14 March El Nido, Palawan Island
Sunshine prevailed yet again for the long
drive to El Nido in the far northwest of Palawan Island. By reserving a van with
Wild Expeditions Palawan through Klook, I had the convenience of getting picked
up at my guesthouse, and because I was one of the first passengers, the driver
gave me the front passenger seat where I enjoyed scenic views and legroom.
Driving around to pick up other passengers and other errands took nearly an hour
before we could leave town and begin the five-hour drive. Puerto Princesa North
Road rolled through hills well inland at first, then came near the coast for
fine views of the wind-whipped sea. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant
overlooking the sea near Roxas about the halfway point, where I went with mixed
veggies and a sour gourd-egg dish over rice followed by a sweet custard. Farther
north we made a brief rest stop near Taytay, site of a Spanish coastal fort
built by the Spanish as a wooden palisade in 1667, then of coral limestone in
1738 to defend against Muslim raiders. I would have liked to have visited the
fort, but it’s not on the van’s itinerary.
The highway turned inland and
climbed through hills with pretty jungle. We got a glimpse of a huge bay on the
west side of the island, then continued inland through hills. Towering limestone
peaks announced our arrival to El Nido area, a very popular place for banca
trips to nearby islands famed for their beaches, caves, snorkeling, and diving.
The name “El Nido” refers to edible bird nests of swiftlets that are much
prized, especially by the Chinese. Local regulations require that all passengers
be dropped off at the bus station, where I hired a tricycle for the slightly
more than one-kilometer ride to my guesthouse, Strong Tower Inn, where I had a
four-night reservation through Booking.com at 4,101.84 php ($79), an excellent
deal in expensive El Nido. Here I got a simple and clean room with a queen bed,
cold-shower bathroom, air-conditioner, and weak wi-fi. In the evening I headed
down the narrow and tricycle-clogged street—lined with mostly ramshackle
buildings—then turned left to Ashoka “Authentic Indian Cuisine” and went with a
palak paneer—a bit too salty for my taste—along with Basmati rice and a couple
sweet lassis; it was very good though expensive at over 1,000 php.
15
March El Nido, Palawan Island
I took it easy on this partly cloudy day, and
had a late breakfast of a cheese-veggie omelet and pancake. Bacuit Bay is famed
for good scuba diving, and I was keen to visit the underwater world, so I
visited several dive shops before deciding to go with El Dive on Rizal Street
near my guesthouse. For dinner I returned to Ashoka “Authentic Indian Cuisine,”
this time going with just a pair of samosas—they were huge—and a tomato soup
plus a sweet lassi.
16 March El Nido, Palawan Island
On a pleasant
partly cloudy day I met up with staff at El Dive at 8 a.m. and received a
full—though thin—wetsuit and booties, which I was encouraged to put on at the
shop because we would be diving very near town. The rest of the gear would be
waiting for us on the boat. We boarded the motorized banca and headed northwest
a bit to Natnat Beach on Cadlao Island, where I would be going underwater with
Job, the divemaster, and two other customers. Below the calm surface we found a
great many hard and soft corals, sponges, and other life. Early in the dive we
met a large cuttlefish hanging out under a coral overhang. Anemone
clownfish—bright orange with stripes and called “Nemos” after the animated movie
fish—stayed close to protective anemone tentacles. A large nudibranch, white
with orange edges, looked impossibly delicate, but potential predators have
learned these creatures are poisonous. We enjoyed a long 52-minute dive, going
as deep as 19.8 meters. Visibility of 8-10 meters was just “OK” and our
divemaster said that’s because this is the cold season, and visibility goes to
30 meters at other times of the year. The water felt cool even with a wetsuit,
but at 30° C (86° F) it was about the same as I experienced in Thailand. Diving
with El Dive offers greater luxury than I’ve experienced elsewhere because staff
set up the tank, weight belt, and other gear so all I had to do was sit down and
slip everything on. Then when surfacing after the dive, staff take off my weight
belt, tank, and fins, so I could climb up the steps into the boat unencumbered.
I’m getting spoiled!
Today’s trip offered three dives, but for safety
to reduce the chance decompression sickness, I chose to do just two and paid a
lower rate of 4,000 php. The second dive site was off the south coast of Miniloc
Island, and I went snorkeling among the prolific corals and probably saw as many
fish as if I had been scuba diving. Colorful fish here included banner fish,
butterfly fish, titan and blackpatch triggerfish, and the extremely slender
crocodile needlefish. Fish would stop for a cleaning of parasites by cleaner
wrasse—blue with longitudinal stripes—which happily obliged. Miniloc Island
attracts many daytrippers to its Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon on the northeast
side, and we parked outside the Big Lagoon for lunch—including veggie items—all
prepared by staff on board.
Lastly we turned north to Dilumacad Tunnel
on Helicopter Island, which I especially wished to visit. The cave-like tunnel
stretches 35 meters and lies at a depth of 10-12 meters. Before entering the
darkness, I switched on my light and marveled at the bright colors of sponges
and other strange growths on the walls and ceiling. A large central chamber has
dramatic skylights. Rippled sand covered most of the floor. Small schools of
soldierfish with red- and white-stripes and silver sweeper swim in the dim
light. We continued out the other end, had a look at corals and other life on
giant boulders, then retraced our route back through the tunnel. The dive lasted
47 minutes and went as deep as 21.8 meters, though averaged 12.4 meters.
Back in town, I cleaned up then predictably went to Ashoka “Authentic Indian
Cuisine,” choosing a dal makhani (black dal)—one of my favorites—with Basmati
rice and a sweet lassi.
17 March El Nido, Palawan Island
I returned
to El Dive for another day in the sea. With only three other customers, staff on
the boat outnumbered us. The other divers were keen to head first to Dilumacad
Tunnel on Helicopter Island, and although my divemaster Job offered to take me
to a different site near the island, I was delighted to return to the tunnel for
a second visit. Underwater among the coral we saw an octopus slithering in and
out through much smaller holes than one would expect for its large body; the
octopus rapidly changed patterns at one point, though too late to escape our
gaze. Inside the tunnel we found a large crab scurrying across the sand, a tiny
crab hidden in a tiny crevice, and I think some hermit crabs as well. We also
saw a beautiful white flatworm slowly moving over the sand, a nudibranch, and a
pipefish (striped and related to seahorses). Outside the tunnel we surprised a
blue-spotted stingray, which swiftly swam away. The dive lasted 45 minutes and
went as far down as 19.5 meters.
I went snorkeling at the second dive
site, Tres Marias, a group of tiny islands northwest of Miniloc Island. Here sea
fans and other corals attach to giant boulders and attract many fish.
Lastly we dived at Paglugban Island, located south of Miniloc Island, and
followed a sloping underwater shelf to a group of massive angular boulders, then
returned. It’s a great place to see corals. Job found a blue-spotted stingray
buried in the sand and an incredibly camouflaged scorpion fish, which I didn’t
even see until it moved. A sea snake, with bold white and black banding, wove
among the corals in search of lunch. A large school of yellow snapper swam by
above us. We got as deep as 20.8 meters on the 41-minute dive.
I
wondered when to catch a ferry from El Nido to Coron, my next destination. It
turns out the ferry is completely booked for the next two days, so I bought a
ticket for Monday the 20th at a stiff 2,816 php. Luckily I was able to extend my
accommodations another two days at 1,000 php per night. Of course I returned to
Ashoka “Authentic Indian Cuisine,” this time for a malai kofta and Basmati rice;
expensive and worth it.
18 March El Nido, Palawan Island
Yesterday
evening I got a sore throat, and this morning I felt a bit of congestion and
thought it best not to go diving today. Also it felt good to take it easy.
Saturday is my main catch-up-on-news day and I watched Washington Week and other
programs on Youtube. As usual I swung by Ashoka “Authentic Indian Cuisine” for
dinner, taking in a dal soup and a pair of huge samosas.
19 March El
Nido, Palawan Island
On a partly cloudy day I headed out with El Dive on a
nearly full boat, with most people doing training for a dive certification or a
dive refresher. We made the short trip to Natnat Beach at the south end of
Cadlao Island, where the shallow sandy bottom is ideal for new divers to
practice underwater skills. I decided to go snorkeling here, which turned out to
be a new experience for me because of the prolific plant life in the shallows,
down to about two meters, which I would never have visited if scuba diving.
Towering limestone cliffs had many overhangs where I could venture a little way
into the cave-like recesses. Lots of corals and reef fish live here too, and I
saw a great many Christmas tree worms, each with two spirals in one or more of a
rainbow of colors, but if I got close the spirals would retract into their tube
in a flash. I hung out with bright orange clown anemone fish, who would
fearlessly leave their protective anemones and swim up close to my mask. Bright
colors appear on many marine creatures, but the reason for this remains a
mystery to me. Not so pretty are the crown of thorns starfish, which are
notorious for their ravenous appetite of corals. After about 45 minutes I looked
for our boat, and it was gone! I felt relief on seeing one of the instructors
and his student. It turned out that some of the divers had gone to a spot on
another side of the island.
The next dive took place off the southern
end of Miniloc Island in the channel between it and Shimizu Island. As expected
in a channel, we experienced a bit of current, but it wasn’t too strong. A
cabbage coral garden with one-meter-wide crenulated ‘leaves’ is a stunning
sight. We saw lots of other corals and many sponges in the area as well. Schools
of yellow-fin barracuda and yellow snappers swam by. A titan triggerfish made an
appearance, as did a couple small lionfish with their flamboyant (and highly
toxic) fins that make them poor swimmers. We found several nudibranches,
seemingly too small and delicate to be out in the vast sea. Toward the end of
the dive I noticed a ribbon eel, a small and very beautiful creature in a
brilliant blue with bright yellow trim. The divemaster, Mark, wasn’t paying
attention to us divers getting low on air toward the end of the dive. My
pressure gauge still showed air (30 bar), but breathing became harder and I knew
that I was nearly out of air. The other divemaster, Job, was nearby and he gave
me his spare regulator so we could complete the ascent. My dive went down to
17.2 meters—10.3 meters average—and lasted 51 minutes.
For the next dive
we headed northeast back across Bacuit Bay to Helicopter Island, but instead of
going to the tunnel we swam across a shallow sandy seafloor in search of a
turtle. We soon found the green sea turtle, who is very comfortable around
divers, though we were advised not to touch it. The remainder of the dive
continued along the sands among small and large outcrops of coral, though a lot
of the coral had died. Many small pufferfish, full of toxins, swam about. I came
across a cuttlefish, and wondered what it was thinking behind those
strange-shaped eyes. Only its mother could love the very ugly juvenile flathead
crocodile fish we saw. A snake eel had buried nearly all of its body in the sand
with just the head sticking above and waiting for a meal to come close to its
jaws of sharp teeth. Several types of sea cucumbers lay about, including an
unusually large one. As usual, we saw starfish, always in some hue of blue. This
dive was by far the shallowest I did off El Nido and averaged just 8.3 meters
with a maximum depth of 16.6 meters, but that allowed us to stay down for 54
minutes.
I didn’t feel up to a big dinner, so had a mango shake and a
pancake. After cleaning up and a rest, I got to work planning the next leg of
the journey, a visit to Coron on Busuanga Island. I looked at airfares from
Coron to Manila, and saw that Pal Express (Philippines Airlines) had a cheap
flight the morning of the 28th, so I booked it for 7,326 php ($133.93). Next I
searched online sites for accommodations and reserved a room with Booking.com
for eight nights at Rain Haven Lodging House, a little way out from the center
of Coron, for 10,272 php.