The Philippine Siren welcomed back some repeat guests and several new ones then we sailed off southwards from Mactan. The first day of diving was to be around Cabilao. With fantastic viz(25m+) and warmish water (26⁰C) at the check dive site of Cambaquiz the divers spotted some interesting creatures including frogfish and a variety of pipe fishes, puffers swam along the sandy bottom between the soft corals and a moray eel was snapped by Sabine looking like it was about to pounce. The second dive turned up a tawny nurse shark nestled in the reef wall crevices, the awesome diving day was topped off by a night dive at Panganang where a mimic octopus put on a fantastic display of its craft – turning into a lion fish!

Diving day two can be renamed Frogfish day! With two giant frogfish found sitting on a sponge at South Point on Cabilao then two tiny hairy froggies were spotted by Peter on the night dive at Ricos Wall along Balicasag Island. Other sightings included the usual turtles, schooling jacks, triggers and trevallies, species of nudibranchs and plenty of crabs and shrimps.
The dive sites on the Eastern site of Bohol suffered poorer visibility due to the swells and surface current but guide Thomas was still able to find a couple of Pygmy seahorses in a gorgonian fan, whilst our first Whale shark was spotted on the surface. It didn’t stick around though so we crossed our fingers to hope he was travelling in the same direction as us for later.

Steep walls were on the agenda for diving in Limasawa, no big W, but turtles and great macro, including a tiny painted frogfish, mantis shrimp and a Thecacera Picta nudibranch – a new one for the dive guides! Moving northward to Padre Burgos on Southern Leyte we dived in at “Medicare” and “Max’s Climax” looking for more pygmy seahorses. Sadly our attempts were thwarted by the currents but no worries as a giant orange frogfish was found by Claudia along with 3 spiny devil fish enacting a bizarre mating ritual for the divers. The afternoon was spent diving along the beautiful coral encrusted wall of the Napantaw Sanctuary. A fantastic area for wide angle and macro photography, the wall is littered with soft corals and bushes of black coral- in a variety of colours! Anthias and fusiliers were there in their hundreds whilst grouper and Sweetlips were seen hiding in the crevices and glass fish circled in the “fish bowl”. A great day of diving was finished off with birthday celebrations for Maryanne. Chef Iwan made a wonderful gateau and all crew and guests got together to sing happy birthday and enjoy the party!

Travelling further eastward the divers aboard the Philippine Siren were able to sample the delights of untouched reefs. Diving around Dinigat Island and the smaller islands of Hagakhak we jumped in for a swift current at the newly named site, “Shark Pinnacle” – because, as the name suggests, there was a huge pinnacle underneath which lay a white tip reef shark and a Nurse shark. The steep walls and pinnacles are covered in soft corals. Hiding amongst them were nudibranchs, ghost pipefish and numerous smaller critters. Great visibility added to the drama of the reefs and the sun lit up the corals. Simply stunning! Night diving gave rise to a whole host of creatures including 2 blue ringed octopus, a tiny painted frogfish, sponge crabs, a mandarin fish who was happy to sit and pose and – for Martin who braved the depths- 3 white tip reef sharks hunting off the steep wall.

The trip was finished off with a great muck dive at the Padre Burgos Pier – where seahorses, blennies, frogfish and pipefish can be found. It was a trip of milestones so congratulations again to Anja & Steffen for making their 100th dive, Natalie & Maryanne for 300 dives, Freddy for 600 dives and Mary Jane topped it off with 700! Wow.. happy diving

Another adventure awaited the new guests of the Philippine Siren, coming in from China, Switzerland and Manila to cruise around the Southern Visayas region for 5 days, taking in 5 of the 7010 islands of the Philippines and making 16 dives. After a check out dive, we made our way to the south eastern point of Cabilao to dive “Paradise”. With fantastic viz (25m+) and good light the divers drifted gentle along the reef wall. The wall itself is covered in hard corals, with gorgonian fans, elephant ear and barrel sponges dotted in between. Barracuda were sighted along with schooling shrimp fishes, several species of nudibranchs, pipefish, shrimps and crabs could also be found hiding amongst all the colourful soft corals. Thomas found Pygmy seahorses again at the lighthouse along with an interesting sea hare crawling over a coral bommie. The day was finished night diving at Panganang Island.

Diving into the warm waters of Balicasag was next on the agenda, the temp here goes upwards of 26⁰C (78⁰F) so only shorties were needed – or for the brave just a vest! The gentle current drifted us alongside turtles and schooling snappers while moray eels and nudibranchs were seen amongst the soft corals feeding on the tunicates. The wind was up when we got to the surface so we changed tack and headed for Siquijor; making a night dive at Coco grove for the amazing creatures that can be found here. Pleurobranchs, moray eels, bobtail squid and numerous nudibranchs and flatworms were some of the many sightings during the 65 minute dive. The only reason to come up was the thought of Iwan’s Thai dinner and Black Forest gateau.

After making an early start for a further 2 dives at Siquijor, the Philippine Siren was on the move again, this time our destination was the muck diving haven of Dauin. The usual suspects could be found hiding amongst the ropes and wooden logs that are scattered over the sand. Whilst at the Cars – 2 Volkswagen that have formed an artificial reef – numerous lionfish took shelter, snappers hovered about and nudibranchs crawled over the wrecks munching on the sponges. Following a dive at Masapolod we cruised across to Apo Island for the evening.

Following the full moon the divers took an exhilarating ride along the currents of Cogon, which had us flying along the reef past schools of jacks, red tooth triggers, fusiliers and yellow tail snappers. A couple of turtles were seen but headed in the opposite direction, with gentle grace, whilst Andy & Roberto attempted to get a couple of shots. The rest of the day was spent ambling around the beautiful corals on the western side of the island, our trip culminating with a sunset dive at Chapel to see the mandarin fish mating.

Setting off on another adventure around the southern Visayas the Philippine Siren’s first port of call was Cabilao Island for some wonderful dives in the warm water, along the steep walls and gentle slopes that make the island so diverse in marine life. After making 5 dives here, we cruised southward to Balicasag for some more swift currents and large schools of jacks and barracuda, along with several species of nudibranchs and again divers sighted several turtles ambling through the soft corals.

After an early morning dive at Rico’s wall, named after our engineer, the Philippine Siren made her way south to the witchy island of Siquijor to explore the off shore pinnacle known as Daquit Shoal, then it was off for a gentle bimble under the lighthouse where the divers found ribbon eels and pipefish. The night dive at Coco Grove was fantastic – without current the divers were able to explore around the coral bommies for a variety of shrimps and crabs. A juvenile crocodile fish, sole and several nudibranchs were found within the sand patches and a couple of cuttlefish put on an impressive light display. No bobtail squid sightings but we found the tiniest cuttlefish hiding within the bommies. So much to see that even Dagmar decided she likes night diving now!

Next stop was the beautiful island of Apo, with its awesome corals and abundant fish life, diving first at Rock Point East for the large schools of triggers and bannerfish and graceful turtles. We found at least one swimming with ease against a mild current through the coral bommies, regardless of the remora on her back. A sunset dive at Chapel turned up several species of nudibranch, a ribbon eel buried in rubble inside the large cavern and, for the patient, three mandarin fish dancing around within their stag horn coral home.

Drifting along in the fast current of Cogon, divers encountered schooling jacks and had a turtle accompany them for part of the dive. The rest of the day was then spent bimbling around the sand and reefs of Dauin, looking in the unlikeliest of places for a variety of ghost pipefish, seahorses & frogfish as well as numerous other critters. Peacock razor fish wafted along as did a leaf fish, mimicking the leaves and grass that also float over the sandy bottom. Afterwards the Philippine Siren headed back to the safe anchorage of Apo Island and taste the dishes prepared by chef Iwan, “Beer can chicken” was on the menu, a recipe stolen from a previous guest of the Siren Fleet.

The following day we rose early for the option of a fast drift at Coconut or a gentle drift around Rock Point, then diving at Katipanan named after the Cowries that are found in the shallow water, Steve managed to also chase down a turtle for some great video footage, much to the amusement of the rest of the group! After all this fun the afternoon was spent ambling around the artificial reefs close to Dumaguete. Tyres, now covered in soft corals and sponges, have been placed in 20m along a sandy slope and provide a shelter for a variety of juvenile reef fish. In the sand skeleton shrimp could be seen “bouncing” along and several species of nudibranchs clung to algae and sea grasses.

Making our way northwards we had time for stops at Sumilon Island and the promise of larger pelagic, unfortunately they were all having a” lie-in”. The reefs here have interesting topography with caverns and large overhangs adorned with black coral bushes and the sun was out as we reached the shallower water lighting up the schooling rabbit fish. Our final dives of the trip took us to Mactan Island and plane wreckage at Tambuli. Several chromodoris were meeting on the rocks for what appeared to be a nudibranch convention whilst a mantis shrimp happily posed for the eager photographers.

The beer can chicken and anemone fish pictures are supplied by LIDS competition winner Steve Smith. Steve recently completed the ‘digital photography for beginners’ course with UK photo pro Maria Munn.

The sun began to set as the Philippine Siren made her way from Mactan harbour towards Cabilao on her 10 day scuba diving adventure around Southern Visayas. We would be stopping at Balicasag, Apo Island & Dauin before returning via Siquijor and Southern Cebu. The route we follow gave the divers an excellent variety of sites between the amazing walls and some fantastic muck diving locations.

Check- out dive at Cambaquiz was fabulous and the water temperature a toasty 27 degrees C (81F). Divers found a giant green frogfish swimming down the sandy slope, gulping at us as it did so, as well as several pipefish, scorpion fish and a blue dragon. After a hearty full English breakfast we headed off in the dinghies to dive the wall of Paradise: with its beautiful hard and soft corals. Later at the lighthouse two pygmy seahorses were spotted within a Sea fan and a Orangutan Crab thumped away in the bubble coral, whilst a turtle bimbled along with the gentle current. Night diving Pangangan is always interesting as numerous creatures scuttle over the shallow reef, sightings included pleurobranchs & juvenile pinnate batfish.

Next day we embarked on some amazing dives at Balicasag. The sheer variety of marine life was astounding. Schools of fusileers, bannerfish, sergeant majors & rabbit fish, mixed in with triggerfish, and blue bar trevallies. At least 6 turtles cruised in the shallows, one of which was the size of a smart car! Along with their tag along ramoras. One group of divers found a cuttlefish changing colours and porcelain crabs hiding within the anemones. Schools of jacks and snappers have become a regular sight at Sanctuary and our Froggie friend was attempting to hide in his regular spot in the gorgonian.

The sails were hoisted next morning as we made our way to Siquijor, with engineer Rakhman adeptly climbing the rigging to unfurl the top sail and it was all hands on deck to raise the further six sails. Next stop was the famous marine sanctuary of Apo Island. So successful that many other areas have followed suit. The array of corals that form the island’s fringing reefs are simply beautiful. The sanctuaries around the tiny island have developed a healthy variety of marine life. Many turtles, schools of red tooth triggerfish & butterfly fishes were to be seen over the entire area. Numerous puffers, groupers and snappers, with the occasional Spanish mackerel, flitted over the table corals, whilst underneath and hiding within soft corals were nudibranchs & pipefish.

It was time to say goodbye to Lisa & Richard but the tears and sadness were soon forgotten with some fantastic muck diving around Dauin. The critter and creature sightings just kept coming…. Seahorses, pipehorses, several ghost pipefish, razor fish and leaf fish, juvenile warty & painted frogfish on the sand and resting on logs, too many lionfish and scorpion fish to count and a wide selection of nudibranchs. A big red octopus was jumping between the corals on the late afternoon dive and one group was rewarded their persistence with a sighting of the cryptic Mandarin fish.

Back to Apo for some more unimaginable corals and large reef fish in the crystal clear water, before we sailed northwards to Balicasag and Cabilao. The final two dives at Mactan gave divers further schools of fish and beautiful soft corals covering the reef slopes.