Dirk Fahrenbach from Dugong Dive Center and
Club Paradise in Palawan and Allan Nash from Asia Divers with
El Galleon Beach Resort in Puerto Galera

Some of the other participants from the Philippine
DOT Booth


Allan Nash, Dirk Fahrenbach and Tommy Soderstrom
having a relaxing drink after the show

New concept of Snorkeling fin on the market, the Palau fin from Cressi, Italy.
Walked away from both the concept of a foot fin that fits direct on your feet or open heel fins that require booties, this new fins is an open heel fins that NOT require booties.
The foot pocket its very soft and with adjustable trap one size fits 3-4 regular foot sizes. This is great news for anyone that renting out fins for snorkeling, instead of 10 different sizes you have only 5 size that fit XXS-XXL. The result is that you need to invest less money to set up the snorkeling rental program as you need on half the number of fins.
This fins will be in the Philippines in mid March at Asia Divers stores and other Cressi dealers. Asia Divers is a member of the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance and the Distributor for Cressi in the Philippines.

Tommy Soderstrom
Director Sales & Travel
PADI Master Instructor & Ice Diver
 
CRESSI-SUB equipment - PADI educational material
BodyGloves - Waterproof - LW Compressors - Trident
Surface Markers - Luxfer cylinders

Happy New Year from Asia Divers and El Galleon
in Puerto Galera Philippines

The first and last for today Asia Diver has send in their images and as expected everybody is looking red eyes, hugging and kissing at the Point Bar.
A very Happy New Year from Asia Divers in Puerto Galera.
GD

You can help save Philippine reefs!

A while ago Gunther and I hinted at an amazing collaboration between several Philippine-Micronesia Alliance partners and Reef Check Philippines. It took several months to finalize the details but we are now ready to announce a unique and fantastic expedition for those who are interested in not only working alongside scientists,but directly contributing to the pursuit of data which aid in developing community-wide conservation initiatives and programs.  
 
Reef Check Philippines, Asia Divers/El Galleon Resort, SEAsia Kayak Tours & the PMA are proud to announce a Reef Check expedition to survey the magnificent reefs around Puerto Galera and Verde Island Passage. Please check the link below for further information.
Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist
http://reefcheck.org/involved/puerto_galera.php

A Great Month Of Diving With Asia Divers Travel
Galapagos Oct. 2 to 9. Maldives Oct. 19 to 28.

With any trip Asia Divers organize, it’s almost always a year or two before you finally have the fun to excitement of the trip. This month was a special month for Asia Divers and a very special month for me, as I had the pleasure of participating in both trips.

We set off the end of September for that long hard flight from Manila-LA-Miami, then down to Quito, Ecuador. Arriving in Quito was a pleasure, not so much as the flight was finally over, but to see a new and improved airport from the one I remember some five/six years before. It was a brief visit to the immigration and to my surprise; AA had in deed managed to, not loose my bags!

After a pleasant day and two memorable nights in Quito, eating Tapas and drinking some great reds, it was off to the Galapagos Islands. We soon arrived in San Cristobal and was quickly picked up and sent aboard the Galapagos Aggressor 1. A truly great welcome and orientation was given before we set off for our first checkout dive.

The dive was excellent, with sea lions and many sea stars littering the sea floor. This was a great time to put on that 7ml semi dry, hooded vest, gloves and all that you don’t use here in the Philippines, and work with getting your buoyancy right for the great dives that were to follow.

The first day was spent diving around St Cristobal and Bultra, great action with schools of fish, sea lions, eagle rays and a large school of hammerheads. The trip then took us up to Wolf and Darwin (where the big stuff is) an overnight trip that put us on our first dive mid morning. The fun began when we dropped in and seen our schools of Hammerheads. The dives we did around Wolf all consisted of Hammerheads, Mantas, Galapagos sharks, and a school of Eagle rays that seem to be following us on every dive. On one dive we had the pleasure of dolphins. The
Dolphins spent a good 10min. with us, playing and showing off in front of us, quite a spectacle.

Darwin was of course our favorite with all the whale sharks we seen. They say whale sharks only grow to 15m; I’m sure whoever has said that, they have never been to Darwin! I still say this whale shark is at least 18m, it has to be! The most memorable dive at Darwin (this trip) for me was the first dive when this enormous whale shark came from behind us and hovered over us for a few minuets. This fellow was not concerned about us at all.

The Galapagos is well known for its wild life. The number of Hammerheads, Galapagos and black tip sharks, Eagle rays, whale sharks, Penguins and so much more is some times mind-boggling.
On land the sea lions, seals and marine and land iguanas are just going about their business as if you were not there. The land tours we did were excellent, with all kinds of wild life from Blue Footed Boobies, Frigate’s to sea lions backing in the sun to iguanas lounging around with some fighting and others who obviously just did not care.
The Landscape was something special and one or two places really got your attention with the harshness and barren volcanic planes.

The island landscape changed, with some islands covered with larva and others with cactus and colorful vegetation.
It was a sad moment climbing aboard the plain to take us back to Quito. Back in Quito was a quiet night of reflection, wine and good friends, and then there was that terribly long flight back home.

We had a great time in the Galapagos and I’m very lucky to have made my second trip but, I can assure you, it will not be my last. Special thanks to the Galapagos Aggressor 1 crew and to Alison Pocket, Kenneth Svennerlind, Johan and Maria Lyrevik, Bob Andrews, Kevin Ella, Kevin and Debbie Painter, Larry Bird, Kjell Soderstrom, Suzi Denton, Brian King and our trusty organizer Peter Eaton.

And then there was the Maldives!

It was March/April this year we did a trip to the Maldives. We had such a good time and were looked after so well we decided on another trip. Moosa our trusting guide and new friend suggested August to October as the Manta Aggregation happened during these months. After checking with Manthiri bookings office we only had one chance, October 19 to 28, we immediately said book it, were on!
After a week to the day I arrived back from the Galapagos, I was off to the Maldives aboard Singapore airlines best. It restored my faith and interest in flying again after my friends from over yonder. Arriving in Male we took a hotel for the night and headed to the boat at 8am.

We reuniting with Moosa and the crew of the Manthiri, a quick introduction to our new friends onboard and it was off for our first dive, Manta Point. We had a great introduction with eight Mantas, this is what we came for!

The first two to three days of our nine-day trip was spent in the South Male area. The first few dives we did were everything we could have expected. Good visibility, Whale sharks and lots of life. Mantas occasionally, but great colours and formations. By the third day however, the weather started to turn and rain was upon us. We had to take shelter from the weather on the eve of the third day before crossing from South to North Male.
On day four we arrived in North Male, a place where the Manta aggregation has been seen on regular occasions. Our first dive was with nine Mantas, not as many as we had hoped for but still an excellent dive. This dive was done in a maximum of 9 meters and we stayed for 76min. Everyone was excited about the dives we did that day, even if the numbers of Mantas did not reach more than 12 at any one time.
The following days we traveled further north and visited an island where Moosa our guide is now building a house. We were received warmly by the people and felt a real sense of being.
The diving kept on getting better (not the weather) with some very good pinnacle formations and of course more Mantas. There were a couple of sites where the Mantas literally came to you. They made it obvious they had no fear of you and in some incidences you felt they were playing with you. What a great trip, another great time and one I’d be happy to repeat over and over again. We had a few days and nights at different resorts for a break from the boat.
Back home and I have to say, I feel I’ve been a very lucky person to do so much in just one month. Two great trips, great friends on both trips, and so much looking forward to my next dive holiday, who wants to come?

An Underwater Photographer's Guide to Puerto Galera

Author: Matt J. Weiss / November 24, 2008 12:00AM MST Category: Photo
Article Tags:
Puerto Galera, Matt Weiss, El Galleon, Gunther Deichmann, Asia Divers, Muck Diving, South East Asia,
Author's Note-
It has been a while since the last installment, Bali, on my guide to Southeast Asia. The story can be seen here.

Many of the photos below are from our good friend Gunther Deichmann, who is a one of my favorite photographers and had too good of a library of Puerto Galera images to not include.

I’ve never had such preconceived notions about a destination as I did the Philippines. Shrouded in mystery…war…pirates - that kind of stuff. Conversations with people who had visited the Philippines left me with a feeling of exotic dread, the idea that the place was somehow different, even downright eerie. A quick Google search for “Manila” was no help. Things like “armpit of the world”, “urban sprawl”, “pollution and poverty”, were not uncommon descriptions. This misconception would soon turn into nothing less than photographic opportunity...read more click here

The restaurant already has some great new items on the menu and in time will have many more great mouthwatering suggestions.
The kitchen staffs are delighted with the many new and improved ways they can now cook and prepare for you.

El Galleons new and long awaited kitchen

It’s been most of 2008; El Galleon has ducked and weaved its way through the construction of its new kitchen. Many of our friends have seen the kitchen evolve into what has to be said, one of the best kitchens in the Philippines.

With the help of some very good and well-known chefs here in the Philippines, the design and flow of the kitchen is perfect. The Fagor equipment arrived all the way from Spain late October and was installed by end of the first week of November.

With Christmas approaching you can be sure our chefs will be hard at work to come up with meals you’ll find hard to believe exist in this pristine part of the world.

To you all, from all of us at El Galleon, Bon Apatite...

We have just received this info from one of our Alliance Parter Asia Divers in Puerto Galera,Philippines

Asia Divers New Dive Boat “Asia Explorer”

For many years Asia Divers relented in the opportunity to buy and operate outboard dive boats. Being in the Philippines, we believed people were happy diving from traditional outrigger boats. Many of our divers still do, however with the selective people we are receiving today the needs for a faster more elegant dive boat has become the need for many of our guests.

We are proud to announce our new 33’ twin 115hp Mercury out board engines has arrived. Modeled after a well-designed skiff, our dive boat seats sixteen fully equipped divers and fully loaded (two tanks per diver) can cruise at around 25mph. This gives us great flexibility for groups and a way to get people to dive sites not normally available.

The boat is called Asia Explorer for the very reason, it will enable us to take you to dive sites as far away as Anilao, Maricaban or, to Verde Island drop off/ Black Fish corner, the Buko’s and more. The boat is equipped with radar for night travel, fish finder with GPS capability to find those not so easy dive sites and soon some new ones.

The boat plans and construction were approved and monitored by Philippine Marina, now certified by Marina. It’s registered and we have a licensed captain to ensure safety and comfort is never compromised.

We look forward to having you aboard our latest addition to the Asia Divers fleet. Enjoy and safe diving.

Check out the speed and movement...

Once up on a time…

cruising at the Sinandigan wall in Puerto Galera and looking for unusual Nudibranchs.
All of a sudden and out of nowhere I got confronted by this giant Triggerfish charging me, I used my Camera Housing as a shield and sure enough…clonk …he hit it right on..
This Guy was serious and his nest must have been around in the area, I had stumbled into his territory unwillingly.
I moved slowly back but he kept coming at me… full speed, I managed to get off a few shots as he kept charging me. The image above is from this encounter and I was lucky to escape his Jaws, but the housing had a visible scratch on the side.
He followed me for a while almost to the surface and my Dive Buddy kept on laughing, it must have looked very funny to him fighting of this fish with my housing and strobes attached.
So if you go diving and you spot a Triggerfish watch out and circle around him you never know where his nest maybe, move back very slowly and keep an eye on him if charged.
Trigger Fish can cause some serious injury with their powerful Jaws and I have talked to divers who have not been so lucky or had a camera housing to protect them.

By the way, the Sinandigan Wall Dive site is a must for any Underwater Photographer looking for Sea slugs and Nudibranchs, check with your dive guide at Asia Divers for more details and make sure he keeps an Eye out for the unexpected Triggerfish at the same time.
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - www.deichmann-photo.com

Tags: PHOTOGRAPHY, Puerto Galera

An Underwater Photographer's Guide to Southeast Asia
Author: Matt J. Weiss / August 10, 2008 12:00AM MDT
Category: Photo

After 3 months in the field, and a brief stint manning the DivePhotoGuide booth at the Malaysian Dive Expo (MIDE) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I am finally home and in the process of preparing a series of articles about South East Asia, sometimes referred to as the coral triangle and the most bio-diverse marine ecosystems in the world. Therefore, this is also one of the most productive regions for underwater photographer and video. Of course in no way is this nearly a complete guide to Southeast Asia (that would take years!), but rather some recommended destinations to dive and shoot.
I will be providing comprehensive trip reports on the diving and photo opportunities in each location. I was fortunate enough to stay at some of the top resorts in each destination, and the articles will include some information on the resorts and their facilities. We intend for these articles to be fairly different from other trip reports. I plan to concentrate on all aspects of my trip, including some that are often overlooked, solely from an underwater photographer’s point of view – How was the camera room set up? How large were the rinse buckets on the boat? etc. This vital information is often ignored by non photographers, so I hope to cover all the idiosyncratic requirements that are very important for underwater photographers and videographers to keep top of mind while traveling..

You will see that a lot of my images are macro shots, with little coral around them. The reason for this is simple - I am very interested in the seemingly barren benthic environments that nurture a surprising amount of life. It is here that I found the smaller, interesting and charismatic critters that make you scratch your head and ask - “why?” It is my intention for each article to be informative by answering not only what and who, but also the how and why of the marine biology behind these environments.
Underwater photography stargazer Lembeh Strait
Did you know that stargazers (family Uranoscopidae) are represented by 50 species in 8 genre? This amazing animal was one of two species I found while searching the benthic environments of the Coral Triangle.
I will be covering the following destinations in the upcoming weeks. Each article will have a link back to this main page, where you can access each article as it goes live online.

Bali, Indonesia with AquaMarine Diving-Bali
Puerto Galera, Philippines with El Galleon Resort/Asia Diver
Palawan, Philippines with Club Paradise/Dugong Dive Center
Lembeh Straits, Indonesia with Lembeh Resort
Manado, Indonesia with Minahasa Lagoon Resort
Sipadan/Mabul/Kapalai, Malaysia with Borneo Divers

For any readers who are looking for ideas for your next dive trip, South East Asia is full of them, feel free to bookmark this page, and within the upcoming weeks, you'll find links to each of the destinations I've visited with a complete report on each. I certainly hope to bump into many of you as I return to these destinations in the future.
Happy Diving & more from Matt Weiss @
http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/an_underwater_

Tags: Matt Weiss, Indonesia, Philppines, Puerto Galera, Palawan, Asia Divers, AquaMarine Diving-Bali, Bali, Assignment, Southeast Asia, El Galeon, Dugong Dive Center, Cluba Paradise, Coral Triangle

From the Philippines...© Matt Weiss - DivePhotoGuide

Regards from Singapore!

I finally have a pretty good internet connection so here's an update on my experiences so far...go to DivePhotoGuide for the complete article @
http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/matt_1

Tags: Latest NEWS

Matt Weiss and Gunther Deichmann, two Mac addicts having fun, my son Mark-Lee took the opportunity and recorded the "event" on his cell phone.

Regards from Manila. I just spent a few fantastic days exploring the marine biodiversity in Puerto Galera at El Galleon resort. The critter life there was fantastic and the dive guides were able to show me a few animals I had never seen before. What really amazed me was how different the diving was from Indonesia, despite being in the same ocean. I was disappointed to leave, but I have an excellent journey ahead of me in Palawan diving with Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center. I am looking forward to what surprises lie ahead! Keep an eye out for a full comprehensive story on each area of the Philippines as well as the larger story covering the macro life of the entire coral triangle. The stories will be on DivePhotoGuide.com soon.

Matt Weiss
DivePhotoGuide

Click on the screenshots and visit Asia Divers with
El Galleon Beach Resort in the Philippines

Tags: DIVEPHOTOGUIDE

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 - 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

Photo: © Hermes Singson - Juergen Warnke
from Club Paradise and the President of the German Club
introduces Johnny Alegre and band.

Now back to ADEX and Dirk; Allan Nash and Tommy from Asia Divers with El Galleon attended the show at the Philippine Department of Tourism Booth…Wow Philippines. According to Dirk the ADEX show was the very best he had attended compared to previous years, getting many requests for diving with Dugongs and on the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance.
Jason Heller from Dive Photo Guide strolled around and Michael AW made his presents felt with a presentation for the up coming Celebrate the Sea Festival.

Our Philippine-Micronesia Alliance partners Dirk Fahrenbach from Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center
in Palawan with Allan Nash from Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort in Puerto Galera Philippines...
posing with the Alliance brochure at the WOW Philippines Booth in Singapore 2008.



The WOW Philippine Booth at
ADEX DIVE SHOW Singapore 2008




Presentation on the Celebrate the Seas Festival
soon to be held in Manila at ADEX Singapore 2008

You have to forgive me today for not writing to much, I am still suffering a bit, but don’t worry more to come in the next few days including an article of some exciting new developments in Palawan…I guess you just have to stay tuned or subscribe to our Blog.
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - aerial over the Puerto Galera area
with the Point Bar, Asia Diver & El Galleon, red circle.

Now to our main story...Dolphin woos with wood and grass
Courtesy by Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
The Amazon river dolphin's unique courtship...

A South American river dolphin uses branches, weeds and lumps of clay to woo the opposite sex and frighten off rivals, scientists have discovered.
Researchers observed adult male botos carrying these objects while surrounded by females, and thrashing them on the water surface aggressively.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, they say such behaviour has never before been seen in any marine mammal.
The boto lives in only two rivers, and numbers are thought to be declining.
A group of British and Brazilian researchers studied the dolphin's unique courtship behaviour over three years in the Mamiraua Reserve, a flooded rainforest area on the Amazon.
"You see them coming up with bits of wood or lumps of rock in a very ritualised manner," recalled Tony Martin from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University.
They may be fairly numerous now, but they're going downhill fast and we can't see any end to it,Tony Martin.
"Quite often they'd slowly come up above the surface in a vertical posture holding this stuff in their mouths, then sink down rotating on their own axis.

"They would also throw it or smash it against the surface, and it does appear that the waving around and bashing is to impress the ladies; but at the same time there's a lot of aggression between adult males, and we have to infer that's part of it."
Professor Martin's group established that rock carrying and branch thrashing were almost exclusively the preserve of adult males, and that they did it more when lots of adult females were present.
Although the males were more aggressive towards each other at these times, they were never seen to hit each other with the rocks or plants.

Sound theory

Three years ago, scientists found bottlenose dolphins in Australian waters carrying pieces of sponge, either to help with foraging or to defend against predators.
But using objects for socio-sexual display is a novel finding.
"I naively imagined this kind of thing was seen in other mammal species," said Professor Martin.

"But I was quite surprised when I consulted friends and colleagues, and it turns out that only chimps do anything similar - and that's much less sophisticated."

How and why the boto evolved the behaviour is unclear; although as cetaceans communicate largely with sound, it appears likely that the displays also create an impressive auditory impact on females, rival males, or both.

Hooked on boto

This research stemmed from a larger project, Projeto Boto, aimed at conserving the Amazon dolphin and its habitat.

River dolphins are among the most threatened of all cetaceans; the baiji, a native of the Yangtze in China, may already have gone extinct in the last two years, while numbers of the Indus or blind river dolphin of South Asia are believed to be down to around the 3,000 mark.
Botos are increasingly turning up harpooned, their flesh used for bait
Compared to these species, the South American dolphin is in good health in its traditional haunts along the Amazon and Orinico rivers. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species suggests "there are probably tens of thousands of botos in total".

But the future does not appear secure. The Red List concludes that the boto is threatened by dams (causing fragmentation of their habitat) and pollution, such as from mercury used in gold mining.
"With growing human populations in Amazonia and Orinoquia, the conflicts between fisheries and dolphins are certain to intensify", it notes.
Projeto Boto has found that fishermen are increasingly catching the dolphins for use as bait to catch a fish, the piracatinga, which usually feeds on dead flesh.
Meat from the caiman, a close relative of the alligator, is also used for this purpose.
Projeto Boto scientists are regularly finding dead dolphins, either harpooned or entangled in ropes.
"We lost half of the animals from our study area in just five years," said Tony Martin.
"They may be fairly numerous now, but they're going downhill fast and we can't see any end to it."

For more on this story and some photos go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7313385.stm

© Gunther Deichmann - Spiny sea horse from the Sabang area,
Puerto Galera, Philippines

Sea Horse Courtship
by Anthony May

The Sea-horse is unique due to the fact that it is the male that gives birth to the young.

Male sea-horses impress females with a courtship dance. This dance involves young males pumping their specialized brooding pouches with water. It is usually the male with the biggest pouch that wins the girl.
Once a mate has been found the pair will meet at the same spot at dusk and dawn every day. This allows the male to prepare his pouch for the arrival of the female’s eggs.

When the egg is ready the pair will align themselves opposite each other and entwine their tails. Nose to nose they gently spiral up in to the water column and the egg is exchanged from the female to the males pouch. This has to occur at a depth at least six times their body length or the egg transfer will fail.

© Gunther Deichmann - Spiny sea horse from the Sabang area,
Puerto Galera, Philippines

The male then fertilizes the egg internally and around four weeks later the fry are ready to be born.

The male then pumps his pouch and hundreds of tiny sea-horses are forced out. A healthy pair will be able to repeat the process all over again in a couple of days.
Special thanks to Anthony May (The Sea horse Expert)

© Gunther Deichmann

Soon a new member of the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance, Lee will be joining us with his extraordinary and very exiting Kayak tours in Palawan and beyond, subscribe and stay tuned for the official announcement.
GD

His tour has just been in the top listing of the Concierge,
Best Adventure Trips 2008!
http://www.concierge.com/ideas/skiadventure/tour/detail?id=1729&page=11


Hi Gunther,

A while back you blogged about my excitement and appreciation for the significant inclusion of Club Paradise onto our new Wilderness Travel Expedition to the Philippine Islands.

I should also mention that another one of your Micronesian-Philippine Alliance partners has made important contributions as well. Jem Kemp from Blue Horizon Travel has been extremely helpful in arranging our flights to and from Legaspi, where we will continue on to Donsol for a couple of days snorkeling with Whale Sharks, and for all of the transfers for our guests when they arrive in Manila.

While it may sound easy, from my point of view, it helped to keep me from pulling even more of my hair out of my head while trying to coordinate all of the other activities for our 12 day tour. So, when coordinating 5 days of luxury kayak camping (that’s tents, supplies, equipment, personnel and their travel arrangement, the outfitting of our new boat, coordination of the daily excursions, food procurement, and contingency plans) became almost as much as I can handle, Jem came through by taking care of the guests in Manila, thus alleviating some of the weight from my shoulders.
Thanks Jem!
Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist and Tour leader

Photos: © Gunther Deichmann – Images from Palawan…the last frontier in the Philippines and a heaven for nature lovers, pristine beaches, crystal clear water surrounded by majestic limestone cliffs and spectacular diving… explore and discover this incredible part of the Philippines with Lee Goldman and our other Alliance partners. A pure natures paradise.

Click on the images above and see more photos from all our partner destinations.

Asia Divers our partner in Puerto Galera visits Palawan frequently for the wrecks in Coron Bay, Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort is also a major sponsor of the Layang Layang Photo Contest,
for more info on Wreck diving with Asia Divers check out our previous blog from David Ross at:
http://www.alliancediving.com/blog/files/category-asia-divers-articles.html

Correction and up date from the previous Blog regarding the
Maldives with Asia Divers.

I have just received this information from Asia Divers, please refer to my previous Blog, there is a change of Boats... it is now on the M/V Manthiri not the Aggressor, for more info please contact Allan Nash from Asia Divers @ mailto: allan@asiadivers.com or visit Asia Divers Website @ http://www.asiadivers.com/

This information is brought to you by the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance...The Divers Choice.

GD

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Asia Divers and the Maldives...? Yes... check out the info below...plus "Did You Know"?

© Gunther Deichmann - Aerial, no this is not the Maldives...
but the location of Asia Divers with El Galleon in Puerto Galera Philippines.

This information just came in from Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort, thanks Allan for sharing this with us. Please read on below the info on Asia Divers travel to the Maldives, yes Asia Diver does go beyond Puerto Galera, travel and dive with one of the leading experts in Puerto Galera or choose some of their other exotic dive destinations like...Sardine Run, South. Africa...Maldives Aggressor...Galapagos Aggressor...Palau and many others, see the dates below.
Asia Divers is a member of the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance.
The Divers Choice.
GD

Asia Divers Dive travel...we go beyond your normal diving adventure.
Maldives – March 30 – April 5th, Spaces still available

Maldives is a garland- shaped chain of 26 atolls stretching 750 kilometers across the equator, in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India. The atolls girdle over 1190 emerald islands, most of them uninhabited, and countless reefs and shallows to form a complete echo system that acts as a magnet for a cornucopia of colorful marine life ranging from blooming corals to big pelagic…. you could be a part of this!

UP COMING DIVE TRIPS
Sardine Run, South. Africa June 21-30 2008
Maldives Aggressor, March 30 to April 5, 2008
Galapagos Aggressor, Oct. 2-9, 2008

Contact: allan@asiadivers.com  for more information

DID YOU KNOW?

Skip the Sunscreen While Diving
It can damage and even kill coral reefs, says a study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Italian marine biologists have linked four UV-blocking chemicals in sunscreens to coral bleaching because they cause viral infections in the symbiotic algae that live inside reef-building coral. The viruses replicate until their algae hosts explode, infecting neighboring coral. The researchers estimate that 5,000 tons of sunscreen wash off people in oceans annually, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.

(The full article is available here: http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2008/10966/abstract.html

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We have received this interesting article on Wreck and tech diving from Dave Ross, Dave is from Tech Asia/Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort located in Puerto Galera, Philippines and members of the Philippine - Micronesia Alliance.

Coron with Tech Asia…. by Dave Ross Tech Asia

The year 2007 saw the closure of the last of the Coron Bay shipwreck identity mysteries. Tech Asia and its divers are happy to have played a small part in this final chapter.

Coron bay, in the western Philippines, has been a known diving locale since the 1980’s. Having been the scene of a September 1944 air strike by the USS Lexington lead Task Force 38, at the time, the longest range carrier based air strike in history. As diving opened up in the Philippines, the area necessarily attracted those with a nose for history and wreck diving. Of the principal wrecks, some were identified accurately and immediately. The IJN seaplane tender Akitsushima for example, reported sunk in the US After Action reports, is an unmistakable vessel. For the oilers and merchant ships present at the time of the raid, identifications were shakier. Partly this is the product of researchers trusting in the reporting of the post war authorities, charged with putting a positive ID on such a vast number of maritime casualties. Often the ship that best fit the action reports went down in the annals as the victim, and nobody involved at the time had any real reason to question any grey areas or anomalies. Reports from bodies such as JANAC were often taken as unquestionably accurate.

One of the men who took the keenest interest in the Coron story and her losses was Capt. Peter Heimstaedt, who in the early 90’s, dived, and exhaustively documented what he saw. He became a friend of ours through communications on other ships sunk in the Philippines, and kindly came to Puerto Galera in his free time to give a presentation on Coron in July of 2007. During the evening he showed us clear photographic evidence that the oiler thought to be Taiei Maru, was in fact the Okikawa Maru, and the ship once known as “Hector”, or the Tangat Wreck is the Olympia Maru.

The last vessel to have bred confusion, having been thought to be another of the many Taiei Maru’s, or another Olympia, was confirmed by Capt Heimstaedt in 2006 to be a vessel whose original name was Morazan, turned Ekkai Maru when she fell into Japanese hands in 1941. A source which convinced him of this was the excellent reference N582 Japanese Merchant Ship Recognition Manual of 1944, issued by the US Navy Dept – Division of Intelligence. He was sure his identification was solid, and passed this on to us, though had not yet returned to Coron to verify this with a dive.

How Tech Asia came to be involved in this story was through slightly unforeseen circumstances. Following Capt Peter’s talk we had two week of liveaboards on the M/B Rags II. The first week, in October 2007 had perfect weather, and the divers and the divers spent a lot of their time on the deeper and more exposed wrecks such as Irako and Akitsushima. However the November week was more influenced by the bizarre behaviour of Tropical Storm Lando, which crossed Mindoro, went all the way to Vietnam, then turned around and came straight back. The couple of days of unsettled seas it created caused the divers to divert away from Irako to more sheltered sites, the Morazan amongst them.

Always a man to seize an opportunity to bring a dive to life, our guide, Technical Wreck Instructor Sam Collett, seized the Peter Heimstaedt information and ran with it. Armed with all the commonly found Coron literature, plus` some 30’s photos of Morazan, he tasked the eight divers in his care with examining ten photographically observable features and comparing them to the ship itself. These ranged from the numbers, position, and spacing of portholes, to positions and style of air vents, railings, doorways and davits. Also some distinctive fittings on both masts, and bolt holes on the funnel where a letter “V” had existed. Morazan had operated under Vaccaro Brothers in the Honduras, and their logo appears in old photos. Everything observed by Sam and his divers matched Morazan to the last detail. Though merely confirming another mans research, the clear verification brought tremendous satisfaction to the day for the divers.

Following the trip, some internet browsing threw up an interesting history, starting life as the S.S. Manco, sold and renamed Morazan and working the Amazon for years before moving to Hong Kong, eventual capture by the Japanese in Shanghai, and a watery grave in the Philippines in 1944. From this history arose one more interesting observation. The hull of the ship still bears the letters “CEI……SH” , which for years has puzzled everyone. Whilst serving in Honduras and the Amazon, the ships home port was La Ceiba – just maybe these letters reflect the name of her former home port?

The Morazan/Ekkai Maru story is just a single chapter in two weeks of excellent, shallow ( it doesn’t always have to be deep and helium) technical diving that we managed to run. Great fun – I guess that means we’ll have to go back!
Dave Ross - Tech Asia

DID YOU KNOW?

Introducing our partners in their different languages, the first in our new series is
Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort in Puerto Galera, Philippines.

FILIPPINE-MICRONESIA ALLEANZA

Benvenuti nell’Alleanza Filippine – Micronesia, I vostri partners per vacanze di qualita’ nel campo delle immersioni!

La vasta e remota regione delle Filippine e della Micronesia include le acque piu’ abbondanti e tropicali del Pacifico rinomate per i sommozzatori per le ricche bio diversita’ marine che includono pellicani, infinite varietà di soggetti per macro fotografia, più di 700 specie di coralli, più di 1300 specie di pesci ed una massiccia collezione di naufragi ancora intatti.

La nostra rete esclusiva di resorts di prima classe per subacquei in tutte le Filippine, la Repubblica di Palau e la Laguna di Truk negli stati Federati della Micronesia, in associazione con i nostri selezionati e professionali agenti di viaggio, trasforma i viaggi e le immersioni in questa regione sbalorditiva del Pacifico, più convenienti, più comodi e più divertenti che mai per i subacquei!

L'alleanza Filippine-Micronesia e’ formata dai piu’ importanti operatori per le immersioni subacquee, direttamente selezionati dall’Alleanza per garantire ai subacquei il meglio per vacanze di qualita’, il più alto livello di sicurezza, eccellenti servizi agli utenti e professionalita’ del settore industriale.

Per la convenienza del suo progetto di viaggio, i nostri esperti e selezionati agenti regionali pianificheranno le Vostre esplorazioni nel Pacifico, per una tranquillita’ garantita nell’appoggio dei livelli di servizio della nostra Alleanza, nel conforto e nella totale soddisfazione. Per cortesia, rilassatevi, divertitevi e lasciate il piano delle immersioni a noi!
I Vostri partners per vacanze di qualita’ nel campo delle immersioni, includono resorts Filippini e centri Asiatici per subacquei come il “Resort Galleon, a Puerto Galera; il “Club Paradise & Dugong Diving Center, a Palawan; il “Pinjalo Diver Resort”, a Borocay; il “Sam’s Tours” a Palau, in Micronesia e il “Truk Lagoon Dive Center, negli Stati federati della Micronesia.

Nous pouvons vous cherchez avec notre propre véhicule où vous voulez dans Manille. Après un court trajet de deux heures, vos vacances commencent vraiment lors de la très jolie traversée qui vous emmène à la plage très typique de Small Lalaguna, de Puerto Galera.

L'hôtel El Galleon vous propose 30 chambres modernes et confortables, toutes avec salle de bains et vue sur la piscine ou sur la mer. Vous vous sentirez comme chez vous dans nos chambres.

Situé dans une des plus belles baies du monde, Puerto Galera , qui veut dire en espagnol, le port des galions, se compose de nombreuses plages et criques tranquilles, qui vous permettent soit de vous évader soit de vous rendre sur d'autres plages plus fréquentées pour plus de plaisir au soleil. Si vous aimez la randonnée, le canoë, ou le golf nous pouvons facilement vous arranger ça. Mais vous pouvez aussi paresser sur le bord de notre piscine.

N'oubliez pas de vous rendre au bar the Point, un endroit remarquable pour boire un verre au soleil couchant, cocktail, bière bien fraîche pour parler de vos activités et plongées de la journée en vous laissant glisser doucement au son de la meilleure musique de Puerto Galera, tout en rencontrant de nouveaux amis.

Nos propres experts de Asia Divers vous proposent ce qu'il y a de mieux en matière de plongée et d'apprentissage. Le centre de certification PADI vous propose toutes les formations depuis les plus petits, (pour faire des bulles), jusqu'à la formation de moniteurs de plongée, pour ceux qui veulent faire de la plongée leur carrière. Avec une trentaine de sites de plongée dans un rayon de 15 minutes en bateau depuis l'hôtel, vous avez le choix de faire soit une ou toutes les cinq plongées prévues quotidiennement. Vous lisez bien, oui, jusqu'à 5 plongées par jour. Chaque plongée est accompagnée par l'un de nos moniteurs expérimentés et revient à notre base toutes les heures et demie.

Vous pouvez choisir entre de nombreux types de plongées, depuis la découverte jusqu'aux plongées techniques, et nos experts de Asia Divers vous montreront comment faire, au cours de plongées parmi les plus belles au monde. Dans notre Centre Technique, le personnel de Tech Asia dans des installations de premier ordre forme les plongeurs à l'utilisation des respirateurs et des mélanges Nitrox et Trimix. Les eaux de Puerto Galera vous offre des occasions parmi les meilleures au monde pour faire de la macro, et sur notre site de plongée des Canyons, des bancs de carangues, empereurs, barracudas et autres bars très sympa sont là pour vous accueillir. Ce sont des vacances très complètes où vous êtes sûr de faire des plongées merveilleuses et de vous faire de nouveaux amis, et vous pouvez plonger toute l'année.

Plonger avec Asia Divers n'est jamais décevant, alors on vous attend

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

Oh boy, more monsters from the past... but I have to admit this is very interesting stuff and I hope we are not boring you with all these amazing stories, it is nice to go back in time and besides, it shows us how our ocean have been occupied in the past. So when you go for your next dive and you spot a weird looking creature dont stop breathing... it is likely a relative from some of the bigger ones but I am sure they wont swallow you.
If you ever get the chance and dive ( actually it is a must) with our partner Asia Divers in Puerto Galera, Philippines, the chances are you see more unusual critters than anywhere else. International marine biologists have named Puerto Galera as one the top marine bio-diversities in the world.
Even more reasons to join Asia Divers, it is believed there are over 3,000 species of fish and marine animals - that's about 50% more than the Red Sea.
GD

Rock marks record water scorpion

Geological movement has lifted the rock up on to its side

More details
The tracks left by a giant water scorpion as it dragged its great bulk across a beach 330 million years ago have been discovered in Scottish rock. The six-legged beast, known as Hibbertopterus, would have been about 1.6m (5.2ft) long and 1m wide.
The markings, which have a central line made by a heavy, plated tail, represent one of the largest invertebrate trackways found in the fossil record. Dr Martin Whyte reports his discovery in central Scotland in Nature magazine. "I knew it was a trackway as soon as I saw it - my main work is on dinosaur footprints - but it wasn't immediately obvious to me what sort of trackway it was," the Sheffield University researcher said. "I could rule out reptiles and amphibians because I could see whatever it was, it had six legs," he told the BBC News Website.
"I've worked through the possibilities and I think it can only be Hibbertopterus."

Hibbertopterus may have been big but it was not a ferocious predator. The trackway is preserved in sandstone. What would once have been a beach surface has been tilted to about 45 degrees by geological movement.
The length of track preserved, 6m (20ft), is remarkable. The stride pattern, too, is huge - 27cm (11in).
Fragmentary fossils of Hibbertopterus are well known from Scottish Lower Carboniferous rocks and were first described from West Lothian in 1831.
The creature did not have the big pincers or carry its tail in the air like the land scorpions we know today, and it did not have a sting, either; but these animal groups are nonetheless distantly related, scientists believe.

What is interesting about this trackway is that is shows Hibbertopterus could move out of its usual water habitat. "There has been debate about whether it was restricted to water or could come out on land. I believe this trackway shows it could come out for short periods," explained Dr Whyte.

"It may have been taking a shortcut - from one body of water to another. People have asked about spawning but there's just no evidence to back that up."
Although the prospect of a man-sized scorpion might be scary to modern eyes, this particular beast was hardly a ferocious predator.

"It wouldn't have been chasing after an amphibian or reptile for a meal. It had comb structures on some of the anterior appendages, and it swept these through the water and caught small organisms, such as small worms and water bugs," Dr Whyte explained.
Article courtesy of the BBC