SAT – After all guests checked into their rooms we proceeded with the ‘Welcome Briefing.’ Then we settled on the groupings & set up all the dive gears. Dinner followed & we were on our way to Northern Cebu, Malapascua.

SUN – Dive 1, we set our sights on Monad Shoal, world-famous for Thresher Sharks. We were swimming diagonally across the sandy bottom for 10 minutes at 50 feet before we reached a cleaning station. And then it all happened, 3 Thresher Sharks coming & going on our sides & on top of us for a good 15 minutes! They were coming to be cleaned by  Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasses (Labroides Dimidiatus). We moved a bit deeper to a sandy slope/ledge at 80 ft & saw more Thresher Sharks, 5 individuals weaving their way around us for another 20 minutes. Then we decided to move to shallower depths at 45 ft & saw 2 more Thresher Sharks for 5 minutes before proceeding to conduct our safety stop. All in all, 10 individual Thresher Sharks with most of our guests seeing them for the first time in their lives. Dive 2, a repeat of Monad Shoal showcased a Devil Ray passing by at the Cleaning Station.  An Eagle Ray was also spotted. And again, a Thresher Shark appeared for an appointment with the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasses. This time it came back & forth for about 5 minutes. Jess, our Asst. Cruise Director found a rare Nudibranch (Phyllodesmium Koehleri) towards the end of the dive. Our 3^rd dive was at Gato Island. The narrative turned to Critter Hunting. We found Boxer Shrimp, Lion Fish, Juvenile Yellow Boxfish, Puffer Fishes & Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus Bargibanti). Under one overhang on the white sandy bottom, we found a sleeping Whitetip Shark. Dive 4, another dive at Gato Island but this time we penetrated the shallow tunnel. We were treated to 3 Bamboo Sharks, 1 Carpet Shark, a Whip Coral Shrimp & a few Nudibranchs. Another repeat dive at Gato Island for our 5^th dive of the day, a night dive. Nocturnal marine creatures came out for us. We found 3 Cuttle Fish of varying sizes, 1 was big close to 30 inches. Nudibranchs all over the reef, a Blenny, a Boxer Shrimp, a Bobtail Squid, 2 Decorator Crabs, a Spanish Dancer & 3 Banded Sea Kraits. Towards the end of the dive, we saw a Black & White Pipefish with a Pink Tail.

MON – Once more Monad Shoal for our 1^st-morning dive. From the buoy line, once submerged it took us only a 5-minute swim before we reached a Cleaning Station. And then there was 1, and then there were 2 Thresher Sharks being cleaned by the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasses. We were lying flat on the sandy bottom at 50 ft witnessing this phenomenon. The interaction happened for about 15 minutes before we decided to swim deeper on the slope below the ledge. At about 85 ft we settled down on the sandy bottom, and then we saw the 3^rd, the 4^th & the 5^th Thresher Shark circling us. On the left side, on the right side & above our heads. We had all our 16 guests lying flat on the sandy bottom. Some of us had to move back to avoid being too close to the Cleaning Stations, this inhibits the Thresher Shark from being cleaned by the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasses. We stayed there for another 20 minutes before we headed to shallower depths. We saw 3 more Thresher Sharks. Towards the end of the dive, we came across a Thorny Seahorse. A great way to start the day with a Close Encounter of the Thresher Kind!!! 2^nd-morning dive, Monad Shoal. With the Philippines being a Catholic country, the local government of Malapascua decided to place a statue of the Virgin Mary at 50 ft of water close to the Cleaning Stations. Amidst this backdrop, we saw 2 Whitetip Sharks & about 5 Thresher Sharks coming & going for the clean. A Sexy Shrimp here, a Squat Shrimp there & a Soft Coral Crab; Monad Shoal is not just about Thresher Sharks. The Critters are there too! Dive 3, Deep Slope, Malapascua. Critter Show Flow, 3 Thorny Seahorse of colors Yellow, Brown & White, 1 Boxer Shrimp, 5 different kinds of Nudibranch, a Juvenile Cuttlefish, 3 Sea Moths, an Egg Cowrie Shell & a most beautiful Sea Penn. Along the wall, a big school of adult Catfish was swimming downwards cascading like a waterfall. Dive 4, Lighthouse. A sunset dive famous for Mandarin Fish, yes, we saw them amongst small Staghorn Corals about 10 of them scattered in different spots. A Banded Pipefish was also there.

TUES – Southern Leyte, our 1^st dive at 11:45 am was at Medicare, Padre Burgos, named after the Medicare Building right in front of the dive site. We were treated to seeing a huge Yellow Boxfish, a Yellow Pygmy Seahorse, a Crinoid Squat Lobster & a School of Yellow Tail Barracuda. Guests were in awe of the Coral Garden filled with Gorgonian Fan Corals, Staghorn Corals, Table Corals, Black Corals, Sponges & Soft Leather Coral that cover the reef. From a distance towards the end of the dive, we saw a Hawksbill Turtle. Dive number 2, Little Lembeh, Malitbog, Southern Leyte. Named after the famous Indonesian Muck Dive Site. Rightfully so.  Critters were all over the place. Our Muck Diving adventure produced sightings of Sea Pens, Upside-down Jellyfish, Skeleton Shrimp, Squat Shrimp, Anemone Cleaner Shrimp, Anemone Porcelain Crab, Juvenile Lion Fish, Juvenile Peacock Razorfish, Blue Swimming Crab, Shrimp Goby, Juvenile Mantis Shrimp, Peacock-Tail Anemone Shrimp & Emperor Shrimp. Dive 3, a night dive at Little Lembeh for a repeat of the day dive. This time we were treated to sightings of a Bobtail Squid, & an Algae Octopus. Linda Chan, our young American guest got so thrilled doing her first-ever night dive, finding a Wunderpus (Wunderpus Photgenicus).

WED – We reached Anda, Bohol at dawn & did our 1st-morning dive at Lumayag Snapper Cave. A big shoal of Red Snappers was there when we submerged off the skiff. The wall was festooned with Whip Corals, Gorgonian Fan Corals Blue Tube Sponges, Soft Leather Coral & Crinoids. Along the sandy reef, we saw a Slate-Pencil Urchin, Lion Fish, Anemone Clown Fish, Red Fire Goby, different kinds of Nudibranchs & a Green Turtle. 2ND-morning dive, Coral Garden–Turtle Point at Anda, Bohol Island. A waxing full moon with a mild to strong drift, Coral Garden is populated by Soft Leather Corals & Hard Coral in hues of Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Orange & Red. We found Tomato Clown Fish on Anemone Corals & a Juvenile Scorpion Fish. Appropriately named, we found 10 Green Turtles at Turtle Point! Dive 3, Virgin Sanctuary, Anda. A wall-slope combination decorated by colorful corals. The Alperstein family: Father & mother, Ken & Jill & their 2 sons Max & Jack were thrilled to find a Yellow Wart Frogfish, Mantis Shrimp, Trigger Fish, Zebra Moray & a Giant Puffer that Jill says is as big as a Seal. It was such a mild drift compared to the last dive & other guests saw a Comet Fish. Dive 4, La Manok Steep Wall. Manok is Chicken in Filipino. The dive site got its name from the ancient burial practice of Filipinos, offering Chicken to their ancestors whom they place in boats (covered by another boat) inside caves. La Manok, the dive site is just beside this ancient burial caves & it packs a wallop as Muck dives go. We found about 6 different Nudibranchs (Phyllidia, Chromodoris, Phyllodesmium, Reticulidia, Hypselodoris & Nembrotha), Juvenile Devil Scorpion Fish, Ornate Ghost Pipefish, & a pair of Razor Shrimp. Dive 5, La Manok. Our night became an interesting night of full moon Arthropods & Cephalopods. We saw about 10 Blue Swimming Crab (Portunus Pelagicus) & Sculptured Slipper Lobster (Pamibacus Antarcticus). One group saw 2 Berry’s Bobtail Squids (Eurprymna Berryi), 3 Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus Marginatus) & an Ornate Ghost Pipefish.

THUR – 1^st morning dive Lila. Feeding Whalesharks is becoming a practice in the Philippines. Lila, Bohol is one of those places. We got into the water & settled buoyant in individual water spaces diagonal & below the feeding Whalesharks. Most of our guests have never seen a Whaleshark. 3 Whalesharks were present! They were big, between 24 to 27 ft. Feeding krill from the banca (small native outrigger boats) vertically, when the Gentle Giants submerged horizontally and leveled to our positions, everyone with a camera had a blast taking pics & videos relevant from their point of view. All our divers had happy faces giving fist bumps to each other. A number of our guests saw Whalesharks for the first time in their lives. 2^nd morning dive, Dakit-Dakit, Pamilacan Island. A colorful sandy slope festooned with yellow & orange Soft Sponges. Soft Corals seem to be everywhere! We were treated to viewing Oriental Sweetlips, Red Snappers, Yellow Boxfish, a subadult Green Turtle, Mantis Shrimp, 2 Octopuses, a School of about 50 Chevron Barracudas, 2 Sea Snakes & 4 Nudibranchs. We did our 3^rd dive just outside the Sanctuary of Pamilacan Island. Welfred, one of our dive guides found a Pikachu Nudibranch (Thecacera Picta) amongst many other Nudibranchs on the reef. It was quite a treat finding a Red Orange & White 4-inch Painted Frog Fish, Green Turtle, 8 Porcelain Crabs on the many Anemones, Butterfly Fish, Angel Fish, Juvenile Yellow Boxfish, Peacock Mantis Shrimp, several Anemone Clown Fish & White Leaf Scorpion Fish. Dive 4, a dive site called Danao Reef at Alona Beach, Panglao in Bohol. For Michael Borgert, one of our guests, every dive is a good dive. We found Robust Ghost Pipefish, a Yellow Margin Nudibranch, Zebra Eel, Wide Eyed Moray, Banded Pipefish & a Juvenile Batfish.

FRI – Our 1^st-morning dive was at Lighthouse, Cabilao Island. Michael Borgert, our Divemaster guest is always keen on finding marine life. We were treated to sightings of an Eagle Ray, 2 Green Giant Green Frogfish, Nudibranchs mating, a Great Barracuda, 3 Green Turtles, 15 Scorpion Fish, a Whitetip Shark & a school of Batfish. Going back to the mother boat on the skiff we saw a pod of Dolphins. The guests jumped in & snorkeled with them for a while!! 2^nd morning dive, La Estrella, Cabilao Island. Our bounty of sightings included 2 Green Turtles, Lion Fish, Nudibranchs, 2 Boxer Shrimps, Scorpion Fish & a Banded Pipefish.