| Report on a Classic Destination: The
Glories
of
the
Philippines |
‘Amazing’
also
describes
the
diversity
of
marine
species
in
these
thousands
of
islands.
As
we
plied
the
waters
from
Batangas
Province
to
Apo
Reef
to
Palawan’s
Tubbataha
and
Jesse
Beazley
Reefs,
many
of
us
dove
for
the
first
time
with
wildly
varied
nudibranchs,
shallow,
sunlit
shipwrecks,
stunning
clownfish
and
their
host
anemones,
curious
manta
rays,
giant
jellyfish,
huge
cuttlefish
laying
eggs
amid
the
corals
and
hundreds
of
other
wonders.
Over
that
decade,
however,
the
problems
associated
with
destructive
fishing
methods
(including
dynamite)
intruded
on
our
dive
sites.
When
we
could
no
longer
guarantee
that
a
great
reef
would
still
be
there
for
our
next
visit,
we
reluctantly
had
to
withdraw.
|
| Please review the PhotoGallery at: Philippines PhotoGallery |
Some
of
my
most
enjoyable
cruises
occurred
during
the
1980s
when
I
was
trying
to
introduce
divers
to
the
glories
of
the
Philippine
reefs.For
nearly
a
decade,
our
clients
enjoyed
one
of
the
richest
arrays
of
marine
life
they
had
ever
experienced.
In
those
days,
most
of
today’s
exotic
dive
locales
(Papua
New
Guinea,
Indonesia,
Malaysia)
were
unknown
to
our
divers,
and
live-aboard
dive
cruisers
didn’t
exist
there.In
the
Philippines,
however,
we
had
the
pleasure
of
living
aboard
two
120-foot
vessels
offering
what
was
in
those
days
amazing
comfort.
Our
trips
were
scheduled
during
seasonally
clear
(100-120
feet
visibility,
water
clear
enough
to
allow
starkly
sharp,
color-drenched
photos.
Every
day
was
filled
with
adventure,
and
the
shallow
reefs
often
allowed
us
up
to
six
dives
per
day.
For
old
times’
sake,
I’ve
had
our
webmaster
Patricia
assemble
some
of
the
photos
from
that
Camelot
of
diving
history.
I
hope
you
enjoy
seeing
them
as
much
as
I
did
taking
them!