Anilao - A Macro Paradise
Nudibranch at Dari-Laut, Anilao, Philippines
As part of my job I am lucky enough to get to travel within the Southeast Asia region and in January I needed to go and visit our site near Manila in the Philippines. As it was also Chinese New Year approaching I decided to take a couple of days vacation and add on a little diving trip as this was the first time I’d been the the Philippines and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Initially I had wanted to travel to Malapascua to see the world famous Thresher Sharks, however the logistics of this turned out to be a too complicated so I opted to head to Anilao, 2.5 hours drive from Manila to indulge in a spot of macro and muck diving.
Having done a little bit of research I settled on a small boutique resort, Blue Ribbon which had a good reputation and also had great facilities for underwater photographers which seemed to really hit the spot. A week before we were due to leave, the Taal volcano erupted and I was a little nervous that this could affect our travel plans, however the resort were great in helping find out information and arranging a pick up from the hotel in Manila to drive us down to Anilao. We arrived after the drive and were immediately able to check in , the staff at the front desk were really helpful. Anilao, while beautiful is not what you may immediately expect from the Philippines - its not white sand and palm trees, but more rugged with pebble beaches and a stunningly rugged terrain.
After check in I was able to get an orientation dive arranged for the afternoon and was soon geared up on the boat and headed for El Pinoy. The site was a sandy bottom so we had to be careful not to kick up the sand and while at first glance it may not have seemed to be too exciting there was a lot to see. By sticking close to Dang, our dive guide, we were able to spot lots of macro life from Hairy Shrimp, Nudibranchs, Pipefish, Cockatoo Waspfish and even a flying Gurnard. The one thing that did surprise me was the water temperature. Living in Malaysia and diving mostly there and in Indonesia the water here was 26 C - while this may not sound cold it certainly made me shiver even wearing a 3mm wetsuit. Apparently the water warms up by April time, but at this time of year, while having good sea conditions and visibility, it isn’t too warm.
Clownfish patrolling their Anemone at Blue Ribbon House Reef, Anilao Philippines
Since taking up underwater photography I have been wanting to take the PADI UW Digital Photographer course as a way to learn a bit more and improve my technique. I had enquired upfront with Blue Ribbon about doing this course, however due to the owner not being able to dive for a few weeks recently they were unsure if I’d be able to do it. However, I was in luck, Jon, the owner had worked out a way where I could do the theory with him on land and then the underwater practise with Laura, the resident instructor, and review the results with them both after. This, I thought was fantastic news and the next day I started the course with them. We spent some time reviewing my set up and camera and Jon helped me to make some small adjustments (1 stone rather than 2 that were different, camera settings, auto focus etc) that made a massive difference. I did the first dive of the course on the house reef and found I was struggling to focus on the small subjects, but managed to get some nice shots of Clownfish - the dive was great as no pressure to move on and I could relax and focus in on the subject. I later reviewed the results with Jon and Laura and we made a few more settings adjustments and also added on a macro wetness which really allowed me to get up close to some of the subjects. We did the second dive in the afternoon at Koala and it was easy to see the improvements in my pictures after the tutoring from Jon. I was really pleased with some of the shots, understanding the settings and letting the strobe do most of the work from a lighting/colour perspective was a huge step forward.
Mating Nudibranchs at Blue Ribbon House Reef
The next day was a chance to get in three dives and I was really looking forwards to getting into the water with my camera and putting what I had learnt to good use. The first dive of the day was at Dari-Laut, a wreck covered with coral and hosting some great macro life. We went down to about 30m and were greeted by lots of Nudibranchs, a spider crab, mushroom coral pipefish and an electric disco clam - the first time I had seen one of these! It was also the first time I had used Nitrox since taking the Enriched Air Diver course a few months back. The second dive was an El Pinoy again and we were very glad of warm coffee during our surface interval as the water was still around 26/27 degrees. At El Pinoy we again saw lots of Nudis, but also frogfish, a baby cuttlefish & skeleton shrimp. The afternoon dive was at Cathedral where our guide Dang got very excited about seeing a Candy Crab. All in all a greats days diving, if a little cold after three dives but was glad to get back to the resort, have a couple of cold Filipino beers and some of the great food cooked by the kitchen staff.
Pygmy Seahorse at Kirby’s Point
The last day we could only fit two dives in due to surface intervals and having to fly back the next day. As it was our last day we requested that we dive somewhere we could see Pygmy Seahorses, Dang, our guide went and had a quick chat with some of the other divers and then announced we were off to Kirby’s Point. It was a little further away on the boat, but well worth the journey, almost as soon as we had gone down than we found a sea fan that must have had about 10 individuals on it! I patiently waited my turn and then got into position and using the skills I had learnt a few days earlier managed to get off a number of shots. A quick review and I was happy with the results. The rest of the dive was also fantastic with a lot of Nudi’s, frogfish, spider crabs and pipefish. Easily the best dive of our time there, a real highlight and so fantastic to see Pgymy Seahorses, having seen them a couple of times before in Raja Ampat and Pulau Mabul but not being able to get any pictures or video. The last dive was again at El Pinoy and almost felt like an anticlimax after Kirby’s! Still, it was a good way to round a great few days diving.
I’d really recommend Blue Ribbon and Anilao if you’re into macro and muck diving. It’s not for everyone, but it is rewarding and you see some really interesting stuff. Blue Ribbon is also a great place to stay and dive with - great facilities, great dive staff and a brilliant underwater photography instructor in Jon. Oh, and did I mention the food was top notch as well?!
