January 2012 - Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, Philippines

It was Chinese New Year holidays again, so I packed my things and I went to Padre Burgos from January 21 to January 31 for a diving trip. I stayed at Peter's Dive Resort and I got my PADI Advanced Open Water certificate too!! YAY!

I arrived in Manila at midnight and my next flight to Tacloban was at 4.30am... I spent the night at Manila airport...

And I reached Southern Leyte at sunrise

where a van was waiting to pick me up and drive me for about 3 hours to my destination. I slept for most of the way.

Peter's Dive Resort was packed with tourists when I went, so they offered me a place in a 1 bunk bed dorm room where there was nobody else, which had a window right in front of the sea and a veranda all for me. All for Pesos 400 (about USD 9) a night.

Actually I did have a room mate...

The resort is just meters from the sea and it even has a swimming pool!

Food wasn't bad either.

The reason why people go to Padre Burgos is to see the whale sharks. However, the bay is stocked like a fish tank and there are incredible small creatures to see and photograph.

Because my camera was only rated up to 5 meters I could not take pictures while diving. However, here is what I managed to get from staying not lower than 5 meters down.

First and foremost, the mighty whale sharks that I saw. We were only allowed to snorkel around them, no diving. These amazing gentle creatures make the bay in front of Padre Burgos their home every year from November to March. In spite of being sharks and the biggest fish spieces on the planet, they are totally harmless as they feed on plankton. The only danger comes from staying too close to them. Because of their massive body, a swing of their huge tail can do real damage. I think I saw a total of 4 different individials. I am not sure how big the biggest one was, but it was probably in the range of 10-12 meters. They can be much bigger than that. Anyways 10 meters is quite long!

Philippines January/February 2011

During the 2011 Chinese New Year I went to Palawan, Philippines for a 10 days trip. I went snorkelling mainly around Port Barton and El Nido. No scuba diving but lots of fun!