An unusual bright orange anemone, in which a pair of Maroon/Spinecheek Anemonefish (aka clownfish) lived.
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Soft coral detail (each florette is a separate animal).
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He went that-away! A blue sea star (12 inches across) on the reef next to some white Tunicates (aka sea squirts).
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Banded Pipefish (2 inches long) and its buddy, a small Oval-spot Goby (2 inches)
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Snowflake Moray Eel (head 2 inches across) at the entrance to its hole. Morays are nearly blind, only able to make out vague shapes, hunting almost entirely by smell.
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Snowflake Eel (2 ft long) outside of its hole
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Beautiful Transparent Anemone Shrimp (1/2 to 1 inch long)
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Another Beautiful Transparent Anemone Shrimp (1/2 to 1 inch long)
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Chocolate Chip Sea Star (seriously) - 8 inches across
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Map of Philippines - this trip all took place in the purple section 1/4 of the way up from the bottom....see next photo
Map showing where we dove each day of our trip
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You're gonna get wet... Before our 10-days aboard the Siren, Luke and I spend a few days staying (and diving with) Acqua Dive, about an hour drive S of Dumaguete, and very near where Paul and Estella are building a house. Each day, Acqua Dive's boat (shown here) would leave to spend 2 dives at Apo Island (which you can see in the distance). Getting on and off this boat required wading out (in waves up to 5 feet).
Following are some photos taken while driving from Acqua Dive back to Cebu to catch the Siren. High school students getting out of school.
This is a "Jeepney", essentially small busses that are highly customized and flashy, and usually jam-packed with people.
Dueling Jeepneys. I'm pretty sure I would NOT fit in one of these things!
Another version of a "bus"
Like Jeepneys, trike "taxis" are ubiquitous in the Philippines
One evening we went ashore (that's the Siren offshore) for cocktails at the Atmosphere Resort (a little S. of Dumaguette), which is near the place where Paul and Estella Petersen are building a house!
View from the top deck
My good friend (and long-time dive buddy) Luke, with his son, Adrian in front of the Siren at the beginning of the trip. One of the best things about this trip (for me, but especially for Luke) was getting to spend lots of time with Adrian.
The fabulous crew of the Philippine Siren
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The full crew AND all divers on our Siren trip, back at the dock in Cebu City
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A typical day's schedule (although the normal 4th/night dive was replaced by the shore excursion to Atmosphere Resort). Our 3 days with a first dive at Oslob (whale sharks) or Malapasqua with the thresher sharks began an hour earlier so that we could be in the water by 6AM.
The last diving day (just 2 in the morning).
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Every dive site (and location) was logged here for reference (I took this photo before the final 2 dives on 2/9)
Each dive was preceded by a thorough briefing by Jona or Chrissie, with fairly detailed underwater maps.
Chocolate Island (likely named for the Chocolate Chip Sea-stars found in the waters around the island)
Divers about to leave for a dive (when at the site, everyone rolls backward into the water at once).
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Two dinghy/zodiacs wait and watch for divers to come up.
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Adrian surfaces next to his (or someone's!) safety sausage
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Luke even got an underwater lei on his birthday!
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Adrian takes a Siren selfie
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Adrian and Gary swim ashore on Chocolate Island
Adrian makes it to shore slightly before Gary (at far right)
An island that looks like it could/should be in the Maldives
The "Maldivian" island had dozens of day boats bringing sunbathing tourists for a day at the beach
Luke fights off paparazzi (as he does everywhere we go) as he lands on a shore excursion.
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"Maldivian" island at sunset
Ah, tropical sunsets...
Gato (cat) Island just after sunset
Jona dons her tank for a night dive
Getting ready for night dive
You can see divers' lights on the night dive. The much brighter spot is Nellie, who had a huge RED (brand) video rig with unbelievably bright lights (we called her Starship Nellie)
