DIVING ACRONYMS In this log I use some acronyms to make it easier for me to remember where I went and what I saw:
LOCATIONSÂ (Mostly at Bare Island unless otherwise stated - see website pages for locations)Â SHR - Sea horse rock OHR - Opera House rocks STR - Sea tulip rocks SHC - Sea horse corner BR - Block rock (also Big Rock at Inscription Point) RIFR - Red indianfish reef IR1 -Isolated Reef 1 IR2 -Isolated Reef 2 15MR - 15 Metre Reef LR - Long rock AR - Anglerfish rock N, S, E, W, NE, NW etc - compass headings LBR - Little big rock at Inscription Point ER - Exit Rock at Inscription Point
FISH ETC BIA - Bare Island Anglerfish (red fingered anglerfish) PPH - Pygmy pipehorse BBSH - Big belly sea horse RIF - Red indianfish USDP - Upsidedown pipefish
1 October 2024 - Clifton Gardens Decided to go to the dark side and cross the harbour to dive. Forgot my camera! Dived solo and went through the net, well I lifted it up (only one hole now, came back that way). Went along net and then to end of the wharf. Then W to the huge chain and followed that SE and then took the off shoots, now there is a rope for one section as chain is under sand at first. This goes to the yacht which has now totally fallen apart and collapsed. Then to the main anchor and buoy. Then took the N chain from here and at end over to the wharf on Chowder Bay side. Then across to wharf, easter island statue and bessa blocks, then to sea horse hotels and back into net. Only one white's sea horse, one or two large bullrays, some nice nudibranchs, a few small cuttlefish. All the usual luderick, leatherjackets etc. not the best dive. Visibility poor.Â
3 October 2024 - Middle Ground A bit sloppy and some SE swell so decided to dive deeper. Humpback whales on the way out, only 20 metres from use, stayed on the surface for a while and one tail showing. Heard them all through the dive. Anchored off NE corner on the boulders. Viz 10+ metres. Went around the whole reef, large school of yellowtail followed us for half, then some seapike. A large wobbegong shark off N side and a PJ on S. Plenty of leatherjackets and some mado. No donuts or blue devilfish. Forgot to take lift bag so did not go back to anchor, just to top of reef near where the rope was. Some tiger anemones here on sea whips. Then up. A very nice and relaxing dive. Visibility good.
4 October 2024 - Bare Island Right A little swell meant W point was not a viable option. Water cooler at 17C and a bit of surge down to 13 metres. Viz was 8 or so m. Went down normal way to start of IR1 and then to SHC and back. No PPH, RIF or sea dragons. A lot of the normal nudibranchs and two upsidedown pipefish. A few PJs, a large flathead and a pair of friendly black reef leatherjackets. A nice relaxing dive but that is it. Visibility good.
5 October 2024 - Henry's Sponge Garden Club boat dive, three boats and 11 divers. Large swell running 2.0 to 4.0 m offshore and 8 to 13 sec period. Bommie was 1.2 to 2.2 m and breaking occasionally. Despite this, it was not too bad underwater, mostly surge was minor with some bigger pushes every few minutes. Sand was stirred up so viz only 4-5 m. Cold though, about 16.4C but 17.5 on safety stop. Went S till 15 min mark and then back to N and past anchor. Lots of sand there with boulders. Not many fish around, others saw a small RIF and a sea dragon. A few nudibranchs. Back to anchor and spent the rest of the time under the boat. Not the greatest dive but better than I thought it would be. Visibility poor.
6 October 2024 - Bypass Reef Much better seas than yesterday. Checked out if there was a current here before anchoring, did not seem to be but sure enough, there was. Decided to not take camera. Went down as planned but my buddy did not follow our instructions and missed the line. He tried to get down and to deco line but did not, ended up on the extended mermaid line. I got to bottom, moved anchor and waited but he did not arrive. The visibility was well over 10 metres and not that much current on the bottom and warmer at 18C. Lots of fishlife. Then came down, but I was almost back up by then. So I only did a 17 minute dive. Not a great dive. Visibility very good.
Next dives are all at Dauin in the Philippines.
13 October 2024 - San Miguel Site is SW from Liquid, less than five minutes. Millpond seas, no wind and 29C temperature. Started at mooring and went SE and then SW. Sandy bottom, a few bits of coral with growth. Quite a few Shaun the Sheep and other nudibranchs. A flamboyant cuttlefish, two small soles, a few anemones with clownfish, porcelain crabs and glass shrimp. After 30 mins headed NE back to mooring. A few more nudibranchs and in the shallows a large wide-bodied pipefish. A nice relaxing first dive of the trip. Visibility very good.
13 October 2024 - Black Diamond Located off half finished dive resort called Black Diamond. Similar dive to first one, but coral reef to NE of mooring. A little bit dirtier, perhaps 12 metres. Went SW first and then back past mooring to reef and around that. More nudibranchs, an eel, some lionfish, two juvenile snapper, three cowries, and more. Anemones and clownfish too. There were five fish traps around the coral. Ended up back in shallows. Easy dive. Visibility good.Â
14 October 2024 - Bulak Only a short distance from resort. We didn't moor, live drop and picked up near where we started. Sandy bottom and some rocky reefs, only a metre or so high. Some small overhangs and coral growth. Went S along them for 50 metres and then deeper and N again. Another pipefish, different species, quite a few nudibranchs, anemones and clownfish with porcelain crabs, Plenty of ropes on the bottom and a couple of mooring blocks. Back up in shallows there was warm water coming out of the sand. Good dive. Visibility very good.
14 October 2024 - Sahara Further south than other dive sites so far. Tied to back of another boat and then did drift dive to north. Sandy bottom again but lots of ropes and moorings from the marine reserve boundary. Then into the artificial reef area. At first cartons of bottles and then a small boat full of cartons of bottles. Further on concrete structures of many types. Then a large barn structure made of steel. A tiny black anglerfish, a few lionfish, batfish, a larger yellow with black spots boxfish, anemones and clownfish. Also a featherstar with shrimp, nudibranchs and more. A very good dive site. Visibility very good. Â
15 October 2024 - Bonnet Corner Furtherest S we have been so far. Sand ridges to SE and small pebbles in between. Zig-zagged around. Lots of very large garden eels, biggest I have seen I think. Three flamboyant cuttlefish and a small lemon one. Quite a few ocotpus, including a couple of small wonderpus. A snake eel, another eel, no nudibranchs, featherstar shrimp and squat lobster, a couple of anemones and clownfish, a strange crab trying to open a shell, some interesting other small fish. Ended up in shallows as normal. Very good dive. Visibility very good.
15 October 2024 - Talisay Started on a mooring and went N, sand and then some coral outcrops on the slop. A larger bommie and some smaller ones. Some mooring blocks too and a large barrel sponge. I found a giant anglerfish on the bommie and then we saw a brilliant tiger pipefish. A few nudibranchs, some more eels, more featherstar shrimp and squat lobsters, Another nice dive. Visibility very good.
16 October 2024 - Masaplod North Located south 12 minutes. Two sandy ridges running east, went down gully then S to first one. Some rocks and coral here, a few barrel sponges, gorgonias and sponges. Not much life. A couple of fish traps off the reef. A few anemones with clownfish, porcelain crabs and shrimp. A small eel and a few other things. Then went N to the other ridge which also had rocks and coral and many more barrel sponges. Here a few nudibranchs, including green striped one with red extremeties. Huge garden eels all over again. Only an average dive. Visibility very good.
16 October 2024 - Ginamaan About 200 metres north of last dive site. Main feature is a tyre reef about 20 by 25 metres in size, small truck tyres split at bottom and standing in threes or fours making caves. Went via sand first, then to here. A black anglerfish, impossible to photo as usual, a tiger pipefish but not as bright as the one from two days ago. Then a brilliant green giant anglerfish which yawned. Lots of fishlife. Then back to boat, saw a few nudibranchs and a pufferfish being cleaned by a glass shrimp next to an anemone. Very good dive. Visibility good.
17 October 2024 - Cars Located about 10 minutes south, just before yesterday's sites. Did two dives here, both different. Went E along the mooring rope line, 5 mins to get to the drop off, sandy slope down to more rope, some mooring blocks and a bunch of conrete pipes and "thimbles". Lots of life around them. Then N to the bottom of the steep slope and more mooring blocks and ropes. Went further along the rope to 27 m. Saaw a black anglerfish here and two tiger pipefish. Some interesting nudibranchs. We also saw a soft coral (candy) crab, the first I have seen in over 7 years. Went up the slope and then across to SW. Hot water coming out of sand again. Lots of huge garden eels shallow. Came back across to the main rope and back to boat, two juvenile batfish on the mooring line. Good dive. Visibility very good.Â
17 October 2024 - Cars Second dive went S to reef edge and followed it E to the steep wall and then S. Lots of nice corals, some sea whips, sponges, a large bommie and more. A few moray eels, one large, a huge octopus under coral, two turtles, both quite friendly and a few nice nudibranchs. Saw another black anglerfish too. Back across reef at about 9 to 14 m and then followed sand and mooring rope to boat. Another good dive. Visibility a milky very good.
18 October 2024 - Bonnet Corner Second dive here but this time started on N side and drifted S in a very slight current. The bottom here is a gentle slope, sand with small rocks and pebbbles. Plenty of other divers, must have mostly been from shore as only one other boat. Saw wunderpus, blue-ringed octopus and algae octopus. Also saw about six snake eels, a weird crocodile eel and plenty of garden eels. These I got very close to and got some reasonable photos. A few different cuttlefish, one only 10 mm long. Also saw a free swimming lionfish and a few other small ones. At the end I found a shrimp on a sea pen, been looking every dive. A good dive again. Visibillity very good.
18 October 2024 - JJs Dive Site This site is north of Ginamaan and apparently a new one. We tied to back of a large banca and went NE across the sand to a slope and then a reef. The first section had a few barrel sponges, a couple of small bommies and heaps of coral "plates", thousands of them. Then a sand section and then another reef section but no plates, just lots of weed. Some fish traps off and on the reef, we moved one from top of a bommie and I then cut it open as a pufferfish caught inside. I found two more tiger pipefish, there were a few nudibranchs and a highlight was a pufferfish being cleaned by about six glass shrimp. A few moray eels, three turtles, two of which had a fight over ownership of a bommie. The new one won! Around here we headed back SW and eventually in the shallows back to where we started. A good dive too. Visibility milky but very good. Â
19 October 2024 - Atlantis Home Reef Moored N end of the marine enclosure north of Alantis Resort. Went SE to nice coral reef, then S. Did not go real deep, mostly above 18 m. Camera would not work, turned out the zoom button on camera broke. I think I have jerry-rigged it for rest of the trip, but no zooming at all. Nice fishlife but not a lot of special things, I found a medium sized pipefish, a couple of ordinary nudibranchs. Went 30 mins S and then came back at 10 to 12 m. A few butterflyfish, pufferfish, some anemones and clownfish and of course garden eels. Near the turnaround a lot of yellow fish. A nice relaxing if somewhat average dive. Visibility very good.
19 October 2024 - Sahara Did this site again as we had some new divers with us, first lot really since we got here. Went in at the S end again and did a one-way drift to the N. However, the last 20 mins was into a current which was not there before. Not too hard but solid. Went the same rough way as on 14th, but a bit deeper. Found another sunken boat, this time a small yacht. Lots of Sergeant Majors in it as well as other fish. Again, nothing real special except near the smaller "barn", there were four of the nudibranchs with red extremities. A few batfish, short-finned bannerfish and butterflyfish near the artificial reef. Lots of other tropical species too. A good dive anyway. Visibility very good except some small sections where about 10 m.
20 October 2024 - Talisay Glassy seas and no wind and much bluer water, viz was about 30 metres compared to 20 previously. Went NE and N to to mooring blocks and then to the coral reef bits. We dived here last Tuesday too and I again found the grey/green giant anglerfish I found then, still in the exact same spot. Then up the slop a little and a tiger pipefish in same spot at bottom of sea whip which had shrimp and gobies. I did not see that pipefish but I found another one under a small bommie. We also saw two small turtles here and guide saw a larger one later. Then we headed back to SW to mooring. Saw Shaun the Sheep nudibranchs, garden eels and razorfish. A few more nudis in shallows. A good dive. Visibility excellent.
20 October 2024 - San Miguel Glassy seas and no wind but windy after the dive. Dived here first dive of the trip. Went in to NE and N to the mooring blocks holding the big banca with divers above. Went to the small bit of coral bits, a few anemones and clownfish. Then S to the small artificial reef, mostly concrete cones but two large TV antennas and the real reef next to it. Not a huge amount of interesting stuff, a few nudibranchs, some shrimp but I had problems focusing on the small stuff not on the ground. Lots of other divers seen near the reef. Some small garden eels and razorfish. Back to boat and John found a wide-bodied pipefish, perhaps the one seen last Sunday. A fair dive but nothing special. Visibility excellent.
21 October 2024 - Apo Island, The Chapel Went over to Apo Island on a large banca, there were eight divers and four staff. Wind picked up as we went and it was a relatively rough trip. The west side of the island was getting smashed by the SW wind, but we dived there anyway. Once in the water went W to a sandy slope. Saw a large black giant anglerfish here. Then S to the wall. This was pretty impressive, from 10 to 40 m I would say. However, not a great deal of growth or life on it. A nice cave, a few overhangs and an electric clam. After 35 mins we came up shallower and last 15 mins we came back across the top of the reef. Two turtles seen in this section. Not too bad getting onto the banca despite its bucking. An average dive. Visibility very good.Â
21 October 2024 - Apo Island, Cogon After first dive we moved around to the NE side of the island, totally protected here and heaps of boats moored. We tied to one and then did a drift dive to the S. The bottom was a gently sloping coral reef, very impressive. So colourful, so many different corals and fish. We saw a large school of jacks and other species like Moorish idol, short-finned bannerfish, butterflyfish and more. An excellent dive site. Visibility excellent.
21 October 2024 - Apo Island, Kan-Uran Located SE corner of Apo Island. Wind was from SW so a bit rougher here. Dropped in at mooring and S to wall and then SW. Really good wall, went to at least 30 or 35 metres, but we only went to 21 m. Into slight current. Very colourful, with lots of sponges, sea whios, small gorgonias and coral. Plenty of fish, all the usual tropical species. Turn around at 32 mins when we found a gorgeous colourful anglerfish. Back along the top part of the wall and then on the top itself. A great dive. Visibility very good.Â
22 October 2024 - Sahara Typhoon Kristine is E of Manila and causing rain and strong winds. Boat diving cancelled, shore dives only. Went via jeepney to shore near the site. A concrete wall and some flat areas. Entry and exit easy, only small waves and mostly sand bottom. Had to swim out a bit before descending. Arrived at the N end of artificial reef. The yacht is here. Went along the rope which is a bit deeper and re-found the small yellow seahorse. Also saw a turtle on the reef, a few different species of eel and one red-tipped nudibranch. Lots of yellow fish, some bannerfish and butterflyfish, batfish, large and semi-juvenile and a pipefish. Went S a fair bit and then back throough middle of the reef. Then N for safety stop and W to exit. A nice easy dive. Visibility very good.Â
22 October 2024 - Sahara Had to do second dive here, wind too strong at places further S. Many dive shops here. This time did not go to the rope, just followed the E end of reef to S end, then back from there. Similar things to last dive as well as a large grouper. Back at the coral bommie near the smaller "barn", found four red-tipped nudibranchs that we there Saturday. Viz was down a fair bit from first dive, perhaps 12 m. A nice dive though. Visibility good.
Lost last three days of diving due to typhoon, now back home in Sydney.Â
30 October 2024 - Middle Ground First dive with new Seatec Drysuit. All went well, but need a little more weight as no air in suit at all at 6 m. Big swell from SE but smooth. Warm 19C down to 25m then 17C. A little surge and some current from N all the way to bottom. Anchored on NE corner, moved anchor to first rock off. Went around, a small school of yellowtail on NW corner. No wobbies or donuts, but a few leatherjackets, even on anchor line on the way up. Nice dive. Visibility good.
31 October 2024 - Shiprock A weekday but heaps of divers here, almost all of whom we know. Went in from behind the rock as now easier. Started off with two buddies but lost them after about 10 minutes and did not see again till about 55 minutes. Not much really, only a couple of nudibranchs, a large sole, one moray eel, some bubble shells, one was been attacked by a leatherjacket. A large bullray between second last and last outer bommie. Plaque was quite clean, but mostlyy unreadable. Went to last inner bommie and then back. Only one pineapplefish, but apparently another hiding under Bubble Cave and one more at bottom of start. Lots of leatherjackets, a few yellowtail, a few convict (eddie) gobies and apparently a few pipefish on exit slope. A nice easy dive, but unexciting. Visibility fair.
2 November 2024 - The Leap Deep Club boat dive, was supposed to be at Bypass Reef but too rough to go outside the bay. Even here it was a bit uncomfortable. Anchored on top of the reef and went W on very slight incoming tide. Only did a short dive as I miscalculated expected bottom time and had to get back before second group descended. Was much warmer than recent, 20C and at least 15 m viz. Went right along the wall to the rockfall and then back again. Went a little E before returning to anchor and ascending. Other group did a drift. Saw a horned shark, quite a few nudibranchs, some yellowtail and more. A very nice dive. Visibility very good.Â
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