Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic Google translation from a post originally written in French. My apologies for the weird sentences and the funny mistakes that could have been generated during the process. If you can read French, the original and correct version can be found here:
Français Philippines: Visayas - February 2008
A last photo today of the black sand beach of Dauin. You can see, deep down, the island of Apo. The sun is finally back ... the day of my departure, of course!
Frileuse, me?
The underwater class. (Dauin, Negros, Philippines, February 2008)
Our guides at Sea Explorers are the kings of the underwater style. (Dauin, Negros, Philippines, February 2008)
The gray weather persisted all the time of my stay in Dauin. It's not a big deal for dives, but all the same, a small ray of sunshine is always welcome to warm up when you get out of the water.
It may be at 27 ° C, as usual I'm a little dull at the return to the surface, despite my overlay lycra + combi + shorty.
I'm not the only one playing onion peels. Our guides and customers who have their own combi do the same. The most cautious and fragile of the ears even wear hoods, scarves and other protective headbands.
Diving in Dauin and Apo Island
The dives here are the most spectacular of all the ones I made during this Philippine trip. The corner is alive with life. There is a lot of poiscaille and a variety of sites that allows you to alternate diving muck (on sand), drift dive, drop offs, reefs ... A real festival.
I did not stay long enough to explore all the sites. But I'm definitely going back. Maybe next year ? But preferably in March or April, just to be sure to have good weather all the time ...
Among the dives to do absolutely: those ofApo Island. It's simple, the first time, we do not know where to turn, so Apo sites are rich in fish and corals.
Be careful though, on the sites located east of the island, like Cogon, there are currents to decorate the nudibranchs ... But the sensation is quite exhilarating, especially when one is surrounded by schools of trevallies, groupers huge and suddenly popped a damn bumpy parrot.
Hard to take pictures at this place, with the current. If you see a beautiful nudi, not sure that the rest of the team stops too and wait the time of the development ... But there are other sites more protected from the current around Apo, west side, and there, we have the time to ask ourselves to rave about some nice creatures and draw them the portrait.
The center Sea Explorers with which I dive is very well organized and equipped in large banca (the traditional boats with pendulums) powerful, which hold the swell and allow to quickly gain the different sites.
We decide to dives more or less from day to day. My favorite ones I've done: Apo Island, so, The Pier and Masaplod.
Nudibranchs everywhere
My compact camera being more adapted to photograph the "little" than for the images of environment, I gave myself to joy with the nudibranchs ... It is very simple, there is everywhere! For those who, like me, love these little sea slugs, Dauin is paradise!
The staff and guides are very caring. There are many photographic divers among the mostly German speaking clientele at the resort Pura Vida, affiliated to Sea Explorers, thatEldorado neighbour.
But I still find some French and I get along with Frédérique and Thomas, a very nice couple of Colmar, with whom I chat in the evening, with Hervé, around San Miguel. We immerse ourselves in the books of identification of nudibranchs, we tell stories of divers ...
Philippines: Visayas - February 2008