We had two days off last week so I packed up my dive gear and headed south to the Philippines.  We made a quick connection in Hong Kong and were in Manila by 11AM the same morning.  Even going through HK it’s a very quick trip from Taipei.  After arriving in Manila we met our driver, loaded up our gear and headed about three hours southwest of Manila.  We were in the water by 4pm for our first dive on the house reef.   Water temperatures were around 29C/85F and visibility was 8-10 meters.

After our first dive we dried off and headed to dinner and a little surprise.  When dinner was finished the group completely surprised me with a cake and a few goodies.  They really made this a birthday I won’t forget.

At the end of our third dive each day we headed back to the hotel with this as our backdrop.

Between dives we headed to the resort’s private beach on Sepok Island.  It looked like something you’d see in some exotic travel magazine.  Hanging out and resting on this beach was one of the best parts of the trip.  Just behind me were hammocks to rock yourself to sleep in the shade of palm trees.  It seemed surreal.

All my dive buddies on Sepok Island.

On the way back into the resort after the second dive.  I’m fairly tired at this point from diving in moderately strong currents.

These clown-fish are very territorial and do not hesitate to go after anything that gets near their home.

One of my favorite underwater creatures, the Nudibranch comes in countless varieties of colors, shapes and sizes.

McGill hard at work getting a photo of a small, fast fish.