BUDGET AND LUXURY
11
11 A large transport
banca was our home
and dive station for
a week
12 A solitary yellow
giant frogfish near
a matching yellow
sponge on an otherwise
desert landscape on
Lighthouse Reef
13 Our own boat
allowed us the freedom
of the seas without
other traffic
PHILIPPINES
MANILA
CEBU
SIARGAO
All you need is a rentable banca
(small local boat), a willing captain and
crew, a compressor with tanks, a local
divemaster, provisions for a couple of
days and off you go.
The Philippines is a great place to get all of
this for a handful of dollars. The waters are calm
and even in the tiniest village, English is spoken.
There is plenty of pristine, undived territory to
explore. Diving on uncharted reefs delivers great
animal surprises and the unique feeling of true
exploration when you dive into the unknown blue
or enter a cave that no human has dived before.
Plotting your own route means beating the crowds
on more common dive sites, or exciting night
dives after others have returned to their hotels.
We mapped a route from Cebu to Siargao, visiting
Bohol and Leyte on the way.
Life on a banca is very simple but very serene
and special; the world really is your oyster. It means
sleeping in hammocks or mattresses and eating
barbecued fish sitting on plastic folding chairs, but
with an uninterrupted view of the stars. It’s the
romance of camping, but on a boat.
SDOP
76
12
Diving on uncharted reefs
delivers the unique feeling of
true exploration when you
dive into the unknown blue
or enter a cave that no
human has dived before