Club Ocellaris in the Philippines
There are various places in the world that are renowned as muck diving locations; I always considered Milne Bay Papua New Guinea as one of the ultimate muck diving locations, having returned there now for six live aboard diving trips. And of course I am intrigued with Kungkungan Bay Resort in North Sulawesi, Indonesia which I consider, after three trips, to be the ultimate macro photography location. However Woody Mayhew has been urging me to try the Philippines for many years, and finally this year, I caved in and gave it a try. And I must tell you, I am glad I did.
Getting There
Philippines
Getting to the Philippines from the United States involves traveling to one of the gateway cities of Los Angeles or San Francisco and then going on to either Singapore or Hong Kong prior to going to Manila. Probably the easiest route is via Hong Kong but your preferences may be different and your mileage (pardon the pun) may vary. In my particular case, I was preceding the trip with a visit to the Maldives on the Manthiri (see separate trip report) so I was forced to go through Singapore and then on to Manila. There were minimal hassles with baggage despite camera gear and dive gear totaling 180+ lbs. Airport security was variable depending on the city and country, and while inconsistent, seemed pretty effective.
The airport in Manila is modern and well organized, clean, and efficiently run. No hassles with customs for me, as they seem very accustomed to divers. Once in Manila, there is a long but interesting 3-4 hour drive to the resort. The reason for the high variation in travel times is that Manila is a large city with VERY significant commuter rush hour periods.
Club Ocellaris
Club Ocellaris is located near Anilao in Batangas on a fairly large channel with water traffic ranging from outrigger bancas to moderate size cargo vessels. Due to the tides, currents in the channel can be absolutely fierce but this transport of nutrients provides an environment for marine animals that is exceptional. The rise and fall of tides is clearly visible as are the currents. The phases of the moon determine mating activities as well as current and tides so attention to this detail may be of value. Also, there is definite seasonality to the diving and water temperature with perhaps the best period of diving being March through May.
Club Ocellaris is owned and operated by Boy Venus who is one of the nicest people you will ever have the opportunity of talking with. He is an instructor who likes to dive and when things are not busy, he may be found in the water on occasion as well. The club is exceptionally well run! Everything seems laid back but everything works efficeintly and withot obvious effort. The meals are of copious quantity and quality which varied from very good to world class.
Harlequin Shrimp
The resort itself is composed of four large rooms each with four bunk beds. During the week the resort is almost empty but over the weekend, a large number of people come from Manila and the resort is normally quite full. One of the dining areas borders the water providing interesting views of the boat and ship traffic, but this area is uncovered and is subject to weather conditions. We had two periods where this area was not used, due to rain. The other dining area is up on the second story along with a dive shop with some rental gear. This second dining area is covered. Neither the rooms nor the dining areas are air conditioned, making hot days a challenge but there are two fans in every room and the nights were pleasantly cool. Power was fairly consistent but not totally reliable. Power at the resort is 220 volts but it uses American plugs so be sure your charging equipment is compatible. If the resort is full of photographers, camera space would be at a premium. When the weekend guests were there, however, I did not notice any photographers.
Boxer Crab
The Diving Operation
The diving operation has one club-sponsored banca with two boat people and a free lance divemaster. This banca can handle four people with a bit of crowding. However additional bancas are readily available and are inexpensive. In my case, I hired my own divemaster, Homer Hernandex, a NAUI instructor. There are several good dive sites within 15 minutes of the resort and many more that are a bit farther. My favorite was Basura, one of the muck dives. Many of the dives are somewhat shallow but some of the better ones are deep with many dives resulting in decompression (not safety) stops of up to 15 minutes.
A Cute Crab
The Diving
In May of 2002, the water was mostly warm, about 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but in other seasons or occasionally at certain tides, the temperature can plunge to the middle 70's F. Visibility at the muck diving sites is around 30 linear feet or sometimes less, and at the reef diving sites, can range from 50 feet to 80 feet. Wide-angle photography is not very feasible except perhaps at a dive site called Beatrice which could be quite excellent. The reef sites are fairly pristine but the muck diving sites have a lot of trash in the area and are frequented by locals who use it for swimming and other recreation. If having people in the water swimming bothers you, don't go to those sites, as the number of people swimming is large and the trash is not uncommon. However, much of this trash becomes potential homes for unusual animals.
Crinoid Crab
Crinoid Shrimp
Some of the animals found included: Various kinds and colors of ghost Pipefish, Cockatoo Waspfish, Inimicus devil fish, all sizes, shapes, types and colors of frogfish including painted frogfish, clown frogfish, warty frogfish in a variety of colors and 50 or so different Nudibranch species, Stonefish, various colors, sizes, and shapes of Scorpionfish, a huge number and variety of lionfish including rare varieties, and various commensal shrimp and crabs. Photographic examples of the critters found are scattered throughout this trip report.
Shrimp Goby and Shrimp
Land Tours
The resort can arrange various kinds of land tours at moderate prices. The Philippines (except for the one area of the terrorist activity) are safe, scenic, and have people who are courteou, friendly and very tolerant of visitors.
Weather
In May of 2002, the weather was sunny most of the time with about 6 hours of rain over a period of three weeks. Seas are protected and reasonably calm during the Spring but can get whipped up a bit by winds beginning in June. The ultimate months to visit the Philippines seem to be March through May. Animal activity seems more related to lunar cycles, but some months bring interesting critters of other types based on mating cycles.
Bottom Line
For those who have been to Papua New Guinea, I would rate the muck diving as better than PNG but similar in quality and type with even more rare and unusual critters. Critter density and diversity is greater than either KBR or PNG. However, there were not species that were obviously endemic only to this area as there were in Milne Bay (e.g. Rhinopias) or KBR (e.g. Hairy frogfish). In contrast to KBR, the Philippines have some excellent reef sites which are fairly pristine and have excellent visibility. Some of these sites can have strong current so consideration of tides must be taken into consideration.