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Weekend in Puerto Galera-Part Two

On Saturday morning my friend and I met at 8 AM to go look for a place to eat breakfast. I grabbed my gear and we went to Frontier first to drop that off. We ended up at the breakfast buffet at El Galleon. Only 350 pesos. I had an omelet made to order, along with the usual complements… After breakfast we walked back to Frontier Scuba. ( http://www.frontierscuba.com/ )

At Frontier we completed the normal paperwork. I confirmed with Rick that my cardiologist had cleared me to dive. He wasn’t concerned. Knowing me he knew I wouldn’t be there if my doctor hadn’t give me the OK.

I got my dive gear set up and my camera equipment assembled. Much quicker than the day before! Frontier does the heavy lifting for all their guests. Once my tank was set up it was taken to the boat. I took my mask, fins, and camera equipment, along with a dry bag for a towel, drinking water, and my cell phone. My friend was set up with rental gear. By 9:15 AM we were all on the boat and on our way. The boat ride to Verde Island is usually around 30-45 minutes depending on weather.

Upon arrival we geared up and then entered the water. Harry was our guide on this trip. We were first in. It was myself, my friend from Mermaids, and another photographer who turned out to be a retired US Navy Captain. The other group (of 3) was from the US Embassy and were being guided by Rick. My dive started at 9:51 AM.

We were diving the Pinnacle at Verde Island which is one of my favorite dives anywhere in the Philippines. There wasn’t much current this first dive. In September when I’d dived Verde Island for the first time, the first dive was into a ripping current… I had to swim so hard to make it over to the pinnacle that I thought I was going to suck all the air out of my tank before the dive even got started! During that dive we finally made it around to the backside and out of the current and we actually ended up with a 45 minute dive with a maximum depth of 106 feet.

As it had been the day before at Monkey Beach, the water temperature was a bit cooler than it’d been in August and September. About 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. Technically it is winter in the Philippines which means water temperature can drop into the high 70’s. My friends who dive in California are laughing at this I’m sure! (when I lived in California I wore a dry suit whether it was summer or winter as temperatures seemed to always be in the 50’s no matter what time of year it was!)

Drifting down over the edge at the Pinnacle at Verde Island.

Since it’s a pinnacle, we’re basically talking about a wall dive. One of the things I love about Verde is that it’s always swarming with fish! Anthia’s, butterfly fish, schools of jacks, snapper, angelfish, cardinalfish, soldierfish, grouper… all the usual suspects! Also the visibility tends to be better as well. On this day visibility was easily 50-60 feet. The corals are in great shape here. Here and there were anemones with their accompanying clownfish. Moray eels peeking out from small crevices. Nudibranchs in various places. It really is one of my favorite places to dive! The first dive ended up being 45 minutes with a maximum depth of 89 feet.

Nudibranch (Glossodoris atromarginata) photographed at Verde Island.

When we popped up at the end of the dive the seas had gotten a bit rougher. The boat came to us. The method is for the group to line up behind the dive guide making it easier and safer for the boat to approach. No one wants to bonked on the head by the outrigger on a bangka boat! When we are close enough we grab onto a line that is rigged alongside to hold on too while waiting to get back on the boat. The usual procedure is to hand up cameras first. Then fins. When it’s your turn pull yourself to the ladder and climb out. Once you’re back on the boat, the boatman assists with removing the rest of your gear.

Group waiting in the water at Verde Island as the boat maneuvers for pickup

Once all the divers were retrieved, we approached Verde Island and anchored in a small cove for our surface interval. We spent an hour relaxing, then pulled anchor and went back out to the pinnacle. This time we approached it from the other side.

We felt a bit of current at the beginning of the 2nd dive, which started at 12:09 PM. I spotted some really large sweetlips and a big grouper below and drifted down to try and get a shot. The dive was going well, then we made the turn and the current picked up considerably! I was kicking hard and thinking to myself that this was perhaps not the best situation for my second day back in the water! I knew I’d lost a fair amount of conditioning over the previous months. In the back of mind was a small doubt that in spite of passing my exercise stress test with flying colors, the strain was going to be too much.

As I always do in situations of stress, I focused on my breathing and keeping it under control. Probably this is just a combination of my military and martial arts training and experience. I switched from the frog kick that I normally use to a flutter kick. The frog kick is good for conserving energy. Kick and coast, kick and coast… but in a heavy current there is no “coast”! If you aren’t kicking constantly you aren’t making headway! I was breathing very deeply and was very aware of my heart pounding in my chest! Then we made the turn and we were out of the current. I continued to breath deeply and gradually felt my heartbeat returning to normal. The telltale chest pain I was waiting for, never materialized. I would later joke on the boat that if I were going to have another heart attack, that would have been the time!

We continued on with the dive and as in the previous dive, I was again impressed with the numbers of fish, the beautiful corals, and the visibility that easily exceeded over 60 feet! I found numerous subjects to photograph, including scorpionfish, nudibranchs, and a white-eyed moray. Another beautiful dive at what is probably one of the top dive spots in the Philippines!

Tasseled Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephala) photographed during a dive at Verde Island.

Upon our return to Sabang we waded ashore with our fins, masks, and camera’s (if we’re photographers). If it were high tide, the boats would come all the way in to the shore in front of the dive operation, but we often had to wade out and back to embark and disembark the boat. As I mentioned earlier, the staff took care of the heavy lifting (as they do pretty much everywhere I’ve dived in the Philippines) and would bring the tanks in later. Leaving the BCD’s on the tanks allowed them to wear one tank on their back while leaving the hands free. Years ago, while shore diving in Japan, we were surveying a new spot that had a very steep and rocky entry to get down to the water. As we were hiking down with our gear from where we’d left the truck, I jokingly had said, “If we were in the Philippines we could get someone to carry our tanks down for 20 pesos!” Which got a laugh from everyone in the group who had been to the Philippines. A tip of 20 pesos or so for a porter to carry your gear or bags is pretty common at airports and ferry terminals. I’m not quite as young as I used to be, so I really appreciate these guys who do the heavy lifting and go out of their way to make sure everyone is enjoying their vacation. I know they really appreciate a guest who leave money in the tip box for them!

We went back to our hotel room at Mermaids and got cleaned up. I downloaded photos and then took a nap. I met my friend later for dinner and we opted for Hemingway’s. I had the chicken curry which was quite good and my friend had a steak. Hemingway’s is on the quite end of Sabang, just 15 yards or so past Frontier Scuba. We had a nice view of the water. I was beat and we made it an early night.

The next morning we met again for breakfast and decided on the breakfast buffet at El Galleon again. The food really was quite good there! After breakfast we walked to Frontier to get ready for our first dive of the day which turned out to be the Alma Jane wreck and one of my favorite dives in Puerto Galera! Its a former Filipino freighter and was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef. It’s very open and all the doors and hatches have been removed making it a very safe wreck to enter.

The Alma Jane is so close to the dive operations on Sabang, that you start gearing up as soon as the boat leaves. There was a Japanese photographer in the group and we were the first ones over the side. There was some mild current so we went straight down to the wreck which sits in about a 100 feet of water. We were joined by the rest of the group which included the same 3 divers from the US Embassy that had dived Verde Island with us the day before.

This is really a nice dive with schools of batfish hovering around the wreck, large sweetlips, schools of snapper, cardinalfish, and soldierfish. I spotted a nice nudibranch right on the gunwales of the ship and a couple more inside. At one point I switched to video and got some nice footage of divers in our group entering the hold of the ship (the video is posted on Instagram @underwater.adventures). Towards the end of the dive we discovered, not one, but two painted frogfishes! That was a really nice way to end the dive. My computer started flashing at me and it was time to go up. My maximum depth was 95 feet and I ended with a 35 minute dive. I had just over 70 bar still in my tank, a bit over a 1000 psi.

Nudibranch (Nembrotha chamberlaini) photographed during a dive on the Alma Jane wreck at Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.

I was feeling a bit cold by the end of this dive. The water temperature was 73 degrees Fahrenheit! In the tropics I normally wear my 4th Element farmer john, which is equivalent to 2.5 mm and my Scubapro rash guard which has 0.5 mm neoprene in the chest. I’ve found I can get a bit chilled after a couple of dives in the winter here, especially deeper dives like this one. I was wishing I’d brought my hooded vest! Possibly after spending most of the last 17 months here, my body is “adjusting” to living in the tropics and often living with no air conditioning!

Schools of fish cluster around the wreck of the Alma Jane. The former Filipino freighter was sunk intentionally as an artificial reef in a 100 feet of water, at Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.

After returning to Frontier we hung out at the dive shop during our surface interval, then loaded back up for the trip over to Manila Channel for our 2nd dive of the day. Our dive started at 11:15 AM. Towards the center of the channel is mainly sandy bottom. Along the sides though were some shallow walls, lots of corals, including some nice table corals. There were a lot of small fish like butterflyfish, bannerfish, lizardfish waiting for their next meal to swim by, and anemones with their clownfish. I ended up photographing 5 different species of nudibranchs on this dive so for me I felt it was quite productive! The water temperature was a little better at 75F. Maximum depth was 68 feet.

Tomato Anemonefish (Amphiprion frenatus) photographed during a dive at Manila Channel, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines.

After we got back we ended up at El Galleon once again for lunch. My friend had the Mongolian BBQ and I had a grilled chicken salad. The food really is quite good there!

I went back to my room and took a shower and a short nap. Then went to the ATM at the local bank to get some cash. Turned out the ATM was only working for “domestic” transactions. It wouldn’t work for foreign transactions. There is another bank in Puerto Galera town so I hired a trike to take me there. They initially wanted 350 pesos to go there and back which I thought was to much. I eventually found someone that would take me for 250. That’s still a bit high. I’d asked and the locals only pay 100 pesos each way so I knew I had some room to haggle. I’ve discovered that in a lot of places in the Philippines who get a large number of tourists, that foreigners will be charged more. I’m willing to pay a little more, but not when it’s approaching double! Reality is that I live here because the cost of living is low. For a tourist on vacation it doesn’t seem like much, but for me transportation costs add up. Out in the “provinces” where they don’t see many foreigners I never really run into this. Everyone pays the same. A jeepney would have been 20 pesos, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time looking for the bank once I got there so I opted to have someone take me straight there.

After I got back I stopped in at the Sabang Sports Bar and had a beer and watched some UFC for a while. Then I went to Vesuvio’s which is my favorite pizza place in the Philippines! They have a wood-fired brick oven and you can really taste the difference in their pizza’s! I ate there quite a bit when I was in Puerto Galera last year. A really great place to eat and it’s also great for people-watching as it’s on the main road going into Sabang that dead-ends at the pier.

Monday morning after waking up, I had breakfast at Captain Gregg’s. It’s a nice view and the ham and cheese omelet I had for breakfast was really good! After that I packed my clothes and headed to the dive shop to pack my gear. From there I went to the pier and caught the ferry back to Batangas. There I caught a bus to Cubao. After I got off the bus, I took a short taxi ride to Victory Terminal and caught a bus for Olongapo City and Subic Bay.

I’m a bit behind in my blog.. I left Puerto Galera 2 1/2 weeks ago! Since then I’ve done a bit of traveling and scuba diving around the Philippines. I’ll be writing about Subic Bay next so stay tuned!

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Weekend in Puerto Galera-Part One

I decided I’d go ahead and do one dive with Mermaids since I was staying there. Mermaids is a full-service operation. They essentially do everything for you and for people who want that degree of service they would be a good operation.

They price in US dollars which for me was a bit annoying since I’ve been in the Philippines for months and had no dollars. For me it doesn’t make much sense to price in dollars. They purchase their supplies in pesos and pay their employees in pesos. I ended up with an odd number of pesos since they converted from the dollar rate and it wasn’t cheap since the dollar is very strong right now. The girl in the dive shop had to call the manager to ask if I could get any type of discount since I was staying there. The answer was no, that they didn’t give discounts. I went ahead and did one dive with them since I was there.

I won’t say that I didn’t have a very small bit of apprehension leading up to that first dive. Only natural after everything I’d been through. I’d not been in the water for 5 1/2 months, 3 1/2 months longer than it would have been if I’d not had the heart attack. I was lucky though… had I not needed to return to the US for a couple of months, I would have been diving in the Visaya’s. They estimate that 20-30% of all diving fatalities are the result of myocardial infarction (medical speak for heart attack). I very easily could have ended up a statistic! It’s a reminder that no matter how good you think your health is, those of us who are a bit older and plan to dive remote areas, should have a thorough medical exam before we go.

When setting up the gear in the shop I discovered I was a bit rusty. I’d completely taken everything apart when I packed it away after returning from my last dive trip. Now I had to show the boatman how to set up my equipment and it took me a minute to remember how to thread the tank straps! It came back to me though!

I’d gotten in late the night before and had not set up my camera ahead of time as I normally would have. I was feeling a bit rushed and couldn’t locate the screw that attached the joint adapter to the strobe head! Without that I couldn’t attach the strobe to the arm! I was feeling rushed and decided I would just do the dive with no camera (I did find the screw later).

We got on the boat and headed to Monkey Beach which is only a few minutes from the dive op. At 9:18 AM, Thursday, March 10th I back-rolled into the water. It had been exactly 170 days since my last dive… not that I was counting!

It was a nice dive, but most dives are for me. Puerto Galera really is a great dive destination for a variety of reasons which I outline in my eBook (“Underwater Adventures-The Ultimate Guide to Diving the World: Book One-Puerto Galera, Philippines” available on Amazon). I rarely dive without a camera but when I do it seems that I always end up seeing plenty of things to photograph! This dive was no exception. I spied a nudibranch right at the beginning and would see a few more before the end of the dive. Triggerfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, rainbow runners, moray eel, all the “usual suspects” were in abundance! Also saw a really big turtle and a nice size grouper that was probably over 3 feet long! There was a mild current that we initially swam against. There is a wrecked sailboat there. After making a circuit around that we drifted. We ended up with a 51 minute dive. Maximum depth was 72 feet and water temperature was 77 Fahrenheit.

There was only me and one other person diving at Mermaids. He was paying even more than me as he was renting equipment also. I told him we could do better! We walked around that afternoon and every dive shop we checked was cheaper. In the end I went back to Frontier Scuba ( http://www.frontierscuba.com/ ), whom I’d dived with last time I was in Puerto Galera, and he came with me. I was given their best rate because I was a returning guest and my friend was also given a very good rate saving several hundred pesos a dive over what he’d been paying! I saved over 500 pesos per dive. At the current exchange rate thats around $10 bucks so not an inconsequential amount!

One of the things I stress throughout my eBook and that I also have pointed out here in my blog in the past is the importance of shopping around and negotiating. This is a prime example. If you really want the “full” service with the fancy boats, like new equipment, towels, hot coffee, after your dive, and never lifting a finger, etc… and don’t mind paying for it, then there is nothing wrong with that. Even the less expensive shops though will do the heavy lifting for you. They will setup your tank and carry it to the boat. You will carry your other gear which probably consists of mask, fins, (snorkel if you dive with one), and your camera if you’re into that. That saves the shop a bit on manpower costs which translates into a less expensive dive for you. You’re still going to get tanks, weights, the boat, and a guide no matter who you dive with or how much or how little it costs.

We stayed at Mermaids over the weekend checking out Monday. I couldn’t help but think, “what a waste” as they do have a very nice dive shop, but they had no divers! My opinion is that it’s better to be getting some income than no income. They’re investment is higher perhaps in equipment, but it’s not making them any money when it just sits there!

To be continued…

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Cleared to dive! Travel to Puerto Galera…

On Wednesday, March 8th I met with my cardiologist at Medical City-Clark here in the Philippines. Doctor Payumo confirmed that I’d done very well on the exercise stress test which was good news! I had achieved 15.1 MET’s well above the 13 MET’s minimum, recommended by DAN. Additionally all my labs were within normal range. She gave me a clearance to dive and recommended I have a followup in 4 months.

The following day I left for Puerto Galera!

I took a bus from San Fernando, Pampanga to Cubao in Metro-Manila. From there I took a JAM Bus to Batangas Pier (175 pesos). We left around 3:45 PM and arrived at the pier 2 1/2 hours later. I expected to miss the last ferry and planned to either spend the night at a hotel near the pier or see if a private boat might be available. As it turned out, a private boat was available.

This was my first time taking a private boat and it turned out to be a learning experience. I was approached near the terminal and told I could hire a boat to go across for 5000 pesos. My reaction was to laugh! Then they said they could take me for 1500 if they could find 2 other people. I agreed, reasoning that would spend a good percentage of that amount to get a room for the night. Two other people did show up, a guy from Ireland and his Filipina girlfriend, but did not want to go for 1500 pesos stating they would just get a hotel room instead. After further negotiation, an agreement was reached that they would take us for 3000 pesos, so a 1000 pesos each. Even better I thought!

We were led to another area of the piers. I paid 50 pesos for a port fee. The guy who was organizing the crossing said he needed the money before we got on the boat as he needed to pay the people who pointed us to him. As I had entered the terminal area there were men standing near the entrance who were asking everyone coming in if they were going to Puerto Galera. I admitted that I was and someone walked with me to the terminal and pointed me out to the guy coordinating. I didn’t ask him to walk with me and certainly didn’t need him to show me to anyone, but I’m sure he got a few pesos for walking with me.

Without giving it much thought I handed a 1000 pesos (around $20 bucks at the current exchange rate) to the coordinator. The Irish guy said he would give half and give the rest in Puerto Galera which the coordinator agreed too. We got on the boat and then sat a few minutes waiting to leave. After we were on the boat 3 more people came and got on the boat (locals). My Tagalog is somewhat limited. I understand a lot, but I’m far from conversational. The Irishman’s girlfriend didn’t have that problem and overheard everything being said. It turned out the 3 locals had only paid 500 pesos each! Then the Irish guy was told he had to pay the balance of another 1000 pesos before the boat would leave!

He said no! We had been told that the 3 of us were hiring the boat for 3000 pesos. Now they had 3 more people who are paying half what we were! He told them flat out that he’d already paid the same amount that the 3 late arrivals had paid and as far as he was concerned that our agreement had been broken. If it were a problem, then they could give him his money back and he and his girlfriend would just spend the night in Batangas. Of course the coordinator didn’t want to do that. The boatman wouldn’t leave because he’s not gotten his money yet. Everyone is pretty calm but now we are at an impasse.

I’m on the Irish guys side, but other than offer verbal and moral support, there isn’t much leverage on my side as I’ve already paid in full. We saw it as being scammed. I couldn’t do much beyond laugh! They went back and forth for a good 30 minutes (the coordinator left a couple of times and came back). Finally an agreement was made that they would pay another 600 pesos (not 1000) and we could go! It was a small moral victory at least. What I learned from it was that someone can get a small bangka boat to make the crossing for 4100 pesos minimum. No one is going to be happy though! 4500-5000 pesos is reasonable to hire the boat, but not if they are going to put extra passengers on the boat. Then they are just making extra profit at your expense.

We finally got underway around 7PM. The crossing was pretty nice. A little slower of course than on the ferry, but weather was good (else the Coast Guard would not have allowed us to go) and the moon was almost full and visibility was good. We arrived around 9 PM at Sabang. I was able to get a room at Mermaids Resort and Dive Center. The main resort is up the hill on the main road from the pier, but they also have rooms over the dive shop. I was able to get a room for 1450 pesos a night. I got checked in, went and grabbed a bite to eat, then went back to my room to get some rest.

To be continued…

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Stress Test

I went in for lab tests and an exercise stress test on Friday, March 3rd. It took about 3 hours for me to get there from where I’m staying on Subic Bay near Olongapo City. The labs had to be done in the morning since they’re doing a blood lipid panel to see where my cholesterol is. I have to have blood drawn between 9 and 12 hours from my last meal. Trying to make it at 9 hours would have given me no sleep! I finished eating around 11 PM the night before so I needed to have blood drawn before 11 AM.

I caught a bus at 7:30 AM that was going all the way to Dau, near Angeles City. 158 pesos. I got to Dau at 9:45 AM. A short walk and I was able to catch a jeepney to Clark Main Gate where there is a jeepney terminal. Less than 10 minutes. From there I caught a second jeepney to Medical City-Clark. After checking in downstairs with TriCare, I arrived at the lab right at 10:30 AM with only 30 minutes to spare!

After getting my blood drawn and providing a urine sample, I caught the shuttle to SM City Mall-Clark and had some lunch. I walked around the mall for a while. I normally would have had coffee, but I wasn’t allowed to have any caffeinated beverages before the stress test. I had a mango shake instead!

When I checked in for my stress test around 2:30 PM they took my height and weight. A little surprisingly I’d gained 10 lbs in the last month! I’d been told to take it easy by my doctor, but perhaps a “little” more exercise might have been good! Probably didn’t help that the local VFW, where I spend a lot of time due to their free WiFi, started serving “apple pie ala mode”! I started having this almost every day… probably not very helpful in keeping weight off!

After taking my height and weight I was escorted to the room with a treadmill and an EKG machine, where the test would be conducted. The tech left the room while I changed into a pair of gym shorts. After I changed she came back in and placed a chair on the treadmill for me to sit on. She then started hooking me up to leads to the EKG machine. They got a “resting” blood pressure and pulse. 110/70 for my blood pressure with a resting pulse around 70. My blood pressure was very good as it has normally been. My resting pulse was a bit higher which I attribute to loss of conditioning over the last few months. A more normal resting pulse rate for me would be a little lower at around 65 bpm.

Sitting and waiting while they take my readings at rest before starting my exercise stress test.

A doctor came in and introduced herself and explained how the test would go. Basically the goal was for me to reach 85% of my maximum heart rate which is calculated as 220-58 (my age) while they monitored my heart. My blood pressure would also be monitored throughout. The doctor explained if it became dangerously high defined as 220/110, the test would be stopped. The treadmill would go through a programmed series of steps where speed and elevation would be gradually increased in order to stress my heart. If I were unable to keep up or began to suffer symptoms such as severe chest pain, extreme shortness of breath, leg pain, weakness, or dizziness, then she would also stop the test. Each stage was 3 minutes and I did a total of 7 stages before going into a cool down.

I showed her a printout of an article from Divers Alert Network website showing that I needed to achieve 13 MET’s at Level 4 of a Bruce Protocol in order to be cleared to dive again. I let her know that my goal was to exceed that level.

As it turned out, I had no problems exceeding it. The test is designed to gradually increase the stress. It took over 18 minutes and Level 6 for me to hit 85% of my maximum heart rate. I still wasn’t working that hard at that point and was at only 10.3 MET’s! As I approached a 100% she slowed things down a bit to keep my heart rate up but so I wouldn’t exceed the maximum. My blood pressure topped out at 140/90 so never even close. I ended up at 15.2 MET’s at level 7 so well above the minimum I needed to meet! (at least as I understand it)

They also measured how long it took my blood pressure and pulse to return to normal. I had 6 minutes of cool down on the treadmill. My pulse had dropped to a 100 by then. In fairly short order I was fully recovered. Truthfully I was surprised at how well the test went and how quickly I’ve seemed to recover, but I’m not going to complain!

I have an appointment with my cardiologist on Wednesday and we’ll go over my test results. I’m only a layman, so possibly there was something in my EKG which will be a contraindication for me to dive, but I’m pretty confident of being cleared to dive!

I’ll keep y’all posted!

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Another update…

I went back in the hospital on January 26th (yes I know I’m way behind on my blog!). This time I was at The Medical City-Clark, which is one of the best hospitals in the Philippines. Also, important to me was that they would bill my insurance, so I only had to pay my deductible, which saved me several thousand dollars this time! Unfortunately I’m still waiting to be reimbursed for the hospital bill in Singapore!

On Friday, January 27th my cardiologist here in the Philippines, Dr. Elaine Payumo, performed another angioplasty, to clear the 80% blockage that I had on another branch of my left coronary artery. After clearing the blockage, she inserted another stint. Unfortunately, I had scar tissue on my wrist where they performed the previous angioplasty when I had my heart attack in Singapore 3 months ago, so they were unable to go in there this time. Instead they had to go in at the groin through my femoral artery, which was a lot more uncomfortable and required more recovery time. I spent the rest of Friday in ICU and most of Saturday. I again had issues with my blood pressure being too low and required support for that. By Saturday evening I was in the low normal range and was moved back to a regular room. I was discharged around lunch time on Sunday, January 29th, with instructions to take it easy for a week and then come back to see my doctor. A big part of that was because of going through the groin. An incision was made in my femoral artery and I needed to make sure it had a good start on healing.

On February 6th I went back to my cardiologist. She told me I’m doing well. I have very little scar tissue. My resting heart function has recovered to over 60%, both of which are good signs.

She renewed my prescriptions for my medications. Right now I’m on DAPT (Dual Anti-Platelet Therapy). I’m taking ticagrelor and aspirin as blood thinners. That’s recommended for at least 12 months. I’m also on atorvastatin for cholesterol. I take omeprazole in the morning as a precaution against internal bleeding due to the blood thinners.

I was instructed to take it easy as far as exercise. Walking and stretching only. I’ve been recovering in Olongapo where I have a place on the beach. I have a very nice view of Subic Bay from the balcony at my hotel. This has been torture at times because conditions have been excellent and I can’t help but think about all the diving I’ve been missing! My doctor told me to come back in a month and to have my labs done again and a stress test before coming to see her. I’ll be doing those this Friday. The results of the stress test should be ready by Tuesday and I’m scheduled to see Dr. Payumo again on Wednesday, the 8th.

Although I feel I’ve had a lot of improvement, I’m not sure if I will be cleared to dive next week. I’ve a feeling that I will only be cleared to exercise harder and will have to come back once again to be cleared to dive. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s what I expect right now. I still hope to be diving again by mid-April but we’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ve finally finished my eBook on diving in Puerto Galera! I know I’m way behind schedule on that! I started working on it in August. I was a bit optimistic in thinking I’d have it done sooner. It’s not a long book (most e-books aren’t). Just 48 pages. I’d finished most of it prior to my heart attack in November. I had a couple of chapters left to write and I’ve been procrastinating. Finally got back to work on it last week.

In it I’ve tried to distill the information one would need to plan a dive trip to Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. It’s aimed mainly at people living in the United States, but anyone traveling from anywhere I think can find some value there especially at the price point that I’m going to offer it at.

Puerto Galera has a reputation as one of the premier dive destinations in the Philippines… a well deserved one in my opinion. The book is available on Amazon now! “Underwater Adventures-The Ultimate Guide to Diving the World: Book One-Puerto Galera, Philippines” by Bill Stewart.

I think you’ll find some good information there and it’s only $0.99 cents! Check it out!

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Quick Update

Thought I would write a quick update on what’s been going on since my last blog post. I forgot to mention last time that one of my friends from Philippine Paradise Divers, Iris Baula, came to visit me in the hospital in Singapore which was a nice surprise 🙂 She’s been working in Singapore, putting her marine biology degree to work and I’d not seen her since 2009. She brought me a basket of fruit, which I really appreciated, and it was nice to catch up 🙂

After being released from the hospital I was told to take it easy, especially the first week. I walked pretty much every day I was there. Through strategic breaks (when I would sit and rest), I was able to get in a fair amount of sightseeing.

I received an invitation from Akiko Tada who is a scuba diver (and very accomplished underwater photographer) to visit her workplace. Akiko and I have been friends for years on Facebook but had never met in person believe it or not! We figured out that we were both in Puerto Galera in 2007 at the same time diving with Asia Divers, but for whatever reason we didn’t meet! Turns out that she works for Diageo which is the largest spirits company in the world. One perk for their employees is an open bar after work on Thursday nights for themselves and guests. Their offices at 1 George Street have a great view of the harbor. Nice place to relax and socialize! I really enjoyed it even though I’m unable to drink until I’m recovered. To bad as their brands include Guinness and Johnny Walker! We talked about the local diving and I’m definitely hoping to go back and do some diving there!

I had a followup visit with a cardiologist at Changi General Hospital in Singapore on December 13th, two weeks after being released. I was cleared to leave Singapore but no flights more than six hours. That effectively squelched any plan to come back to the US for further medical treatment! The main cause of concern was that my heart function was at only 34%. Below 30% would put me in danger of congestive heart failure. The doctor felt this made the risk to high to clear me to fly home to the US. They recommended a stress test in about six weeks to determine how much I’d recovered.

I decided to travel on to the Philippines arriving in Manila on December 15th. One of the first things I did was file my claim for reimbursement from my insurance company. I had run up about $16,000 dollars in medical bills at Changi General Hospital (a cheap price considering the alternative)! I decided to just take it easy until after the New Year.

I initially consulted with a cardiologist at Baypointe Hospital in Olongapo City on January 7th. His opinion was that given the 80% blockage a stress test was not a good idea until it was cleared. He felt there was too great a risk that it could trigger another heart attack! He recommended an angiogram to confirm the 80% blockage. If confirmed, then another angioplasty to clear the blockage and place another stint. He told me I would need to go to Medical City at Clark in Angeles or to Manila.

On January 11th I went to Medical City Hospital at Clark in Angeles City where I consulted with another cardiologist. She concurred with the cardiologist at Baypointe. I’ve been having some numbness in both arms during the night when I sleep and also occasionally in my feet. I also can get lightheaded sometimes if I stand up to quickly and I tend to tire easily at times. I have much more stamina than when I left the hospital, but no where near what I had before the heart attack. She felt that as young as I am, that I would want to be able to return to my normal activities. Her opinion is that once the 80% blockage is removed that should happen within 3-4 months. I asked specifically about scuba diving (of course) and she said yes! Still have to pass the stress test of course, but she felt that shouldn’t be a problem 🙂

I plan to go in next week for preliminary blood work and then I plan to schedule it as soon as possible. With any luck I’ll be diving again by May!

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Heart Attack

“The first sign or symptom of cardiovascular disease can be chest pain – or your first heart attack. DAN diving fatality statistics reveal many cases of sudden death due to cardiovascular disease with no prior history of it.”-Dr. James L. Caruso on Cardiovascular Fitness and Diving from the July/August 1999 issue of Alert Diver

Sometimes when you least expect it, life throws you a curveball… I was on my way back to the Philippines after spending 2 months in the US. I was changing planes in Singapore on Thanksgiving Day for the final leg of my trip which had started in Houston.  When my flight landed, my connecting flight to Manila was already boarding.  I ran from the terminal where I landed to the terminal where my connecting flight was leaving from.   A few minutes after reaching the gate I suffered a heart attack!

I’m very fortunate that it happened on the ground and not in the air (or even worse while diving). It turns out that I’m lucky to be alive. In spite of the pain, (picture your chest being crushed in a gigantic vise and your left arm going completely numb) I stayed conscious through the whole ordeal.  A paramedic came to the gate and then a doctor.  I was rushed by ambulance to Changi General Hospital.

“Cardiovascular events cause 20 to 30 percent of all deaths that occur while scuba diving.”-Dr. James L. Caruso on Cardiovascular Fitness and Diving from the July/August 1999 issue of Alert Diver

I spent 5 days in Changi General Hospital here in Singapore.  Upon arrival at the emergency room, they confirmed that I was having a heart attack and a bad one!  This I had already figured out! I was rolled into the Cath Lab.  The heart attack was being caused by a 100% blockage in my Left Anterior Descending, the main artery that feeds the heart!  The type of heart attack they call a STEMI. They performed a balloon angioplasty and inserted a stent to reopen the artery.  They also discovered that I have 2 other blockages. One is 50% and the other 80% which will require later treatment. The priority obviously was to clear the one that triggered the heart attack!  They performed the angioplasty by inserting a catheter through my wrist and into my heart.

Shot in the Cardiac Ward at Changi General Hospital in Singapore 4 days after my heart attack.

My cardiologist told me the day I was released from the hospital that I shouldn’t be in denial and that it was unlikely that I would ever dive again. I think I’ll be getting a 2nd opinion on that though! The damage was extensive I was told, but it will be a few months before we can see how much I can recover.  I’ve had conversations with two friends who were able to come back to diving after a heart attack.  I know every case is individual, but I’m hopeful that I’ve not made my last dive yet!

I was told to expect to be on blood thinners for at least a year.  After that, I can probably get by with taking a daily aspirin.  I will need to pass a pretty extensive physical and stress test before I can be cleared to dive again. No guarantees but I’m going to give it my best shot!

My case was a bit unusual. I’m an active person. I had completed over 100 dives in the Philippines between October 2015 and September 2016.  My cholesterol was high but my blood pressure was in the normal range and I’d had a checkup earlier in the year and a normal ECG.  My weight is a bit high but not excessive.  In 2012, the year I retired from the Navy, I was 185 lbs and spending a lot of gym time when I wasn’t working.  At the time of the heart attack, I was around 193 lbs at a height of 5′ 11″.  Heavy, but still within the height/weight standard I had to meet when on active duty with the Navy.  I’m a non-smoker. I had a stress test 10 years ago but was told my heart was fine.   I did suffer occasional chest pain but I’d put this down to reflux (I have GERD and have been on medication for it off and on for years).  Because of the stress test I had a tendency to write off chest pain as reflux.  With three blockages, apparently at least some of that chest pain was not GERD!

One of my close friends who is also a diver told me it’s a wake-up call for all of us (especially “Baby Boomers” and a big chunk of “Generation X”).  The importance of regular checkups and staying fit becomes even more important as we get older.  I’ve discovered this the hard way!

For now, I’m killing time here in Singapore until I go back to the doctor to see if they will clear me to fly. That will be on the 13th. I’m still adjusting but I’m thankful that I’m here to be able to go through that!

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Getting to Puerto Galera from Manila

I received a message on Twitter asking how long it takes to get to the ferry terminal from the airport in Manila…. the short answer is around 3 hours, give or take, depending on traffic.  Of course there is a little more too getting to Puerto Galera than that!  I promised to write more about this process on my blog, so here we are!

There are a few different ways to get to Puerto Galera. The easiest and fastest is to let your dive operation organize transport for you.  They can have a private van meet you at the airport and take you direct to Batangas Pier. This can be around 3500-4000 pesos and can take 6-10 people depending on how much baggage you have. This is cost effective if you are traveling with a group. They can also have a private boat bring you across which will probably run another 4000 pesos. Looking at around $170 dollars at current exchange rate of approximately 47 pesos to the dollar. For someone who is already spending a couple of thousand dollars to come from half-way around the world and doesn’t want to hassle with moving their bags around, then this is definitely an option.  If you have money to burn, you can even hire a seaplane… I’m going to assume most of you reading are not millionaires though!

A lot depends on what time of day you fly in.  The last ferry to Puerto Galera leaves around 5 PM. There are 4 different destinations for the bangka ferries, Sabang Pier, Muelle Pier, Balatero Pier, and White Beach. Times will vary for the last ferry based on destination so make sure to check with your operator. They are your best source for the most current information on schedules. If you fly into Manila in the afternoon you will end up having to spend the night somewhere if you don’t get a private boat and depending on conditions a boat may not be allowed to cross at night.

Assuming you get there early enough, then my suggestion is go to the departures area and get a metered cab.  Make sure you ask before you get in because they won’t all use the meter.  Have them take you to Buendia or Cubao if you want to take a bus. Time to the terminal will be dependent on traffic. It can take an hour or more depending on time of day.

I went to Cubao and use ALPS to get to Batangas Ferry Terminal on my last trip.  I wasn’t coming from the airport, but from Pampanga where I was staying.  Other than a 4 week trip home, I was in the Philippines from the middle of October last year until the end of September. I just returned to the US the end of September.

This trip I rode a bus from Pampanga to Cubao.  After getting out, I waved down an ALPS bus going to Batangas Pier so I actually saved a few minutes walk to the ALPS terminal.  I caught the bus at around 8 AM and was at the ferry terminal by 11:30 AM.  That was during morning rush hour.  The cost was a 175 pesos. After multiple trips between Cubao an Batangas Pier, the average time seemed to be between 2 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes. Add around 45 minutes during rush hour.

I know some people advise against putting your bags underneath on the bus, but I normally do this and have never had a problem. You can keep your bags with you, but you can be asked to purchase a seat for the bag. This approaches certainty if the bus is full. Having said that, there is always some risk. This is true pretty much everywhere though.

Whichever bus you take, make sure it says Batangas Pier and it’s the express bus. Look also for “Calabarzon” which stands for Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.  Buses run throughout the day, but if you don’t make it to the ferry terminal in time for the last ferry to Puerto Galera, you will end up spending the night somewhere. The last direct ferry to Sabang should be around 3 PM. Something to consider when you are planning your flight.  Leave plenty of time to get to the bus terminal and then for the ride to Batangas.  Manila has a well-earned reputation for horrendous traffic! There are later ferries, but if staying in Sabang you will have to get a trike or jeepney to take you the rest of the way.

If you arrive no later than mid-day,  you can hire a taxi to take you to Batangas Pier for 2500-3000 pesos.  Remember everything is negotiable!   This will almost certainly end up being cheaper than a hotel room for the night so it’s something to consider if you are pressed for time.

When you arrive at Batangas Pier if you are obviously a foreigner or you’re loaded down with dive gear, you will be swarmed by porters. If you come by bus you’ll leave the area where buses unload and load and walk straight ahead towards the water. After crossing the road turn left on the sidewalk. You’ll cross over another vehicular entrance to the pier area. Just keep going until you have to turn right. I doubt the distance is more than 70-80 yards.

You’ll walk down the sidewalk until you have to turn left again. You’ll come to another fence where you will make a jog to the right then left into a courtyard. Across the courtyard you will see two buildings with a walkway in between. This will bring you to another small courtyard. The building on the right is the terminal building. The one one on the left has ferry line ticket windows. Pass between the two buildings and you will see a small courtyard to the left. If you look straight across the courtyard there is another building with ticket windows for multiple ferry lines. The majority of the dive operations are in Sabang. Pick your destination based on where your dive operator/hotel is. Your choices are Sabang Pier, Muelle Pier, Balatero Pier, and White Beach. Your operator will advise you. Once you purchase your ticket turn around a 180 degrees and walk back across the courtyard and in the right hand corner is where you will pay your terminal fee of 30 pesos. In September I paid 230 pesos to Sabang on FSL (Father and Son Lines). When you arrive in Puerto Galera you will pay a 50 peso environmental fee so make sure you have small change.

After that you can enter the terminal building which will be just up the steps into the building along the water. If a porter has been helping you with your bags, be advised that they cannot enter the building. They will ask for a 100 pesos… at least. 50 pesos is plenty. Locals pay even less.

After your bags go through x-ray and you’ve passed through the metal detector, turn to the right and enter the waiting area. In the front right corner is the entrance to the pier. Along the left side will be desks with representatives of some of the hotels and dive operators. Along the back will be vendors to purchase food and in the back corner will be restrooms (CR or Comfort Room in the Philippines). When your ferry is called you will show your ticket and be directed to your ferry.

My last trip to Puerto Galera I carried 4 bags. A small Pelican case with my cameras, lenses, dive computers, and electronic accessories. A larger bag with my Ikelite housing, ports, and strobes. And then the really heavy bag which is all my dive gear, spare parts, tools, clothes, etc.. I also normally have a smaller carry bag for my laptop, journal for keeping notes, power bank for my phone, etc.. Things I might need on the bus. My Akona bag that I carry my Ikelite accessories in can be rigged with backpack straps. I carry this one on my back while pulling the Pelican case and my dive gear bag. My carry-on I sling in front of me. I can manage this for short distances, but I did allow someone to help me put the large bag on the boat. The gangway is a bit narrow and I have no wish to fall in the water! From the bus to the terminal I can handle this by myself. Again, they will ask for a 100 pesos from the bus to the terminal. That is way to high! If you want help, 50 pesos should be plenty. 50 pesos to get the bag on the ferry should be fine also. Again, this is more than what locals will pay.

On the other end after you reach Puerto Galera, there will be numerous porters who will want to carry your bag from the boat to wherever you are staying. You can tip according to distance. When I came in August I tipped a 100 pesos (a little over $2 dollars) because it was a pretty good distance from the pier to the dive shop and my bag was heavy. Some people might think I tipped to much, some to little. I think it was a happy medium. A normal bag I think 50 pesos should be good, again depending on how far they carry it and how heavy.

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Back in the USA

I had an unexpected family issue come up and flew back to the US last week. My brother flew with me and we’re home in Texas now. Nothing life-threatening, just something that required our attention. Like brothers in other families I suspect, we get along pretty well except for the occasional times we want to kill each other 🙂 Most of the time though he’s one of my favorite people to hang out with 😉

This trip instead of renting a car like I did the last time I came home in May I opted to take my Harley Davidson out of storage and ride it instead. Probably should have done that last time :)) It’s been in storage for over a year. It ended up needing a new battery. The battery on a V-Rod is a pain to replace as we had to remove the air-breather to get to it, but my brother and I got it done. Then I had to purchase insurance, get it inspected, and re-register the bike. In all I probably spent about $220 bucks, but still a lot cheaper than renting a car for a month or longer!

Standing next to my 2004 Harley Davidson V-Rod last Friday the day after getting home to Texas. Good to be on the road again!
Standing next to my 2004 Harley Davidson V-Rod last Friday the day after getting home to Texas. Good to be on the road again!

I expect to be here about 4-6 weeks all together. During my last week in Puerto Galera my Hollis DG-03 Dive Computer malfunctioned. It didn’t want to surface from a dive! I understand not wanting to come up, but unlike my dive computer I don’t have a choice when the air in my tank runs low :)) The computer was locking up at 3 feet. I managed to get it to clear a few times, but it kept doing it again so I broke down and borrowed a dive computer from Rick.

I contacted the folks at Hollis this week and explained the problem and it’s been sent back to the factory for service. Since it’s less than two years old it will be covered under warranty so my only expense was postage to the factory. Surprisingly, they expect only a 10 day turnaround so I’m quite happy about that!

My Dive Rite RG-3500 regulators happened to be due for service also. With over a 100 dives in the Philippines in the last year, it seemed like a good time to get that taken care of as well. I’ve owned these regulators since 2009 and although they’ve been discontinued, they continue to give me good service! My setup consists of a RG3500 1st Stage and two RG-3500 2nd Stages. I use miflex hoses, with my primary on a 5 foot hose and my secondary on a short hose I wear on a necklace. I’ll be dropping them off at Sea Sports Scuba in Cypress, Texas which is about a half hour from where I’m staying with family while I’m in Texas. They estimated about a 2 week turnaround. Parts have to be ordered.

I dive an Oxycheq Mach V Extreme Wing on a Dive Rite SS back plate. This is basically a wreck diving setup. I’m Wreck and Cavern certified and was thinking at the time I bought the gear that I might get into Tech Diving. I’ve since chosen not too as I don’t think it’s something I would do often enough to justify the expense. Who knows though, I still might do it at some point. In the meantime, it’s still a good setup for the limited penetrations I do and I like the streamlined feel of it 🙂

The bladder developed a leak which I noticed in Puerto Galera. The wing is over 7 years old with 100’s of dives on it. I initially thought about replacing the bladder as the best option, but instead I’m going to try patching it with AquaSeal. The bladder isn’t ripped or torn (difficult to do with the Extreme Wing because of the Armored Extreme Explorer Fabric used for the outer shell) It’s very tough and was a big reason why I chose the this particular wing. It’s just a pinhole leak so it should be fine I think with AquaSeal.

No reason not to take care of some diving related stuff while I’m here 🙂 I’m hoping to be out of here and on my way back to the Philippines by the 1st week of November. I’ll keep you all posted!

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A great time in Puerto Galera!

I had originally planned a month in Puerto Galera, but ended up extending a week. I ended up getting sick and missed 2 weeks of diving. Initially the doctor thought it was flu, but after a few days I just had chest congestion and cough so it looked more like bronchitis. I was sick for a week before getting put on a stronger anti-biotic that finally got me headed in the right direction.

I was back in the water on Tuesday the 13th. I did Secret Bay in the morning. I think I saw more seahorses than I’ve ever seen in just one dive! Secret Bay is largely sandy bottom with some coral here and there. My maximum depth for this dive was 58 feet and I did a 1 hour and 10 minutes’ dive. Water temperature was 85 degrees Fahrenheit. There were tons of gobies and shrimps, lionfish, hermit crabs, wrasse, damselfish, nudibranchs, and right at the end of the dive a mimic octopus! I really enjoyed this dive for all the great macro opportunities. Right at the end of the dive we found a mimic octopus! A great finish!

Seahorse photographed in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Seahorse photographed in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

Mimic Octopus photographed during a dive in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Mimic Octopus photographed during a dive in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

In the afternoon we dived La Laguna Point. This point divides Big La Laguna Beach and Small La Laguna Beach. This was a 52 minute dive to a maximum depth 92 feet. Water temperature was 84 degrees Fahrenheit. We worked our way up to shallower water where we found a coral slope at about 65 feet. Some nice corals and the usual suspects, damselfish, anthia’s, lionfish, sweetlips, cardinalfish, angelfish, bannerfish… you get the picture! Up the slope there was a shallow wall at around 50 feet that went up to around 20 feet.

Cardinalfish photographed in Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Cardinalfish photographed in Puerto Galera, Philippines.

On Wednesday we dived Sabang Wrecks in the morning. This was a 52 minute dive with a maximum depth of 72 feet. Water temperature was recorded as a very warm 88 degrees Fahrenheit… maybe the warmest temperature I’ve recorded outside of Barracuda Lake in Coron! Sabang Wrecks include 3 wrecks of boats that were intentionally sunk to form artificial reefs. It’s possible to do all 3 wrecks in one dive and that’s what we did. Right at the beginning my guide spotted a Spiny Waspfish-Ablabys macracanthus. We found large schools of fish around every wreck. Batfish were in abundance as were damselfish, cardinalfish, and sweetlips. There was a small area of garden eels nearby and a snake eel.

Spiny Waspfish photographed during a dive at Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Spiny Waspfish photographed during a dive at Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

On the second wreck we saw a Broadhead Flathead, along with cardinalfish, goatfish, wrasse, damselfish and the rest of the gang! The third wreck I saw a peacock mantis shrimp but like most of his kind, he took off before I could get a photo. They almost always do, but occasionally I’ll get one that will actually hold still and let me take several photos. This happened during my last trip to Malapascua Island, this past April. For some reason the ones around Puerto Galera are much more shy. I don’t think I’ve ever succeeded in getting a photo of one here!
In the afternoon we returned to Secret Bay again. Again maximum depth was 58 feet. Water temperatures were 85 degrees this time and we ended up with a 1 hour and 3 minute dive.

A variety of fish swarm around one of the Sabang Wrecks. Photographed during a dive in Puerto Galera, Philippines.
A variety of fish swarm around one of the Sabang Wrecks. Photographed during a dive in Puerto Galera, Philippines.

On Thursday we did Montani in the morning. Another 1 hour and 3 minute dive with a maximum depth of 61 feet. Water temperature was 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Montani is mainly sandy bottom with scattered coral outcroppings and coral rubble. It’s in front of Montani Dive Resort. Lots of macro opportunities here.

It was this dive I was reminded of the importance of tethering gear. Towards the end of the dive, I glanced down and saw that my focus light that had been mounted on the top of my Fantasea housing (I was using my Canon G16 on this dive) was gone! It appears that the attachment does not hold very well. I knew it hadn’t been lost very long, but I also realized that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack! I signaled Myrene, my guide. I showed her that my light had fallen off and motioned to go back. We were spread out about 10 feet apart as we went back along our line of travel. Within a minute she spotted it! I was really happy about this as the light is fairly new. Only six months old. I made sure it was tethered after that.

In the afternoon we did a dive that the guide called the “Mini-Reef” which was almost directly in front of the dive shop. This was a 47 minute dive with a maximum depth of 91 feet. Water temperature was 84 degrees. That was a great dive with lots of fish and a turtle at the end came swimming right past me!
Friday I took a day off and slept in. Then worked on finishing up my blog post on DRT from the previous weekend and editing photos.

Saturday for the morning dive, we again went to Secret Bay. This dive ended up being exactly one hour with a maximum depth of 54 feet and water temperatures of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Lot’s of the same including a devil scorpionfish!

Devil Scorpionfish photographed in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Devil Scorpionfish photographed in Secret Bay, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

We had a really amazing dive in the afternoon at Sabang Point. Started with a white-eyed moray, then a nice little juvenile warty frogfish. Lots of the usual suspects, beautiful corals. I kept an eye out for nesting triggerfish, but nesting season is well over now! Dive time was 47 minutes with a maximum depth of 70 feet Water temperature was a bit cooler at 82 degrees Fahrenheit. I noticed a thermocline at around 60 feet with markedly cooler water.

Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus) photographed on a dive at Sabang Point, Puerto Galera, Philippines on September 17th, 2016.
Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus) photographed on a dive at Sabang Point, Puerto Galera, Philippines on September 17th, 2016.

On Sunday the 18th, I only did the afternoon dive. My friend Zee Malota from Australia was in town with a couple of other friends and he came over to meet me at Frontier Scuba and we did a dive at Hole-in-the-Wall. This would be a 50 minute dive to a maximum depth of 81 feet. Water temperatures was 83 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a huge rock with a hole through which you can swim. It’s just wide enough for one diver to fit through. It’s at a depth of around 40 feet. Up on top I found a nice scorpionfish. The rest of the “usual suspects” were there in abundance also.

Scorpionfish photographed during a dive at Hole-in-the-Wall, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Scorpionfish photographed during a dive at Hole-in-the-Wall, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

Right at the end of this dive while we were doing our safety stop, I found a camera. From looking at the photos on the camera we figured the camera had been underwater for around a week and the owner was likely Japanese. I’ve already tweeted about this and I’m having a friend translate into Japanese a notice that I can circulate online and hopefully find the owner. If you believe you are the owner of this camera, please contact me with a description and we’ll work on arrangements to get it back to you.

The following 3 days I did 3 dives a day. I had originally expected to do around 40 dives in a month. This would have been a nice relaxed 2 dives a day/5 day a week pace. Missing over 2 weeks of diving had put me behind. I reset my goal to 30 dives as Rick gives his best dive rate to those who do at least 30 dives. I needed 9 dives to get to 30! I wanted my last dive day to be Wednesday so that my gear would have time to dry out before departing Puerto Galera on Friday.

On Monday we started with Kilima Step. I ended up doing a 50 minute dive to a maximum depth of 74 feet. It has many different levels or steps. Essentially a series of walls that drops down to 75 feet or so. You can work your way back up with the last step being around 15 feet. A really nice dive. Lot’s of beautiful coral’s on this dive. I spent a lot of time stalking fish, trying to get a photo, which anyone who has tried it knows is not always so easy!

The second dive of the morning was at Coral Cove. 49 minutes with a maximum depth of 86 feet. Coral Cove is one of my favorites and not far from another one of my favorites, Sinandigan Wall. Coral Cove is a sloping reef that terminates at a small wall at around 65 feet. A really nice dive. Lot’s of macro opportunities. Nudibranchs, peacock mantis shrimp, moray’s, cuttlefish. Nice corals, whip corals, sea fans. Lot’s of color!

The third and last dive of the day was another dive at La Laguna Point. 48 minutes with a maximum depth of 72 feet. This dive was also a milestone of sorts as it was my 100th dive in the Philippines since arriving last year in October. 100 dives in 11 months is not to bad I think for a “non-professional”. At one point I spotted two triggerfish. Much smaller than the one the one that chased us last month, but I kept an eye on them anyway, especially when one appeared to follow me briefly! I know nesting season is well over now, but the image of large Titan Triggerfish snapping at my fins is not one I’ll soon forget! Towards the end I was able to photograph two Jorunna funebris mating. Behavior is what we love to photograph!

Tuesday we started with Sinandigan Wall. 52 minutes to a depth of 83 feet. I made two dives here during my time in Puerto Galera. Both great dives. Lot’s of nudibranchs on this dive!

The second dive was Dungon Beach. Rick told me he’d spotted a manta ray there…. 7 years ago! Nice dive. 52 minutes again and a maximum depth of 80 feet. There is a wall that starts around 40 feet going down to around 80 feet. Lot’s of places for nudibranchs, lionfish, moray’s, and scorpionfish.

The last dive was on the St Christopher. 51 minutes, 81 feet. The St Christopher is a former liveaboard dive boat sunk off the end of El Galleon pier in 1995. My second dive on this wreck. Lot’s of fish and we finish up on the reef in front of Small La Laguna Beach.

My last dive day was Wednesday the 21st, exactly 5 weeks after arriving in Puerto Galera. We went to Verde Island for two dives. I’d heard about Verde for years, but this would be the first time I dived there. It was actually a pretty quick trip. Only about 40 minutes.

Verde Island is essentially a pinnacle that barely sticks out of the water. After being briefed we back rolled into the water. The boatman handed me my camera and we began descending as we headed toward the pinnacle. My camera is a Nikon D300 in an Ikelite Housing with dual Ikelite sub-strobes. I also have a Light and Motion Sola 1200 focus light mounted on top. For this dive I’d chosen to go wide and had my Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye Zoom lens mounted on the Nikon.

It became apparent very quickly that we were in a fairly heavy current. I was kicking as hard as I could, and pushing a large DSLR in a housing with two large strobes… I was just barely making headway and became concerned I was going to suck all the air out of my tank and end up with a 15 minute dive!

We started making our way to the other side of the pinnacle. We worked our way down as we went around the pinnacle to escape the current. At my deepest point I was a 106 feet. Then we started working our way up the pinnacle. What an amazing place! We surrounded by CLOUDS of fish! Anthias, damselfish, wrasse, jacks, angelfish, butterflyfish. Visibility was easily 75-80 feet, the best visibility the whole trip!

After the dive I told Tom-Tom, my guide, that I’d just had easily a top 5 dive in the Philippines! To put that in perspective, I’ve been coming to the Philippines for over 9 years now with 300 plus dives here. I’ve dived all over the country…. Malapascua Island, Southern Leyte, Dauin, Apo Island, Tubbataha, Bohol, Moalboal, Puerto Princessa, El Nido, Coron, and Boracay. Top 5 is pretty sensational! With the depth and the hard current at the beginning we ended up with a 45 minute dive, although I did have 50 bar (735 psi) left in my tank. After surfacing we drifted while the boat came over and picked us up.

Verde Island, Philippines
Verde Island, Philippines

The second dive was actually a bit easier. We approached from the other side and missed the current this time. Only 68 feet for this dive. As before, huge schools of fish. I also saw several batfish and a few lionfish along with trumpetfish. I took my smaller photo setup for this dive. A Canon G16 in a Fantasea Housing with an Inon S-2000 strobe. I moved my Sola 1200 focus light from the Ikelite Housing to the Fantasea Housing. With this setup, in addition to some wider shots, I was also able to get some macro. We discovered several nudibranch during the course of the dive and I worked to get some individual fish shots. After another amazing dive. We headed back to Sabang.

Verde Island, Philippines
Verde Island, Philippines

Although I was back in time to do the afternoon dive that normally went out between 2 and 2:30 PM, I was exhausted after fighting the current. I’d already spoken to Rick the day before and he had offered to take me out on a night dive. Matthew who had just gotten his certification and was building experience fast was invited to go with us to do his first night dive. Rick told us to be back at 6 PM. I headed back to my apartment. I grabbed my laundry bag and dropped off laundry, then went back to my apartment for a nap!

I was back at the dive shop around 5:30. I opened my housing. Changed the port and the lens to my Nikkor 60mm. I’d put all the batteries on charge upon our return from Verde Island. After getting everything set up. We started gearing up. About 6:15 the boat left and we went just off Sabang Beach to dive Sabang Wrecks.

This was a really nice dive. I love night diving. Soldierfish, rainbow runners, Banded Coral Shrimp, pipefish, moray eels, snake eels, lionfish, blue-spotted ray… a great finish to my 5 weeks diving Puerto Galera!
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Banded boxer coral shrimp photographed during a night dive on Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Banded boxer coral shrimp photographed during a night dive on Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

Blue-spotted Ray photographed during a night dive on Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.
Blue-spotted Ray photographed during a night dive on Sabang Wrecks, Puerto Galera, Philippines.

The next day was a rest day. I mostly worked on photos in the morning. I spent the afternoon at the dive shop packing my gear.

After that I had a massage (something I did fairly often in Puerto Galera as a 1 hour massage was only 400 pesos. I normally would tip a 100 pesos, so barely $10 dollars with tip!) I picked up my laundry. Had dinner and went back to working on photos and working on my writing a bit.

I was up at 8 AM on Friday morning. Took a shower. Packed the few things I had in my apartment and went and checked out. I went by a souvenir shop to pick up some souvenirs for friends and then stopped and had breakfast. After that I went to the dive shop and finished packing my bag. I dropped some pesos in the tip box and two of the boys from the shop took a bag each and we headed down the beach to the pier. At the pier I paid for my ticket. They were already loading and a little after 10:30 AM the boat was on it’s way to Batangas.

At the pier I got on one of the waiting buses to Cubao in Manila. I’d planned to take a taxi from Cubao to Monumento to catch a bus to Batangas where I stay when I’m not on a dive trip (my brother has an apartment in San Fernando). The traffic was horrendous and it had started raining. In the end I paid the cab driver 2500 pesos to just take me and skip the bus. A little over $50 bucks.

A few final notes on expenses in Puerto Galera.
My electric ended up being 3750 pesos, about $80 dollars for a little over 5 weeks. My rent was 16500 pesos a month and it was prorated for the extra week. 20,350 pesos for just over 5 weeks. Around $438 dollars. Round it to around $520 to account for fluctuations in the exchange rate for accommodations for the whole time I was there. I paid a total of 100 pesos for drinking water while I was there. A 20 liter jug was 50 pesos and I went through two of them. I paid 200 pesos deposit for the jug which I got back when I returned it. I paid a 165 pesos for laundry while I was there. There was a minimum of 3 kilos that I never seemed to quite get too as I’d not brought that many clothes. I’d do laundry about once a week. Wash/dry/fold for about $3.50 a week.

The big expense for me was food as I opted not to cook. This was an option. I needed to only pay a deposit for the gas. I had a two burner stove and a refrigerator. They also provided pots, pans, dishes, utensils, etc… I just didn’t want to bother with it. I typically paid around 200 pesos for breakfast. You could pay 500 pesos depending on where you wanted to eat. Anything on the beach was of course more expensive.

I found a pretty amazing pizza place and probably tried every pizza on the menu while I was there in addition to some great pasta. I could get dinner for under 500 pesos. You could also pay several hundred or over a 1000 pesos if you wanted a steak in a place with a view! Or you could eat fried rice (enough for two normally) for a 150 pesos. Just depends on what your tastes and budget was. I typically probably spent about 500-600 pesos a day, but I usually only ate once a day while I was there with a few snacks thrown in.

My budget ended up being:
$520 Accommodations
$450 Food
$650 Diving (x30) including tips
$400 Misc (massages, souvenirs, transportation to from Manila, etc..)

Around $2000 dollars. Throw in round trip airfare from the US and it’s possible to spend a month in Puerto Galera for around $3000-$3500 dollars depending on where you are traveling from. The big savings was in accommodations. A one month stay can be much cheaper than a one week stay, depending on where you stay. Probably the other place I saved is that I stayed out of the bars. I stopped drinking several months ago so found no reason to go bar hopping. If you like to go out for drinks after a day of diving (I certainly have in the past and will again in the future I’m sure once I hit my goal weight), then less massage’s and more drinking!

I really enjoyed my time in Puerto Galera and am sure I’ll be diving there again in the future!