This is my 3rd time making this journey, so I pretty much know what to expect... and that is ... expect the unexpected :) The route:
Around noon on the 23rd, Gina kindly took me to the Port to catch the Starlight Ferry for my 10hr overnight trip to the Island of Romblon. I had a 4-person cabin, which is 2 bunkbeds and a curtain, also your own A/C and electrical outlets... you won't find those in the 'cattle car' section :) Other than leaving an hour late, which is par for the course, the trip was uneventful. Except for the fact that I could not sleep!!! We arrived at Romblon at 2am, and The PPP Dive Resort had a driver and tricycle waiting for me. The Ferry schedule is such that there is an 'overlapping' time for rooms. It arrives at 2am, and departs at 10pm, which means that the people in 'my room' are not out of the room in time for cleaning, etc. PPP have made arrangements for us to stay at El Krimphoff next door, for the early morning, then move to PPP after we wake up :) Kind of complicated, but they have it worked out. There was some confusion when I arrived, the tricycle driver wanted to take me to PPP. I told him that I should stay at El Krimphoff. There was some confusion, but they eventually got me into my room. It was obvious they did not intend on me staying there, the A/C was not on, and it took awhile for the air to become less-stale. A HOT shower and to bed... and again, I could not sleep! I started to have an unusual cough. As it turned out ... they were correct. PPP had a cancellation and my room WAS available .. whoops! But how was I to know that. Not a problem, just mis-communication.
When I got up, and moved to PPP, again, I started coughing... a lot. Again, I tried to sleep, without much luck. I made it to dinner, thankfully my room is in the main building and right next to the dining room. That is pretty much how I spent the first 3 days of my 5-night stay. In my room coughing, eating breakfast and dinner, and trying to not call attention to myself with my 'hacking'. I wore a mask and didn't talk to anyone, I felt like a 'leper'. I know when I hear someone coughing I become aware. However, I do not recall being around anyone with a cough. This was/is a nasty one. Now as I write this, on 6 March ... I am still hacking away. On the 2nd day I asked Oscar (the PPP tricycle driver to take me to 'town' to the Pharmacy. I looked on line to find what was available in The Philippines. I loaded up on everything I could think of. While we were in town, I asked Oscar if he would be able to find a store where I could buy a blanket. In a place where the temperature never gets below 85F. After 3 stops, we found one. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I will keep me warm in the plane, and anywhere else I need it.
Besides being rather 'weak', I could not have gone diving because I could not 'clear my ears'. That is a 'no-no'. If you can't clear your ears, you cannot equalize, and your head might blow off. ok, not really, ...as you descend, water pressure increases and pushes against your eardrum. Equalizing adds air to the middle ear, balancing the pressure and preventing it from "bursting" inward.. Failing to equalize can lead to severe pain, vertigo, and permanent ear injury (barotrauma).
I only had 3 days left, my left ear cleared completely, and my right ear, ...kinda. So I made sure my Dive Guide understood that I would be descending very slowly, and that I may have to return to the boat. No problems, in fact, when I first tried clearing, they both cleared. I have always been a bit obsessive about clearing my ears, and this was no different.
Our first dive was a shallow Muck Dive site, mostly sand. There were even lots of SeaStars where the boat was anchored.
I did not have my 'own personal guide' ... I had to share.... I don't like sharing! This means I didn't have special help getting the photos, and the results reflected that. When I say I couldn't do it without 'my guy', I am not joking! In spite of that, the first Nudi he showed me was very cooperative. I have 33 potentially good photos. That is unheard of. I am getting better with my light, but still need a lot more practice... and help is really appreciated! Check out this beauty, a new one for me, Phestilla sibogae. Relax, I won't bore you with all 33. They are all 'out of my camera' ... which is pretty much unheard of for me.... no touch-up, no editing .... oh, you didn't know I edited? We all do, but no AI !!!!!
He had some acrobatic moves.
'Wha chu lookin at ?'
The next one was also new to me, Dermatobranchus albus
This Tennellia sp 34 (NSSI) that means unidentified It is out of focus, but for your size reference, that is a black zip tie !
Ridiculously tiny, but not without attitude. It's going up against this Shrimp. Actually the Shrimp passed right on by, and honestly, I did not see the Shrimp until I saw it on my computer.... focus focus focus
The 'special' dives are not complete without a Shaun the Sheep, Costasiella, they are just ir-resistible. No matter how many photos you have, you have to take one more :)
This next one 'blew my mind' ! It was so sparkly and 'hairy'. There are Hairy Shrimp, Hairy FrogFish, etc... but there are no Hairy Nudis. I was sure I discovered the first. The current was pretty strong here, and it was holding on. I submitted it for a name, and unfortunately I wasn't the first. It is a Sakuraeolis kirembosa... at least it has a sophisticated name !
This cute little PufferFish was in the shallows.
My first dive was successful. We get in the boat, dry off, have some hot tea, and try to keep warm. The water temp here was 80F, which is way warmer than Anilao, so pretty comfortable. But sitting on the boat for an hour, with no sun, and wind...is almost unbearable!
Then back in the water. This is another Cryptic Sponge Shrimp, Gelastocaris paronae. I do like the name. But they are difficult to see, because they blend in so perfectly, and in my opinion, not very exciting. I've not seen a purple/rose colored one before. But look ... there is a Skeleton Shrimp right along side of him, like they were best buddies. There were lots of them all around it. So cute. The yellow/orange is a Fire Worm.
This is a Hong Kong Coral Gall Crab -- Neotroglocarcinus hongkongensis. Very tiny and challenging to photograph. I am not that excited about crabs, but I guess they are special too. So usually the Guides do not give up easily when you want to 'move on' :) I mean, they aren't 'pretty' :)
This is another Crab that I can't idenitfy.... other than a Coral Gall Crab
I did see a Nemo, and I know you all like to see one too, so here you are, 3 of them!
Another less than desirable underwater critter are the worms. I was just going to skip this, but I took many photos. This is a Scale Worm on Sea Cucumber - Gastrolepidia clavigera ? And actually rather interesting, after I spent some time looking at it.
In the last Blog I showed another critter that lived on a Sea Cucumber. And I said that I always forget to show the photo of the Sea Cucumber. Because they are rather drab and ugly. These ones are huge. You can see the Blue SeaStar in the photo, and it is much larger than my hand. And they are home to many critters, but you really have to look for them.
Kier is the name of my Guide, and he found this Peacock Mantis Shrimp hiding in a hole. He held the light on it so I could get a photo. They are very colorful and everyone likes to see them. They are a very interesting shrimp. Go to YouTube to learn about them. I like this one, it's rather comical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FEj9U-CJM
Another Cryptic Sponge Shrimp, a red one. I am not sure what all the white speckles are, part of the Shrimp, or grains of sand.
These are always so sweet, and they are commonly called a Precious Chromodoris
This is a Melibe, digitata, there are several Melibes. They are the cool ones that have the 'net' that they throw out to gather food. You can see it on the left side of the photo, with all the little 'hairs' that help to trap the food.
This is the 'Holy Grail' of the Nudi world, and not found in many places; and it is rumored that it was first found here. It is the Melibe colemani. It just has a skeleton body. I don't know what is holding it together. It has that 'net' that you can 'see' on the bottom left corner. Maybe it was just going to lift it up and toss it out there
This is a Phyllodesmium koehleri. I am finding the names for some of these on PPP's own web page, which means they have seen them there. So they should be correct.
A Phyllodesmium jakobsenae. There are a lot of ones that start with 'Phyllo...'
And another one, Phyllodesmium briareum.
And a different Phyllodesmium jakobsenae.
And ... Phyllodesmium pinnatum... There are 11 other 'Phyllo...' .. listed, I guess I'll have to return to find them next time
One day we went down to almost 100' ... looking for the Denise Pygmy SeaHorse. The deeper you dive, the less time you can stay there. So we stay up at about 60', and wait for him to find the SeaHorse and then he signals each one of us to 'come on down', and try your luck. But you gotta be quick, b/c he can only stay there for about 10min, and there are 6 divers. It is a 'stressful' event for me, b/c I know I am slow. But he is very good at 'making me' see it and take a photograph. They aren't that 'cute' I don't think, but it is a 'special photo' to have in your 'collection'. If anyone is counting :)
This is a new one for me, a Ringed Sap-Sucking Slug - Plakobranchus ocellatus. A weird one, it looks like it only has one eye perched on top of it's head, but I assume there are two.
This was cool, ...Kier was pointing to something clear. I finally saw it. It was a CuttleFish Egg, with 5? little CuttleFish in it. I forgot to ask how long before they hatched... :( Can you see them ?
I need clarification on this one. I thought it was a Stilger, ...but the ones I find are a different color. So maybe this is another Shaun the Sheep, Costasiella ? But it was so tiny
This is a Doriprismatica balut. I am sure it has a 'cuter' name, but I don't know it.
And last, but not least are the Cyerce's. PPP is also known for them. In fact, one of the owners, Kati, has one named after her !!!!!!!! Her little 8?yr old daughter proudly told me so :) Cycere Katiae
This is the Cycere blackburnae
This could be the Spotted ButterFly SeaSlug - Mourgona sp2 .... and maybe not. These were taken on my last day and after the dive everyone was busy, and I was getting ready to leave... so ...
And this is the Tiger ButterFly, Cyerce Nigra. I like this one because it is so striking.
Mostly you see stripes, but on the back side, there are bright yellow dots on a black background ... awesome. And no one would know, if someone didn't take photos of the 'butt' :)
It was an interesting year at PPP ... as I said, expect the unexpected. First, I never expected to not be able to dive, except for the last 3 days. Reason to return ! And secondly, there was a 'switch-aroo' with the Ferry people. I had booked and paid for my regular 4 bed private room. When we got to the ticket counter, they informed me that they had switched boats, and ... oh, by the way, this boat did not have any 4bed private rooms! That meant 'cattle car'. And there are 3 options for the 'cattle car': Tourist, Economy, and Recliner Chairs! Tourist is the nicest, so I reluctantly said I would take Tourist. Well, they are fully booked, so you can have Economy cattle car with no A/C, or the Reclining Chairs, which do not recline, but with A/C. I chose the Recliner, b/c all I could think of was 2 hundred people in one space with no A/C. The A/C was like a meat locker, I got to sleep for about an hour before I woke up freezing and could not sleep ... this is a 10hr Ferry. Before settling down in my Recliner, I walked around the ship and found the Tourist and Economy sections.
There were many beds in each!!!!! So, after most people were 'settled in', I walked arond and found a lower bunk bed in the non-A/C Economy room. It was ok, and I slept until everyone started talking and moving. So turns out, it wasn't that bad.
A PPP Driver took me 2hr to Manila Airport arriving by 10a. My flight to Bali leaves at 8pm. Lots of time in Terminal 3, that is having major renovations! Which is good, because it was a sad excuse for an International Airport. Follow me there !
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