TINY TREASURES

Generally we don’t like diving with a guide. Being underwater photographers we like to do things at our own pace, not at the frantic pace of some guide leading ten other divers. However, we were thoroughly spoilt by our guide Ogin on a recent dive trip to Puerto Galera. Not only did we have Ogin to ourselves on almost every dive, but he was invaluable at finding tiny critters, liked to take things slowly, didn’t mind waiting while we took endless photos and enjoyed every dive as much as we did. And all the guides at Puerto Galera seemed to treat every visiting diver like this.
    Located at the northern tip of the Philippine island of Mindoro, Puerto Galera was once a safe anchorage for Spanish galleons with its name meaning ‘Port of the Galleons’. Yachts still anchor in the calm waters here, but diving is the main attraction at Puerto Galera, with critters the number one feature. Divers first discovered the wonderful diving in this area in the 1970s. Being only four hours south of the capital Manila, the coral reefs of Puerto Galera quickly become popular and were protected as a marine reserve in 1973.
    The area is now virtually over-run with dive resorts, which crowd the beaches at Sabang, Small La Laguna, Big La Laguna and Coco Beach. We had booked a week at La Laguna Beach Club and Dive Centre (LLBC) one of the oldest dive operations in the area and owned by Aussies, Frank Doyle and Michael ‘Donno’ Donaldson.
    Arriving at the resort by boat we knew we had picked a fantastic place to stay. LLBC is located at the less crowded Big La Laguna Beach, situated on a white sandy beach with clear blue water lapping the shore. The resort has thirty-one rooms, a restaurant, pool, bar and large dive centre, and operate several dive boats to the forty odd dive sites in the area.

SABANG WRECKS
A number of wrecks, of varying size, have been scuttled off Sabang Beach in depths from 16m to 22m. At the Sabang Wrecks you can explore three of these wrecks in the one dive and finish your dive on the coral outcrops in the shallows. The first wreck we dived was a broken up timber vessel, that was home to reef fish, moray eels, thousands of shrimps and a big school of batfish. After our guide Ogin fed the batfish, which was quite chaotic, we headed over the sand towards the next wreck. This second wreck was of a yacht and was more intact, and decorated with sponges and soft corals. On the wreck we saw lionfish, nudibranchs, hawkfish, rock cod, mantis shrimps and catfish, but the highlight was two lovely painted anglerfish. These spectacular fish, also known as frogfish, are great photo subjects and interesting to watch as they flick their head lures to attract potential prey. The sand around these wrecks is no desert, but home to sea pens, gobies, anemones, sea stars, flounder and many other interesting species. At the next broken up wreck there were masses of reef fish and two giant anglerfish, and by the end of the dive we had seen another two giant anglerfish, plus clown anemonefish, octopus and several pipefish. We enjoyed the dive at the Sabang Wrecks so much that we returned for two more dives here, and each time saw something new, including ornate ghost pipefish, spotted soapfish and a group of shrimpfish.

THE BOULDERS
This site has large boulders, hence the name, decorated with lovely soft corals, sea whips and abundant featherstars. Ogin took us beyond the boulders to 30m and onto the rubble bottom where sea pens, nudibranchs and gobies were common. He then pointed out a beautiful thorny sea horse. While photographing this exquisite sea horse Ogin called us over as he had found two more of these delicate creatures. In the shallows there was also plenty to see, especially nudibranchs, including a few species new to us. We also saw a tiny octopus, lionfish and a juvenile pinnate batfish.

THE HILL
The Hill is only 15m deep and features pretty corals and giant clams. We saw an ornate ghost pipefish, a group of shrimpfish, two species of mantis shrimps, pipefish and prolific reef fish. The highlight was several thorny sea horses and a smaller unusual weedy sea horse amongst the sea grass. At the end of the dive we also located a spectacular snake eel with only the tip of its head protruding from the sand. We returned to The Hill late one afternoon as Ogin had informed us that this was the best place for Mandarinfish. We again saw sea horses, ornate ghost pipefish, a pair of long-nosed hawkfish, nudibranchs, moray eels and a jawfish. Ogin then lead us to a rather plain looking hard coral and there amongst the coral were three splendid Mandarin fish. We watched these magic little fish for quite some time, hoping to get a photo, but they remained deep within the coral.

SHARK CAVE
This site has several ledges where white tip reef sharks rest. Heading to the first ledge in 27m there was one shy reef shark. At the next ledge we found three more sleepy sharks. The reef here was typical of the area with pretty soft corals, gorgonians, sea whips, ascidians and a number of large barrel sponges. Heading up to the shallows there were more nudibranchs and reef fish, and we enjoyed the antics of three moray eels crammed into one small hole.

SINANDIGAN WALL
Sinandigan Wall is the best place to see pygmy sea horses and a glorious wall dive with lots of colour and fish. Ogin quickly located the gorgonian where these tiny sea horse live and pointed out four of them. You need very sharp eyes to see Bargibant’s pygmy sea horses, as they are perfectly camouflaged against the gorgonian and incredibly small, these ones only 10mm high. During the dive we also saw two small Maori wrasse, sweetlips, triggerfish, surgeonfish, hogfish and a wonderful variety of featherstars, which inhabit every dive site in the area in large numbers.

ALMA JANE WRECK
This 35m long cargo ship was scuttled in March 2003 and now sits in 30m. We followed Ogin around the ship and into the cargo hold, seeing several lionfish, banded pipefish and a tiny juvenile ghost pipefish. You can also explore the wheelhouse, but we were too busy photographing all the fish swarming around the bow; sweetlips, rabbitfish, surgeonfish and a large school of batfish. After exploring the wreck we headed over the sand towards the shallows and were amazed to see the bottom covered with fire urchins. These colourful urchins are usually rare, but there were literally hundreds of them. We also saw sea stars, sea pens and a group of lovely purple royal hypselodoris nudibranchs. The coral gardens in the shallows here were incredibly beautiful – soft corals, gorgonians and lots of sponges. We found several small cuttlefish, a large black anglerfish, moray eels, shrimps and a jawfish.

VERDE ISLAND
LLBC also run a liveaboard vessel, Rags II, a 30m boat used to explore some of the best dive sites in the Philippines at Tubbataha Reefs, Apo Reef and the Coron Wrecks. We were fortunate to do a day trip on this very comfortable boat to dive the nearby Verde Island. Located in the Verde Island Passage between Luzon and Mindoro, this island offers some of the best diving in the area. Sheer walls, strong currents and lots of fish action. We jumped in to explore the East Point Drop-off. The visibility was brilliant, 30m, and below us was a steep wall dropping to 60m. We headed down to 30m where some fabulous gorgonians, barrel sponges and soft corals sprouted from the wall. All around us were masses of fish; schools of blue triggerfish, fairy basslets and even golden trevally. As we drifted along the wall with the slight current there was so much to see; moray eels, anemonefish, long-nosed hawkfish, angelfish, rock cod, batfish, a banded sea snake and numerous nudibranchs.
     Our second dive was at The Washing Machine. Here we dived on pretty coral gardens with very healthy hard corals. Reef fish were abundant, but the highlight was finding a beautiful yellow leaf scorpionfish. During the dive the current was very mild, so we didn’t think this dive site would live up to its name. That all changed when we hit the edge of the reef. The current picked up in strength, and was pulling us up, down and sideways. We were happy to exit the water in one piece.
 Each day we enjoyed lovely meals at the LLBC restaurant, which serves a varied of Asian and Western meals and is located overlooking the beach. Above the restaurant is the Gecko Bar, a great place to relax with a cold beer or nice Australian wine after a hard days diving. When not diving you can relax on the beach, bush walk and even play golf.
    The service at LLBC was simply wonderful. Your dive gear is carried to the boat for you and off loaded after each dive. There are large fresh water tubs to wash your gear and plenty of racks to hang the gear to dry. They offer a wide range of dive courses and are one of largest Tek diving centres in the Philippines. Dive groups are kept small, in fact most of the time it was just the two of us and our guide Ogin. They also have no set dive times, so you just organise when and where you want to dive with your guide. You can also request particular critters, and if it is found in the area the guide will know where to find it.
    It would take you several months to explore all the wonderful dive sites at Puerto Galera. Our week at this brilliant dive destination just gave us a taste of the underwater treasures of Puerto Galera and a new appreciation for dive guides.

FACT FILE
International flights to the Philippines arrive in either Manila or Cebu. To get to Puerto Galera from Manila you can catch a bus to Batangas and then the ferry, it is also possible to catch a ferry between Manila and Batangas.
Tourists can get a 21 day visa upon arrival in the Philippines, but if staying longer you will have to organise a visa before hand.
Diving conditions are generally great year round at Puerto Galera, with the water temperature varying from 25C to 30C degrees and the visibility from 20m to 30m.

Information and bookings – La Laguna Beach Club and Dive Centre

Article appeared in Sportdiving No.137 Dec 2009/Jan 2010