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TWENTY SIX June 8 Thursday - We woke up at our new dive location called Arena and Cavilli Island.
Both these areas lie due east of Palawan west of Negros and NE of the famous Tubbataha Reef Santuary. Arena is primarily a huge Seaweed farm in the middle of the Sulu sea and both it and the island of Cavilli are inhabited by the numerous growers. There are no stores, electricity, modern conveniences and the inhabitants are wholly dependent on passing ship deliveries. It is facinating to see this place. Picture about 20 stilt houses in the middle of the sea literally 75 miles from anywhere. The water around Arena is very shallow and the reef literally shows itself on low tide. In fact the owner of the liveaboard we are on owns these seaweed farms. Cavilli Island is a real island surrounded by white sand beaches. It is inhabited by growers and fisherman. After the reef are walls with drop offs to over 300 feet. As with our dives in Ballestera, we were taken to various dive sites by the dingy boats. Last night I introduced myself to members of the Davao group and asked if I might join them diving. They said yes. In this group was Alan who turned out to be one of the nicest guys I've met, a natural leader and phenomenal spearfisherman. He ended up being the big fish winner for the trip with a fish of over 80lbs. The others in the group were Jasper, Totti, Ace and Paulo. They were all great and nice to hang out with.
This place was definetely nicer than Ballestera. Again, it was necessary to dive fairly deep for fish (over 120') and I was no more successful here than in Ballestera. I couldn't even find a fish to shoot. Of course many of the others were quite successful. I guess it all about knowing your prey and their habits which I obviously didn't.
I did 3 dives on Thursday and 3 on Friday. All were very enjoyable. I should mention a little about shipboard activity. Typically we were up and diving by 6:30am, back on board by 8:00 and then breakfast (all meals were buffet style). Another dive at 10:30 and then Lunch at 12:00. A final dive around 2:30. There were about 6 shower/bathrooms on board with hot and cold water. In the main mess hall there was a TV and DVD player and we often watched some recent release movies. Other than this some played cards or hung out in different parts of the ship. Some divers brought their girlfriends or wives and that was cool. I wanted to bring Lynn but there was no private rooms when I booked. Anyway, I mostly stayed in the cabin between dives and read or slept. I managed to read two novels (Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and 11 minutes by Paul Cohelo). It was so relaxing and I never felt better since being here in the PI. Must have been the fresh air. We leave for Cagayancillo and arrive by Saturday for what will be our last day (actually 1/2 day) of diving. 2005
Home,
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