Micronesia it was used as the Cover
for the official Exhibition Booklet, for other environmental related images
by Gunther Deichmann click the link below:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/environment.html



WHY BURNING MY HOME...THINK!
Slide show of the images from the Exhibition by Gunther Deichmann
click on the link or image above.
http://www.davosstudio.com/Exhibition/Participants/Gunther%20Deichmann/

Tags: MARINE, WILDERNESS, DIVING