For the past few days I have been on Panglao Island, just off the south coast of Bohol. I stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the ocean. The room looks out across a white sand beach to the reef and beyond. The weather has been perfect.
The highlight was a diving trip to Ballicasag Island, a tiny island six kilometres off the coast of Bohol, surrounded by a perfect reef. I did two 50 minute dives with a break in between of 45 minutes for recovery and safety. It really was a blissful experience. I was able to settle into comfortable diving right away, thanks to much training and help from my brother- and sister-in-law in Bonaire on previous holidays. If you are not comfortable and don't have sufficient skills, diving can be a miserable experience! I had a dive master with me and there were no other divers! There were literally millions of fish around us, some of them following us in a cloud hoping for stirred up tidbits, some, like the delightful clownfish guarding their anemones, and others just darting around looking for their food.
Many of the coral formations were new and fascinating to me and, although the fish families are of course similar, and I could group fish into families, the colour variations are nothing short of dazzling! Sometimes when I am underwater, I imagine that a demented artist has gone before me and painted the fish in bizarre bright colours and fantastical patterns. I saw more than 30 green turtles and several of them were busy grazing so it was possible to see the chewing and spitting! A special moment for me was when the dive master pointed out a male and female thin ghost pipefish. Pipefish and sea horses are related and form a very small family and are extremely difficult to spot because of their camouflage talent. These ghost pipefish looked exactly like two pieces of seaweed! They are monogamous and the female is the larger of the two. They hang in the water long face pointing down!
Today, I sail back to Cebu Island and travel to Moalboal, another diving paradise on the southwest coast of the island.
View of Ballicasag Island:
The highlight was a diving trip to Ballicasag Island, a tiny island six kilometres off the coast of Bohol, surrounded by a perfect reef. I did two 50 minute dives with a break in between of 45 minutes for recovery and safety. It really was a blissful experience. I was able to settle into comfortable diving right away, thanks to much training and help from my brother- and sister-in-law in Bonaire on previous holidays. If you are not comfortable and don't have sufficient skills, diving can be a miserable experience! I had a dive master with me and there were no other divers! There were literally millions of fish around us, some of them following us in a cloud hoping for stirred up tidbits, some, like the delightful clownfish guarding their anemones, and others just darting around looking for their food.
Many of the coral formations were new and fascinating to me and, although the fish families are of course similar, and I could group fish into families, the colour variations are nothing short of dazzling! Sometimes when I am underwater, I imagine that a demented artist has gone before me and painted the fish in bizarre bright colours and fantastical patterns. I saw more than 30 green turtles and several of them were busy grazing so it was possible to see the chewing and spitting! A special moment for me was when the dive master pointed out a male and female thin ghost pipefish. Pipefish and sea horses are related and form a very small family and are extremely difficult to spot because of their camouflage talent. These ghost pipefish looked exactly like two pieces of seaweed! They are monogamous and the female is the larger of the two. They hang in the water long face pointing down!
Today, I sail back to Cebu Island and travel to Moalboal, another diving paradise on the southwest coast of the island.
View of Ballicasag Island:
Nigel, I have just read your entire blog. How interesting it is to follow your life - summarized in elegant prose and illustrated with great photos. (I have now added your blog to my Feedly.com feed.) I've only snorkelled with whale sharks, and I'm envious of your diving with them. Must have been fabulous. And aren't reef fish incredible?! Your New Zealand and Asia experiences both sound wonderful. I'm so glad. Happy to see you looking so well yesterday. See you around the compound!
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