Words + Photos By: Darryl MacDonald
“Thresher Sharks.” Those two words sold it to me when friends of ours offered to organise a diving trip to the Philippines. Only once before had I seen one of these magnificent creatures. But that one time, I was so stunned and confused at what I was seeing that by the time I managed to pick up my camera, the moment had passed and the creature had disappeared into the blue from where it came. I was desperate to see one again, but this time I would be ready with my camera in hand. I had spoken with a few people that had been diving there and been told it was “good” or “enjoyable.” So I was unsure what to expect.
The Philippines, which is an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean comprised of over 7,000 islands, has the fifth longest coastline in the world. It was labeled as one of 17 “megadiverse” countries in 1998 by Conservation International, meaning it is one of 17 countries recognised to harbour the majority of the earth’s species. As we found out during our trip this was true not only on the land, but under the ocean as well.
After arriving in Manila, our hosts organised a van to transport us the two and a half hour trip to the Acacia Dive Resort in Anilao. There we had booked a three-day, ten-dive package with full board. This boutique style resort was a hidden gem and very well organised. Each diver had their own area for equipment, there were padded camera stations with plugins for charging batteries and the rooms were spacious, which is helpful when you have suitcases full of camera and diving gear to organise. Shortly after arrival, we were introduced to our dive guide, Padoy, who was specially requested by our hosts. Padoy, a local from Anilao who in a previous career was a national windsurfing champion, had been diving in the area most of his life. He had a massive head of dread locks and a sun weathered face that reminded me of a long haul sea captain. Our guide was very laid back but extremely informative as he briefed us on our itinerary over the coming days and, being a photographer himself, was quick to answer my questions about what we might see and what lens to bring on which days.
The following morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed out for our first dive. Our first destination: muck diving in our guide’s front yard. Now when I say his front yard, I don’t mean in the figurative sense that he lives in the area and dives there a lot. I literally mean ten metres from the front entrance to his house and it was awesome! If you have never been muck diving before then there needs to be some explanation here. Muck diving generally consists of diving in the sand or muck, which means the scenery can be lacking. However, the sand is filled with some of the most weird and wonderful creatures the ocean has to offer. If you like the little stuff or dive with a camera, this is some of the best diving there is. As it was our guide’s front yard, many of these creatures were like pets to him. Padoy knew where everything lived and although he never admitted it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had names for most of the creatures there as well. What did we see? Well, there were Harry Shrimp, Banded Shrimp, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Harry Frogfish, Banded Pipefish, Clown Frogfish, Ghost Mantis Shrimp, Pompom Crab, several species of Nudibranchs and the list goes on and on and on. The dive was so fantastic that we went back again a few days later and were rewarded at the end of the dive with the best Blue-Ringed Octopus experiences I have had to date.
The diving over the three days was both stunning and diverse. The visibility averaged 25-30m and the temperature was consistent at around 27°C. Over the entire three days of diving, I can, in all honesty, say there wasn’t a single dive that I didn’t enjoy. Only three of the dives were muck diving, while the rest consisted of night dives, drift dives and a few deep dives offering some superb examples of mixed coral gardens with colours that reminded me of the Caribbean. At the end of our stay, we allowed ourselves an extra night to pack and let our gear dry out before continuing on to next part of our journey.
After overnighting in Manila, we flew to Cebu Island where we took a harrowing four-hour drive, during which it seemed every time I looked up we were playing chicken with another vehicle on the wrong side of the road! We then boarded a boat for a further 30-minute ride north to the island of Malapascua, dropping us off directly on the beach of The Exotic Island Dive Resort, which we were to call home for the next five nights. The resort is rustic with simple but clean rooms and stunning views overlooking the ocean. Not quite as much space as we were afforded at our previous resort, but the majority of our days were spent eating, sleeping and diving, so there was little time to enjoy the rooms. I also found the camera facilities to be lacking and had to use the bed in our room for ripping apart and rebuilding equipment in between dives. Fortunately the quality of the food and the diving was such that all else seemed of little consequence.
That evening, after an early dinner, we prepared our gear for the following morning. This was the dive I had been looking forward to. Not usually a morning person, I awoke before the alarm clock at 3:45 a.m. excited about the upcoming dive. Everyone stumbled sleepily onto the boat and we began the 40-minute ride to our destination, “Shark Wall.” The top of this underwater mountain varies between 20-30m and its walls drop down beyond 250m.The various cleaning stations scattered over the surface draw the sharks here. Arriving on site just as the sun hit the horizon, we donned our equipment and wasted no time jumping in and descending to the bottom. Not two minutes after reaching the first cleaning station, I heard the familiar tap, tap, tap of our guide’s tank alerting us that he had something interesting to show us. I looked up to see a five-metre Thresher Shark swimming towards us out of the blue. It was mesmerising as it completed several passes in front of us, its tail, which was nearly the same length as the rest of the body, streaming behind it like a banner giving the creature a surreal quality. The shark came in closer with each pass, and I moved closer to it each time it swam away, staying low to the ground to avoid scaring it off. It continued to circle, closer than the last each time, eyeing me wearily until, at last, it disappeared back into the depths. This dive alone was worth the long journey, but the rest of the trip didn’t disappoint and was just as spectacular. If you were to ask me how diving in the Philippines was, I would tell you without hesitation, unbelievable! We enjoyed our trip so much in fact that we already have two more trips planned within the next year. This is certainly a place I would recommend putting on your diving “bucket list.”
