One year to the day after Cyclone Yolanda hit the Philippines, Christophe Paul, boss of Abyssworld.com offered us to go see with our own eyes how the country with more than 7000 islands and 100 million smiles was recovering of this terrible ordeal. We therefore set off on the “Magellan” safari, one of the three circuits offered by Abyssworld.
Diving safari Philippines
For the record, this destination is not a destination like the others for Christophe. Indeed, he developed the diving safaris there 25 years ago, long before Abyssworld existed… And we, we like that the people who work in diving are divers… Real ones… Of those who before selling you a trip, put on their fins every morning… It's rare enough that it deserves to be highlighted!
I say it every time, but I have to admit it, the Philippines… it's not next door! When I finally get out of Cebu airport, it is relieved that I see a young woman showing off a sign on which I can read: ”Abyss”. Immediately, she calls a taxi and I am off to the Montebello hotel.
Cebu: Hotel MONTEBELLO
First and major surprise, I discovered that Abyssworld has offices located in a wing of the hotel, from where the company manages the logistics of its Asian activities.
This hotel is ideally located 30 minutes from the airport in downtown Cebu City. Modern hotel, with a superb swimming pool, rooms all with TV and free wifi connection.
Little misunderstanding about the key management policy! Indeed, only one key per room! As is often the case now, in order to have electricity and therefore air conditioning, you must leave your key in an accommodation provided for this purpose ... If you share your room with a diver from the group and he sleeps, you have to run to reception, sign some documents and an employee finally comes to open you with his pass! We have already seen simpler ...
Transfer to Malapascua
After a first night made a little difficult by the jet lag, we hit the road at seven in the morning for the small port where one of the three bangkas of Abyssworld awaits us. The one reserved for us is the smallest. It can carry twelve passengers plus the crew. However, it is oversized because we are only four customers in all is for everything. Abyssworld starts its safaris as soon as there are four reservations… Not sure that economically this is very profitable, but this is also the concept of service in Helvetia.
Vincent is the head of Abyssworld for the Philippines. He is originally from the Gers, where he kept that accent that makes the “rs” sing, the physique of a rugby player, the love of the good chair and that of copious aperitifs… A real guy from the southwest as we like them. He is BEES1 and has worked in Polynesia and Corsica… And for the past seven years, he has been working in the Philippines for abyssworld.com. He has a keen eye and could compete with many local guides.
Michèle is from the Philippines. She was doing her safari-training in order to learn about the joys of sausage and very French aperitifs… and she is gifted. Underwater, not much to teach her ... Indeed, she spent half of her life submerged, against the advice of her parents. A vocation so to speak. She even went to Hawaii for a while to see if the water was bluer elsewhere, before finally returning home. Andy is the captain of the Katawa, Marcos and Hermès are its sailors. It's hard to sum up for you their good humor, their dedication, their helpfulness… They are simply exceptional!
The bangkas, these traditionally constructed Philippine swing boats, have all been redone and our engine allows us to speed to Malapascua, our first spot. We will spend four nights there.
Malapascua and its famous fox sharks
This island is certainly one of the most famous in terms of diving. Indeed, half an hour of navigation is a thresher shark cleaning station. Every morning, at five o'clock, all the clubs on the island bring their divers to immerse themselves in an area as large as a football field in the hope of being able to meet the beast. The spot has also changed and is now on a bottom of 20 meters which, in terms of decompression, allows you to stay longer, compared to the 28 meters of yesteryear.
Three dives on this discreet shark are on the program of the Magellan safari. Discreet but far from being shy, this unique animal has graced us with its presence twice. We even had the chance to see three at the same time during one of our dives!
Remember to stay glued to the bottom and avoid exhaling too loudly when it passes near you.
Diving in Malapascua
Gato Island is one of the most famous dive sites. Moreover, it is often said that divers come to Malapascua for the thresher shark but that they will remember their dives on Gato Island for many other encounters too… Indeed, this island is a reserve and a marine sanctuary for the sea snake. On Gato Island, there are no less than five dive sites, all of them with great biodiversity. On all the sites you can see striped knits, cuttlefish, often during their mating, seahorses, nudibranchs, toadfish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish as well as mantas. Far from the reef, schools of squid and mackerel are attracted to the sardine balls. There are also many resident sharks. The coral is in good condition and the rocky island has many underwater formations as well as rocky overhangs.
During these four days, we will do twelve dives on Malapascua: Light House, Gato Island, Deep Rock, Devil Slope, Lapus lapus, Monad Shoal and Nunez Shoal…
Night dive at malapascua
We will do a single night dive at Light House, a site located about 6 meters from the hotel. It is a dive on which many mandarin fish have taken up residence. Well… that one, I get it done every time, that famous Mandarin dive where you end up, with great luck, by vaguely distinguishing one, hidden between branches of coral… For the record, the largest mandarins measure XNUMX cm in length. great maximum! On this occasion, I had it all wrong ...
Indeed, there were quite a number of them! And with a little patience and perseverance, they even let themselves be filmed! For me, the dive stopped on a coral potato to hunt mandarin ... The rest of the troop apparently had the opportunity to meet many other fascinating nocturnal species.
Malapascua: Hotel Tepanee
In Malapascua, our base is established at the Tepanee Hotel, which is owned by an Italian couple. Ideally located on one of the tips of the island, it enjoys a superb almost private beach. The rooms are comfortable and have hot water, air conditioning… and the wifi is accessible !!! As for food, it's a little corner of Italy… San pelegrino, pizza, mortadella… Everything is there. Without of course forgetting the fresh fish, meats… and tiramisu. The establishment would benefit from having a little more responsive staff… or perhaps bosses who get up a little earlier… It is “normal” to wait 45 minutes for breakfast there… Well, are we on vacation?
To be completely honest, Abyssworld had just moved to a new hotel, so we released this one. I now know Vincent and between our arrival and our departure, things had already improved a lot 😉
This diving safari in the Philippines is so rich that we have chosen to show it to you in two reports. See you very soon for the rest of the Magellan journey towards the island of Leyte.
If you don't want to wait, go to Abyssworld.com
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there is not much missing from your comment, it was just brilliant …… .. I am happy to have been able to experience this wonderful cruise with you. let me know for L34, I will be part of the trip …… ..
pity that ty did not add the film of the karaoke session near the beer pump….
see you soon
Nicolas