ASIA KAYAK TOURS & Wilderness travel continues, part three of a series by Lee Goldman, EXPLORING Palawan in the Philippines…Natures paradise...THE DIVERS CHOICE.
I like to introduce also two NEW banners from two of our partners soon featured on our website and at DivePhotoGuide.com
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.
DIVE TRUK LAGOON…dive-truklagoon.com soon completed new website…the best wreck diving destination in the world in more detail on the web dive the wrecks from Operation Hailstone in February of 1944
Stay tuned and please remember the NEW Domain Name
dive-truklagoon.com
In the meantime feel free and check it out, as mention a few little things need to be done still but a complete list of all the wreck site is now at your fingertips not to mention the best equipped Tec diving center on the Island of Chuuk, Nitrox, Oxygen and Helium is readily available for all your technical diving…we are also very Re-breather friendly.
© 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:
PALAWAN Philippines…Part two on the Wilderness Kayak Tours by Lee Goldman…Palawan the PHILIPPINES best kept secret & NATURES Paradise…brought to YOU by The PHILIPPINE-MICRONESIA ALLIANCE, The Divers Choice
©
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
FISH Mystery solved...it gets to show you that the OCEAN still holding many secrets or surprises...
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
Earth Day 2008 at Asia Divers! Puerto Galera...your Resort & DIVE destination in the 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.
Can YOU identify this Fish? Wilderness travel...Snorkeling in Palawan & Whale Sharks in Donsol... by Lee Goldman
This is Lee…Lee Goldman that is… I thought you might like this article and read about my recent experience in the Philippines...
Hi Lee, Gunther here…of course you always welcome and we are very happy to publish your real life stories, thanks Lee please keep it up, we appreciate your input very much.
See below the story which I have just received, thanks again to Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist, who always finds the time and supplying us with some interesting articles.
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.
Great NEWS...BUSUANGA AIRPORT in PALAWAN Philippines extended... now more flights,comfort...plus several Whaleshark sightings in the Coron Island area
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
Late breaking NEWS from PALAU Micronesia! Conservation issue initiated by one of the founding members from the Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
Late breaking NEWS from PALAU Micronesia!
...brought to you by palautours.com
Ban on live fish export becomes law in Palau Micronesia a step in the right direction to preserve Palau's natural environment and unique Bio-diversity.
See below excerps from a News Paper article by the
Horizon News Staff
With a stroke of his pen, president Tommy Remengesau, Jr. has put a stop to the export of live reef fish yesterday in Bai Mengeliakl,
Ngarchelong. Remengesau signed into law the Senate Bill.
President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. makes it clear, the significance of stopping the exportation of live reef fish yesterday.
PALAUTOURS.COM updated today May 7th 2008...including the FSM...Federated States of Micronesia...plus a lot more very soon.
Before you make all our travel arrangements check it out...why not stop over in the Philippines for a few extra days and Dive some of the best Bio diversity in
the world. Plan your trip as a combination Philippines - Micronesia then you have the very best of both worlds.
Think about it.
PalauTours.com Now... Welcome to Micronesia!
The colors of the Pacific...
(FSM - The Federated States of Micronesia)
Chuuk (Truk Lagoon) - Yap - Kosrae & Pohnpei
Click the image or the link below
http://www.palautours.com/micronesia.html
As promised... we have just updated the
palautours.com site changes and NEW additions are as follow;
Micronesia section is updated see the screenshot on this blog - a Palau and Regional map has been added -
in the Photo Gallery we have now provided caption on all the images for easy identification - Getting here is
been updated - some pages have additional text - plus we have changed some photos in various categories.
More to come by this weekend and an incredible update is in progress for the Dive sites of Palau, we will feature
most of the dive sites and not only the popular ones, a big undertaking but I am sure you enjoy it once that is done.
We try very hard to have our first listings up also by Sunday, please stay tuned or start subscribing.
Your Palau Tours Team
A NEW Website on PALAU Micronesia...bringing the Philippines and Micronesia closer? Travel News from the Pacific...
a very interesting NEW site which promise to be a huge source of information, I guess they still sorting out some issues but from what I have seen so far WOW.
If this site goes the way it looks already then what else do you need for your information on Palau and Micronesia.
The Philippine-Micronesia Alliance is keeping an eye on this one and we try to link up with them sooner than later.
Have a good browse, even it is not quiet finished but it is certainly very impressive.
GD
PALAUTOURS.COM
Your Tour Guide to Palau and Micronesia
© Gunther Deichmann - Kayaks in the Rock Islands, Palau
click the image and go to our Gallery @
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
PALAUTOURS.COM is a unique and very informative site for
all Your requirements before traveling to Palau in Micronesia.
The site is fully up and running but we have to fix some minor glitches
and add some more exciting pages for you.
By this coming weekend we should have everything just about in place.
The interesting part is, not only Palau will be represented but we include
islands like Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae in due time.
Just stay tuned or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest developments.
With these addition we bring you a lot closer to this amazing part of the world, You dont get any closer to Nature...above and below the waves.
To some extend these islands are still unexplored in parts hence the recent discovery of some unusual inhabitants (see our last blog) the scientist are still debating who and where these small people came from. PalauTours.com is trying to keep you well informed from this part of the World, not only on leisure activities, but news on Marine life, Science projects, discoveries and of course environmental related issues. If you have any interesting stories please dont hold back, send it to us, we love to publish it.
© Gunther Deichmann - Hotel, Resorts, Restaurant and Bar
Guide/Information
on Palau...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
© Gunther Deichmann - Duty Free & Retail stores, Tour Operators
Government offices, Conservation & Medical services
plus a lot more...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
© Gunther Deichmann - the World famous Blue Hole and
Blue Corner, Palau, plus many more different dive sites in our
Dive section including Dive Centers & Dive Resorts...
click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
We like YOU to use Palau Tours as your Resort, Hotel, Restaurant, Dive & Tour guide... YOU be amazed how beautiful this part of the world really is.
The Editor
NEW TRUK STOP HOTEL & TRUK LAGGON DIVE CENTER'S WEB SITE...Your tech diving experts...Your facility with HELIUM...TRIMIX...
See below some excerpts from their new HOME PAGE...
GD
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.
Did You Know...? Dinosaurs dung...& three DUGONGS spotted at the HOUSE REEF at Club Paradise last week...Dive with Dugong Dive Center
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
OUR ENVIRONMENT...& Exhibition in Armenia with images by Gunther Deichmann and many other international Photographers
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/