Dumaluan and Bikini Beach

There are 3 beaches that are still on Panglao Island, just north of Alona Beach, where i stay.   i visited Dumaluan last year and enjoyed it.
I road a habal-habal (motorcycle) to Dumaluan with 'Archie'.   Actually we went to White Beach first; but once i got there, i decided it wasn't good for snorkeling, so he took me to Dumaluan.
It has a wooden cabanas and benches, also fresh water showers, and a place where you can get some food.   the beach is beautiful.   it was low tide when i got there.   my favorite time to snorkel because i can be closer to the corals and eye to eye with the fishes.   much better than viewing them from 10 feet above !

there are a lot of these Chocolate Chip Sea Stars in the shallows of most of the beaches … but the ones i saw here were noticeably larger than others  !       i just love these subtle colors !

this is a Sea Star that has attached itself to the side of a piece of coral … looks like it is dancing to me !

once i got out of the shallows, there were many small coral reefs dotting a lot of white sandy patches. this particular one was quite tall (10’). there were other similar ones right around it, but for some reason … this one was a favorite of many fishes. beautiful !

a really calm, clear, and sunny day, it makes so much difference when you are snorkeling … how calming is this photo !

this is a Blue Sea Star, as you have seen many times in my blogs …. but this particular one was VERY purple !

this beautiful Magnificent Feather Duster was living on the side of another tall vertical stand of coral.

this is a type of Phyllidia, which doesn’t mean anything to me either … but i think they have cute little ‘bunny ears’. they are actually called Rhinophores or ‘horns’ which are their sensors and allow them to find food and mate.

this is one of the most outstanding Sea Stars i’ve seen … just look at that color … you don’t just pass by something that beautiful

there were a lot of Sweet Lips swimming around me, but they are so fast, last year and this year,  it’s really difficult to get a good photo, they are all a bit blurry :( …but a very striking fish !     Black stripes on white ... and black spots on yellow    !!       Two Red Fin ButterFly Fish are accompanying him.

this is a Black Saddled Toby looking at me out of the corner of his eye.   they are pretty 'chill' usually so easier to photograph

i patiently waited, several times, holding my breath, to finally get a photo of this Orange Lined TriggerFish … what a beauty !

i saw part of this sticking out from under a piece of coral… i thought it was some kind of Moray Eel …

 

but i never expected it to have a Green head!   it's a Fimbriated Moray Eel.    that is a Pearl Scaled AngelFish 'photo-bombing' ...typical for them.    they won't stand still for a photo, but they'll 'bomb' every chance they get !

not all Sea Stars are the same … this is a Blunt Arm Sea Star

these silly little fishes, swimming with the heads down and their tails up, are called RazorFish.

they peacefully just float with the current.

i saw many Cowries on the corals, they are like snails.  some of them a real pretty and people collect them, these all seem to be black and white.    maybe all the pretty ones are gone  :(

they are able to retract their 'mantal', then they look like this, sometimes called Egg Cowries ... they do look like an egg

i like these LongFin Spade Fish, especially because they don’t swim away from you so fast :)

this photo will show you just how 'skinny' these fish are !!!!!!!!!!!

i love almost all the TriggerFish because the are so distinctive … this is a Black Patch TriggerFish (i would have thought of a better name for it)

obviously my love for him was not appreciated … he was not happy with my being there …

it was a great snorkel day !


a few days later Pat and i went to Bikini Beach to snorkel …. i would not bother going there again. but i did see a new fish … this is a FingerPrint Toby

wow … this is a RED Sea Star … the corals here are pretty, but most of them are soft colors, so something as bright as this really stands out and makes you take notice

although not very colorful, i thought this coral ‘castle’ was interesting … about 4’ tall

this Anemone and home to a ‘Nemo’, was very colorful

as i was finishing up, these Philippina girls were swimming. we visited and they thanked me for visiting their country … how sweet is that !

ok, ...the real story: when i take off to snorkel a new place, i am so anxious to get in the water, i neglect to turn around and see where i entered the beach … noting a tree, a bench, a building, ...or…. something !   it had been cloudy and now it was raining, so i was ready to go in, but was not able to recognize anything on shore :( and i didn’t know which way to go. that’s when i saw was these girls, they helped me find where i needed to go ….. i was way off target from where i should have been :)

as i was in the shallows headed back to my ‘beginning’ … i saw this darling little, 1 inch, TriggerFish. it looks exactly like an adult Picasso TriggerFish. however, that puzzles me because i’ve not seen any Picasso TriggerFish anywhere in this area … only the Black Patch TriggerFish. i need to send this in to some ‘juvenile ID specialists’ … the books don’t always have photos of juveniles, and they can be very different from the adults.

Pat and i started walking home in the rain, waiting for a tricycle, but we got a ride part way on a Jeepney; and while there, we found a carenderia and got something to eat before going home.