Incredible Scuba Diving at Isla Verde, Philippines

Its time for a big new adventure. On the top of the list, the Philippines. For the adventurer in me the Philippines is a massive archipelago with over 7,000 different islands. For the scuba diver it boast some of the worlds best underwater biodiversity. And for the photographer the islands have an amazing amount of color both above and below the water. Outriggers of every color ply the waters taking scuba divers to sites to find neon yellow frogfish and vibrant purple, green, and blue giant clams. The people are friendly and even the touts (the young men trying to sell you stuff on the streets) don't seem as pushy as many other countries I've been too. The food so far has been nothing to write home about. The local food is basic and cheap, based in rice. Western food is available but costly for very mediocre quality. San Miguel beer is found around every corner and taste refreshing enough after a couple of scuba dives.

My girlfriend and I are here during the start of the rainy season, and it poured on us during our travel day from Manila to Puerto Galera, our first diving destination. It was a 2.5hr bus ride and then a 1hr ferry boat ride to get to Puerto Galera. A man met us at the dock with a sign that said "Mr. Dai Mar." I should have taken a picture of that. All in all from the moment the plane landed in Manila to the time we were checked into our room at Puerto Galera it was the easiest, smoothest transition of connections I've had. It was easy to change money at the airport, our bags came out quickly, no line for the taxi, which were metered so no hassle, right to our hotel for the night. Then walked right outside to catch our bus the next morning. Way to go Philippines for being so organized.

After checking in at our little dive shop, South Sea Divers, the manager told us all kinds of local secrets, restaurants, and oddities of Puerto Galera. You can catch Jeepnies, these elongated bus type local transportations for pretty cheap to nearby town if you want. He pointed out the one pharmacy, the one supermarket, and all of his favorite restaurants.
He also said we might be seeing a lot of old foreign men with young local girls. Apparently Puerto Galera is a bit infamous for discos operating as a front for prostitution. He warned that any building labeled disco will actually be a GoGo bar with girls dancing on poles and selling themselves to some pretty skeezy older men. Heidi has been trying to brainstorm ways to create jobs in the area for girls so they don't have to do this. As we looked over a map of the Philippines with him I was amazed at his in depth knowledge of the country. I knew that there was dynamite fishing still going on somewhere in the Philippines but the amount that he said was staggering. So much of the outer east, south, and west parts of the country have reefs that are decimated by years of uncontrolled dynamite fishing practices. The locals use fertilizer to make their own dynamite and kill all the reef in one fell swoop. Overfishing is running rampant. Fishing villages that used to go out 1 kilometer to catch fish are now going 15km. Luckily the scuba diving industry is doing its best to turn that around in certain areas. The money to be made from taking care of the reef is starting to be realized by communities in desperate need of a long term plan. Puerto Galera is one of those places doing a great job at this.

Since it is the rainy season it is also the low season for tourists. We often have restaurants to ourselves or just a few others. Our dive boat often goes out with just four of us. Most of the boats are long wooden pangas with two outriggers on either side. Although our boat is pictured above with no outriggers. Usually we do a dive at 9am and another at 1pm. Then its happy hour for the rest of the day. We can explore the town and its people. We have found the 1hr massages are less than $10 so you can imagine Heidi's excitement. Our first massage I had the tiniest woman masseuse in the world but still almost brought me to tears working on my shoulders. I am a bit more descriptive in what I want from my massages now

But we were mostly here for the diving, and diving we did. The day trip to Isla Verde really blew us away. I took my wide angle lens on our first dive and my macro for the second. Here are some of the scenes that I was able to capture.

Heidi smiling big as she hovers over some of the most pristine coral reef in the Philippines.

Scuba divers descending into the depths to explore mountains of coral.

A closer look reveals all kinds of wondrous fish and invertebrates. This scorpionfish has lightning bolts for eyes.

One of my favorite shots, a wide angle of a skunk anemone fish, hiding out in the most fluorescent pink anemone around.

A different kind of scorpion fish. These guys have poisonous spines in each of their fins. Look but don't touch!

A massive barrel sponge dwarfing a nearby scuba diver.

The fish life here was just amazing. There were brightly colored schools of fish everywhere. I will put this location very high on my 'world dive list.' It put my dives in the Great barrier reef to shame.