© Gunther Deichmann - A Lion fish on the "doorsteps" at
El Rio y Mar in Palawan, Philippines

El Rio y Mar Palawan, Philippines...where Loin fish come for dinner...but there is also some cool muck diving at El Rio y Mar and the Dugong Dive Center has a Dive Center right at the resort.

All about nature and your tropical vacation in

Palawan, Philippines

El Rio y Mar and Club Paradise have just been featured in a 3 part Blog series by visiting Photographer Gunther Deichmann

Check out what nature has to offer at these two Palawan destinations in the Philippines and go to: http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

El Rio y Mar in Palawan, Philippines

Your accommodation at El Rio y Mar in Palawan, Philippines




Club Paradise on Dimakya Island, Palawan Philippines

Club Paradise on Dimakya Island Palawan, Philippines is also the home of the Dugong Dive Center and the only place in the Philippines where you can spot or watch Dugongs right in front of the Resort in the Sea grass beds.
Dimakya Island has also one of the best house reefs in the world...nature at your doorstep.

For more info and the recent articles pls. go to
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

Happy New Year from all the Alliance partners have a
fantastic 2010 and some great scuba diving.



Happy Holidays... have some great diving with us in 2010!

A very happy New Year - prost Neujahr - bonne année - onnellista uutta vuotta - gelukkig Nieuwjaar - ath bhliain faoi mhaise - selamat tahun baru - godt nytt år - szczliwego nowego roku - feliz ano novo - gott nytt år manigong bagong taon - sawatdii pimaï - kung hé fat tsoi - xin nian kuai le / xin nian hao - godt nytår - eutichismenos o kainourgios chronos - felice anno nuovo, buon anno - S novim godom - sreno novo leto - Cung Chúc Tân Xuân
yeni yiliniz kutlu olsun

Did You Know...

Apo Reef is the second largest contiguous coral reef in the world and the largest one in the Philippines. The Apo Reef Natural Park consists of the three islands.
Apo Reef is the largest among the three islands. Apo Reef Natural Park (check this link for more info on APO Reef)compared to that of Tubbataha National Marine Park has a unique natural phenomenon. Apo Reef has a high diversity of corals and has an island covered with terrestrial vegetation.

© Gunther Deichmann - Apo Reef Philippines...a Scuba Divers Dream
and a heaven for Underwater Photographers.

The Apo Reef Natural Park, with more than 20 dive sites, will truly fascinate you with its magnificent walls and large fish species. The reef plateau will surely impress divers and snorkeler alike.

Only 3 hours by banca from the Dugong Dive Center and Club Paradise Apo Reef offers very dramatic drop-offs down to about 400m. The steep walls are well covered with corals, sponges, tunicates, nudibranchs and slugs.
The coral formation at the plateau is magnificent. Green and hawksbill turtles, sharks, Eagle Rays and a multitude of fish including damselfish, butterfly fish, batfish, surgeonfish, snappers, fusiliers and trevallies are common.

© Gunther Deichmann - Pink Squat Lobster

The House Reef of Dimakya Island (home of Club Paradise) has been protected for the past 20 years, an unspoiled wonder of marine life.
Besides the reef you find also a sea grass bed where Dugongs are frequent visitors, and all of this a short walk from your Cottage.
There are also eight resident Green Turtles which feed on the same sea grass bed all year around, not shy and used to Scuba Divers, perfect for Under Water Photographer to get close for the perfect shot.
The sea grass bed is also the perfect place for all your small Marine Critter, like:
Helmut Gurnard Dactyloptena orientalis (commonly know also as the Flying Gurnard), Dragonet, Emperor Shrimp,
Sea moth, Mantis Shrimp, Ghost Pipefish, Mimic Octopus, Frogfish, Stargazer, Snake eels and many different species of Nudibranchs, these are just a few critters you find on your dive on the sea grass bed.

© Gunther Deichmann - Helmut Gurnard Dactyloptena orientalis
(commonly know also as the Flying Gurnard)

The house reef slopes from approx 1 meter to 18 meters and ends in a large sandy area, here you find large numbers of Blue Spotted Stingrays.
The reef itself is home to Sweet lips, Wrasses, Mandarin fish, Cuttle fish, Butterfly, Parrot and many other fish species, another “HOT SPOT” for Underwater Photographers.

© Gunther Deichmann - many different species of Nudibranchs

© Gunther Deichmann - Ghost Pipefish

Other highlights are schools of Jacks, Fusiliers, Rabbit fish, Bat fish and if you lucky you came across a school of Hump head parrot fish.
The house reef has also some nice cleaning stations, attracting Giant Barracudas and other large marine life.
Big numbers of Giant Clams (up to 1.2 meter) you find also in the surrounding area at this truly amazing House Reef at Club Paradise.
Matt Weis from Dive Photo Guide who visited Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center last year run out of storage on his 2 Gig CF Card during one of his dives, a testimony of the amazing variety on this House Reef in Palawan.

Did he run out of Air? No!
He had filled up his 2 Gig memory card...

Excerpts from a recent story on “An Underwater Photographer Guide To Palawan”
By Author: Matt J. Weiss / April 12, 2009 12:00AM CDT
Matt Weiss from DivePhotoGuide visited Club Paradise & Dugong Dive Center last year and filed this very interesting report...

© Gunther Deichmann - Painted Frogfish...recent rumors has it that there is quiet an invasion of Frogfish at present on the Club Paradise House Reef in Palawan, Philippines.

“When Omar signaled me over, I figured he had spotted a frogfish that he had told me about before the dive. However, he was pointing at another sea moth and started taking pictures of the rock behind it, which I thought was strange. I wondered - was he narc’ed? Nope, I was just a rookie and didn’t notice that the rock was actually a beguiling frogfish that was face to face with the sea moth. I tried to get some shots before the sea moth moved on and we headed up to the surface – not because we were cold, bored, out of air, or hitting deco time, but because I had filled up my 2 gig memory card! The first, and so far only time this has happened to me...
...read the complete story from Matt Weiss @
http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/an_underwater_photographer_2

Baby Buzz...on a Paradise Island!

It is now the Turtle nesting and hatching season at Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center, but not only Turtles…more sightings of Dugongs and a young calf.

Received from Dirk Fahrenbach - all Photos on this Blog post have been taken only two days ago,
thanks for sharing these amazing past few days with us.




© Courtesy of the Dugong Dive Center -
only hatched a few days ago, Hawksbill Turtles at Club Paradise,
Palawan, Philippines

Club Paradise is certainly the place in Palawan, Philippines for nature lovers, where else can you see Dugongs during the Day with the Eco friendly staff at the Dugong Dive Center who’s conducting the Dugong watching. The same day, later in the evening stoll down to the waters edge and watch Turtle Hatchlings making their way into the Ocean.
Unspoiled Nature at its very best!

Dimakya Island, the Home of Club Paradise, is also a Turtle Island…
Every Year Green and Hawksbill Turtles come on shore and lay the eggs just in front of the guest cottages.
The nesting and the hatching is at night, you can walk careful along the beach with a cold beer and watch nature takes its course it doesn’t get any better.

© Courtesy of the Dugong Dive Center - taken measurements
on a newly hatched Hawksbill Turtle.

The Dugong Dive Center Team put up a fence around the nest’s to make sure that monitor lizard and other predators can’t reach the eggs. On the day the hatchlings crawl out of the sand, the staff gives them a helping hand, protecting and safeguarding these young Turtles until they reach the waters edge.. we release about 25% the same night, the remaining ones are then taken to a small pool until the shell get stronger for their release approx. 30 days later in small groups.

© Courtesy of the Dugong Dive Center - Rolf Winkelhausen
from the Dugong Dive Center inspecting some Turtle eggs.

Guiding these small hatchlings to the water is important not only to protect them from would be predators but they can get disorientated due to the lights from the Resort Building.
The Club Paradise House Reef has a small portion with sea grass on either side and this is where the adult green turtles are residents and can be seen on almost every dive. A food source for Turtles and Dugongs alike, right in front of your accommodation, just a stone through away.
Our ecotourism program is “Dugong watching”. Dugongs can be seen in the general area even if they are not at the House Reef at the time. In the last two-month resort guests have seen them several times, a mother dugong and its baby. A Dugong gives birth to a single calf only, it is born approx. 1 m in length during birth, the calf then spends two years with its mother and receives the milk from underneath the flippers.

© Courtesy of the Dugong Dive Center - This amazing shot was taken by Marvin Alvarez from the Dugong Dive Center, a guest ask him to take a few shots while snorkeling, he past the Camera to Marvin who then took the shot for the guest.

Dugongs are vegetarian and need to eat 25 kg of sea grass per day, hence the reason for been regular visitors at the Club Paradise House Reef.
Surveys over the last few years (from ultra light plane and helicopter) spotted between 19 and 24 dugongs in the near vicinity of Club Paradise and in the Bay area.

For our more serious Divers, diving the famous Coron Wrecks or a dive trip to the World famous Apo Reef is a must and should be on any Divers agenda.
Report by Dirk Fahrenbach and GD

Island hopping at its best...explore Palawan and beyond.

She has arrived...and ready for some serious island hopping in Palawan Philippines.
we have just gotten word that the very “SEXY TASHINA” is now at Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center.
Dirk Fahrenbach dropped these images of yesterday, now he is on the way with Juergen Warnke from Club Paradise to the Shanghai Dive Expo.

Dugong Dive Center Info...”The Tashina”

As of September one the Dugong Dive Center has the brand new Yacht “TASHINA” (Trimaran).
The Fiberglas Yacht is 16m long and equipped with a back up engine.
For daily dive trips the boat has a capacity of maximum 10 divers and for overnight trips a maximum of 6 divers.
The boat is ideal for private charter. Guest that like to have a private boat with dive guide and boat crew will have an individual dive cruise, they never forget.

You like to go as couple with a yacht across the Calamian Islands of northern Palawan? This is only on sample of individual cruising.
Trips to APO REEF NATURAL PARK or CORON BAY with its Wrecks from WW II or TARA ISLANDS are the 3 main destinations we still offer with our Dive Boat “Karen Claire”. This 12 years experience with those dive trips will benefit the trips with our new boat.
For more info contact: Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center @
http://www.dugongdivecenter.com/
http://www.clubparadisepalawan.com/

Data Sheet (“Bust and waistline”)

200 HP Main Engine
40 HP back up Engine
Bauer Compressor
Deep/Fish Finder
GPS
Satellite Telephone
Simple Kitchen
Small Toilet with Fresh Water Shower
Open Air Shower / Fresh Water
Diving Platform
12 and 220 V
TV with DVD Player and SD Card Slot
Radio with JBL and Bose Marine Speaker
One Open Air Sitting Area with Table and Sun Roof
One Cabin Sitting Area with Table
One Double Bed
4 Single Beds.
6 Open Air Hammocks for sleeping under the Stars.

Published Rates:

120,-Euro per person per day. (min. 4 Guest)
Inclusions: Accommodation, Food, 4 Dives per day.
OR
Boat Charter
100,-Euro Boat Charter per Day
30,-Euro per hour Travelling (fuel charge)
Per Person:
50,-Euro / Day Diving per person
15,-Euro per person for 3 meals

Tags: Trimaran, Boat Charter, Yacht TASHINA, Pacific, APO REEF NATURAL PARK, CORON BAY, Dive Boat , TARA ISLANDS, Wrecks from WW II