Underwater Siquijor Island

After a lazy morning, Kim and i headed off to snorkel the Tubod Marine Sanctuary, which was about a 20min walk from Hambilica. It was hot, (yes, i think the weather has finally cleared), so we hired a tricycle to take us there $.50 for both of us. This is advertised as the ‘best’ snorkeling area on Siquijor. The entire shoreline is owned by Coco Grove Resort, advertised as the best place to stay; but it is quite expensive. You can use their beach for 250pesos ($5). However, Fides told us about a small unadvertised entrance to the Sanctuary between two of the 4 entrances to the Resort, 50pesos ($1).

They have huge tide swings here, average 6 feet up to 7+. The beach extends out a long ways, so at low tide, it’s a trek to get there. You definitely want to wear ‘booties’ covering your feet, lots and lots of Sea Urchins in the shallow water, hiden by rocks and some seaweed.

It was great snorkeling with Kim, we kind of went our separate ways and kept crossing paths and comparing notes. k

This is a Peacock Grouper in it’s ‘Pale Phase’, he was one of the larger fish.

I’ve already posted a photo of this Virgate RabbitFish, but it did not have the detail that this one does. Such pretty markings !

This is a One Spot RabbitFish and a Fox Face RabbitFish. I think you can tell which one is which. They seem to be crossing inter-racial boundaries :)

This was a large fish with pretty markings and a larger than usual mouth. It swam around biting off huge chunks of coral and then spitting the whole mouthful out ! I thought it was a type of ParrotFish, but one of the Dive Masters has been helping me do identification, and now we think it is a Black Eye Big Lip Wrasse. I think it fits !

This is a Female Spotted BoxFish, pretty with bright yellow spots

You can see how why they call them BoxFish … they are quite ‘box-y’

But check out the Male Spotted BoxFish … this guy’s a ’sharp dressed man’ ready to capture the female attention

I dove down after his fish for a long time. It is a Mimic SurgeonFish

I have yet to get close enough to a ParrotFish to identify it. But here is a whole herd of them as they moved through the coral feeding. In Honduras, it is quite easy to get close to them, but not here

And, i finally found the REAL Nemo !

Aint he cute?

This is a ‘Feeding Station’. Fishes swim up to a particular area where they know there are tiny fishes that will ‘clean’ them, removing parasites. It's kind of like a Drive Through Car Wash !

For some reason they are usually in a vertical position

They even open their mouths so the can be cleaned on the inside too. And those little fishes know that they will not be eaten

This is a Pennant BannerFish … similar to the BumpHead BannerFish posted earlier, but not the same.

We seen many small clams, but this is a new color ... turquoise like the sea !

i have been unsure if this is a Long Nose Tang or a Brush Tail Tang, but i am going with Brush Tail Tang. Don't you love their smiley faces :)

This is a familiar creature from Honduras and Belize snorkeling. It is a Christmas Tree Worm.

I’ve posted photos of the Black Spot PufferFish, and also the Blue and Gold Michigan variation. Here is the Yellow variation. I still haven't seen the Spartan :(

I introduced you to the Juvenile Long Fin SpadeFish in another blog, also called BatFish

and mentioned that as they developed, they grew into their fins … so the Adult is not as dramatic as the Juvenile

And, i am saving the Best for last …. i’ve always heard about these guys, but have never seen one. I did a couple of dives here in Siquijor at the Last Frontier with Dive Master Norman. I told him i wanted to see a Frog Fish … and he found one for me… at the very end of our dive …. 'Huh' you say ... what is THAT ?

This guy was amazing. To my eyes underwater, he and the piece of coral he is sitting on were both pure white. i used a flash for this photo, and it picked up the coral as green …. but they were both white as sheets and he was impossible to see even after he pointed him out to me. i only realized what he was pointing at when i saw his ‘feet’.

Frog Fish typically have something hanging down from the top of their head, right in front of their mouth. Kind of like a ‘fishing pole’ attached to the top of his head. The idea is that another fish sees this little piece of food at the end of the line, the Frog Fish is totally camouflaged, so he doesn’t see him. As he goes to eat the little piece of food, the FrogFish gobbles him up. Unfortunately either you can’t see it in the photo, or this FrogFish just was not in a ‘fishing mood’ or not hungry.