About a two-hour drive and an hour’s boat ride south of the balmy, bustling streets of Manila loom the cloud-covered hills of Mindoro Island, its shoreline and some of the best diving in the Philippines. Puerto Galera and its surrounds have become popular in recent years because of their proximity to the capital and the variety and number of dive sites available. My week-long adventure took me to a rustic little tourist beach called Sabang, which is perched on the northeastern tip of Oriental Mindoro province. Access is via a 200 peso boat (banca) ride from the port town of Batangas on neighbouring Luzon. Sabang is a quaint little place dotted with dive shops, small restaurants, and bars all connected by a series of narrow streets and walkways. It has yet to suffer the invasion of motorbikes, taxis and buses found in many dive and holiday resorts across the sea in Thailand, although there is the odd jeepney to take you into Puerto Galera town 10 minutes away.![]() The shoreline of the small bay is a kaleidoscope of colours and activity, with small dive tenders coming to and from the reef, local bancas bobbing in the waves, kids playing in the shallow, crystal-clear waters, and tourists ambling along the beachfront. The beach itself is not that impressive but I was not there to sample the sand and sun – it is what lay beneath the waves that had my attention. The accommodation was good, and my chosen resort offered a pool, restaurant, bar and dive shop – I could want for no more. The following morning on tracking down the dive staff, I was simply asked: “When do you want to go?” All of the diving is done directly from the beachfront resort, as the dive sites are all close, the furthest being about 20 minutes away. This was a novelty for me who, having done most of my diving in the past few years in Thailand, was used to a two-to-three-hour boat journey to get to the dive sites. We geared up at the resort, jumped in the tender, and were off across the bay as the brilliant sunshine glinted off the cerulean waters of the South China Sea. Ten minutes later we arrived at the dive site, a spot called “ Hole in the Wall”, and rolled backwards into the blue. ![]() The next morning’s dive took us to the wreck of the Alma Jane, a cargo vessel purposely scuttled in Sabang Bay to create an artificial reef and dive site. The visibility at 30 metres was still good as inquisitive schools of batfish circled the wreck and the divers. There was plenty to see here, with lionfish making their home in the dark corners of the hull, stingrays stealthily hiding in the sand, tiny blennies darting in and out of crevices and large schools of fusiliers and drummers gliding around the supports of the vessel. ![]() There are three more wrecks in Sabang Bay itself, all conveniently close to one another and only two minutes from the beach. The aptly named “ Sabang Wrecks” dive site makes a great afternoon dive when the light is good; all three wrecks are in about 18 metres of water and are all a haven for marine life, with camouflaged scorpionfish, reclusive morays, mantis shrimp and schools of striped catfish all resident. The wrecks themselves have disintegrated over the years, though one is still penetrable. There will always be something different lurking on the wrecks, and they also make a great night dive – providing you don’t surface at one of Sabang’s two floating bars and get distracted first! ![]() “ The Canyons” is an impressive deep dive where three gullies at about 30 metres offer feeding opportunities for all manner of fish, including sweetlips, jacks, trevally and groupers. The often strong current here draws in the bigger fish, and morning is a great time as feeding on the reef is heightened. Large schools of hunters circled above us and some huge oriental sweetlips lurked below on this dive site. ![]() Sabang provides a great base to explore the surrounding reef and wrecks. The coral is in good condition and marine life is abundant. There have been a number of efforts by local dive operators and authorities to preserve the reef, such as a clam garden seeded by a local university and a couple of sunken vessels to promote coral growth. One of the highlights for me was the fact that there are more than 20 different dive sites all within a 10-minute boat ride from the beach, which means you can spend less time travelling and more time diving. Sabang Beach is also a great place to hang out, with its novel floating bars, where I spent much of my after-dive time, a number of discos, and a few hostess bars for those looking for a bit of action above the surface. Recommended: Big Apple Dive Resort www.divebigapple.com Article and photography by Martin J. Young © 2008 ![]() | |
Sabtu, 09 April 2011
Asia Dive News : Sampling Sabang’s sub-aqua scenery
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