Southern Leyte & Malapascua Trip Report

The mighty Airbus A380 Heathrow 27/04/19.

​Day One - Saturday 27th / Sunday 28th April 
​The Journey.

Well after months of anticipation the trip was about to start, I was travelling from Norwich to meet Tony Marshall and Steve Calver as the rest of the group were travelling from Manchester Airport. The plan being to meet up at Singapore Changi airport wearing our blue dive Rutland polo shirts which I had yet to receive! As standard we met in the bar at Heathrow and Tony handed me the shirt Which seemed to fit ok, I was glad about this as it saved me an early beer fine😊.
We soon managed to board the mighty Airbus A380, kick back watch a few movies and settle down for the long haul. However I was soon drenched! The hostess managed to spill Tony’s beer all over me which precipitated a change of seats for me, which was nice as I got the extra legroom, however I left my reading glasses in the previous seat! Something I did not realise until later.
The rest of the flight was uneventful until we arrived at Singapore Changi airport. The place is gigantic, however we took the sky train and walked for twenty mins to get to the correct gate. The rest of the group from Manchester had no such trouble their aircraft had arrived almost at the same gate as the departure. We had a group picture in our shirts and then proceeded to board the smaller Boeing 737 to Cebu which took around 3 hours.
After arrival at Cebu we were greeted by Tony Exall the Owner of Philippine dive tours we were then given a quick brief about the plan for the next day and  boarded minibuses to the Henry Hotel via a shopping mall as some of us required the services of   money changers. At this moment I bought some replacement reading glasses for the equivalent of 4 pounds sterling. We then checked into the very nice and contemporary Henry Hotel. It was a brief shower and change a few drinks in the Hotel bar and then out to a restaurant of Tony’s choice for the evening meal. We all made it back to Hotel, some heroes stayed up for late drinks😊.

Group photo taken at Changi airport Singapore

​Day Two. Monday 29th of April 2019
​The journey continued..

After most people woke up on time and some maybe a little groggily, breakfast was had in the hotel and we then proceeded to board minibuses for the short journey to Cebu ferry port. The ferry port was hectic, hot and busy but once we had checked our bags in we managed to chill until it was time to board the Ferry on our trip to Ormoc. The Ferry trip was comfy and we Arrived in Ormoc a couple of hours later. After the usual hassles sorting baggage out, we had a quick bite to eat in McDonald’s and then we hit the road. The trip was an experience in itself. The abstract poverty of the city juxtaposed with the amazing scenery out it was stark. We stopped along the way at a supermarket for a quick pit stop and proceeded on our way to Sogod bay. It was dark by the time we arrived at the dive centre, however the extremely friendly staff made us very welcome as we made our way to our accommodations. Some of us were accommodated a little distance down the road next to a basketball court which had become the centre of the fiesta week celebrations in this neck of the woods. We all met back up at the dive centre for food and a brief regarding the next days diving activities and useful information for our stay. Most people then hit the hay as it had been a pretty long and tiring day, some people may have had a couple of beers or two😊.

Sogod Bay, view from the boat

Day Three: Tuesday 30th April

​This was to be first days diving and an air of expectation was evident, breakfast was had and it was time to prep kit. To be fair the dive staff did most of the work and we proceeded to transfer kit from the beach to the dive boat. We used what could only be described as a tin bathtub to ferry kit  and personnel to the main dive boat which was called the Datu Kermit; a basic day boat made from plywood and bamboo by the looks of it, however it was more than adequate for our needs. The toilet was interesting to day the least😊(aka the sunburn box!)  As the briefings onboard had finished I had the terrible realisation that I had a left some vital bits of kit in my room! My fins!
I had to take the journey of shame back to the beach and proceeded to jog back to the accommodation in my wetsuit much to the amusement of the construction workers working nearby. I returned to the boat and kitted up straight away. We dived off the boat on the house reef which was pretty awesome, the viz and marine life was exceptional even for a house reef as such. My Fin escapade had earned me the dubious accolade of ‘muppet of the day’, however I spared Mark the honour as he had dropped his sunglasses over the edge of the boat, they were retrieved though. Luckily for him.
The second dive was a site called Tang Kwan Which was another fantastic site I saw a large banded sea krait, a highly venomous sea snake which came a little too close for comfort. The third dive was another fabulous site called Balvarte which had an abundance of marine life present,
Some people opted to do the night dive, which was pretty spectacular by all accounts. Tony Exall was using his flu night equipment which has the effect of highlighting the corals at night. Most people were exhausted by this point and after another nice meal at the dive centre it was time for a few beers and then off to bed.

Day Four - Wednesday 1st of May

​Day four started with another fine breakfast at the dive centre and the temp was already soaring at 7 am in the morning. We had another great day’s diving and snorkelling ahead as some of the group did not dive, however they were managing to sample the awesome reefs snorkelling. After the usual kit transfer to the Kermit, we set off towards our first dive site of the day which was to be Santa Paz. We moored up at an idyllic bay and post brief we entered the water, which was a relief at it was damn hot by now. The site had a very nice pinnacle which was covered in soft corals, we also managed to see the apparently rare mushroom coral pipefish according to Tony E. However we saw quite a few.
 The second dive site was close by, this was called Napantau This was a great site, which had a impressive wall, which was covered in small reef fish. We also located a small cave which had two small whitetip reef sharks sheltering in it. We also encountered two turtles, one green and one Hawksbill. This site was teeming with reef fish and had an abundance of hard and soft corals. Stunning dive site.
The third site of the day was Maryag which was to be a ‘muck’ dive as such. I had never done such a dive and was hoping it would be good. I needn’t have been concerned because it turned out to be amazing. Gliding over the almost lunar surface was an almost dreamlike experience, however once you started to look properly the array of macro life was stunning. I managed to see some critters I had only ever seen on television documentaries, such as the mimic octopus which as the name implies can mimic different species to counter a perceived threat. We also managed to see the beautiful but deadly blue ring octopus and the bizarre looking and rarely seen hairy frog fish. It was a stunning dive with everyone seeing something special.
After the third dive it was back to the dive centre for a beer for some and kit check for others as we prepared for the night dive. I must say as I was in the back of a flatbed full of kit and divers heading down the road with the correct group ( this concept had seemed difficult to grasp for some)  I was wondering what lay ahead. The dive site was the Padre Burgos pier. It was nice kitting up in the semi darkness with the locals looking on. I was a little impatient and entered the water first, lying on my back in the water staring up at the night sky was cool as I waited for the rest get in. The dive and site were fabulous, with a huge array of marine life present. I was excited to see my first stargazer, buried into the sand with just its eyes showing, it is an ambush predator that waves a lure around in the hope of attracting a meal. We managed to make him move position, much to his annoyance. Many other species were seen on this site and everyone present had an enjoyable dive. It was then back to the dive centre via the rascal and flatbed. The entire group then had a lovely well prepared meal. I had myself had a very early night as was shattered.

Day Five - Thursday 2nd of May

​Another glorious days diving lay ahead as the group in general was starting to get into the swing of things. Once breakfast was done it was back to the boat to commence the days diving. The First and second dives of the day were carried out at a site called Limasawa, Zacks cove and Adrian’s cove respectively. 
At Zacks cove we saw an impressive large blue frogfish and a large barracuda on site with very impressive soft and hard corals. Whilst at Adrians cove was a site consisting of 3 impressive inlets and the what by now was the usual stunning marine life and corals. It was also my 600thdive but I kept it quiet as I did not want the beer fine😉. 
We then transited back to the dive centre and made our way to the third dive site; Santa Sofia which was a turtle hot spot as they seemed to be everywhere on this particular site I also spotted a large frogfish and a very splendid looking mandarin fish who looked quite happy to be unmolested by the notorious Japanese aqua terrorists. It was then back to the dive centre for food and a few beers.
 Some of us were tempted to take part in the local fiesta celebrations at the basketball court. It was a great night and much dad dancing was on display, I was also nearly claimed by one of the local women who had introduced me to her approving family circle on the dance floor, I had a job removing myself from the situation. I feared I would wake up in a remote hut somewhere my past life erased as I started my new life in the Philippines. However I managed to escape her clutches. We all had a fabulous spontaneous night, marred slightly by drinking the god awful local brew ‘red horse’ which was not the best, but was wet and cold.

Day six - Friday 3rd May

​This time we headed out to Napantau again, the wall was still impressive and once again there was a large white tip reef shark occupying the cave and a nice sleeping hawksbill turtle sleeping under a nice coral head. The conditions and visibility were excellent on this dive.
The second dive was Sonok point which had a fantastic coral garden. The end of the dive was quite interesting as the jelly fish arrived and as I was the only one in a shorty wetsuit I had to be quite vigilant as I surfaced, I managed to get stung a few times on the legs and managed to be the first one back on the boat😉.
We then departed to the next site Limasawa island which was to be a whale shark spotting trip, excitement was in the air as our spotters hitched themselves to the back of the boat and we began patrolling in the likely hope that we may see one of these majestic yet elusive creatures. Many people were kitted up in snorkel gear on the baking deck ready to jump in at a moments notice. However it became painfully clear after a couple of hours that our search was in vain and we would not be lucky. Still it was an amazing place to be. The journey back took quite a while but the conditions were super calm and I kept scanning the surface in the vain hope that we might see something, but alas we did not. We returned to the dive centre had food and a few beers.

Day 7 - Saturday 4th May

Yet another fantastic days diving was in store, we returned to the familiar but awesome sites of Napantau north and south for dives one and two. Both very chilled dives in what had become the normal fantastic conditions. The third dive of the day was to be Bunga bend which was to be our final dive in southern Layte it was yet another fabulous dive site with an abundance of marine life and corals in fabulous condition. Post diving we had a fabulous hog roast dinner which is called Lechon baboy by the locals which literally means roasted pig. The last night was a little subdued as I think everyone had had a fantastic time in southern layte, however we had another weeks diving to look forward to at Malapascua island

Day Eight - Sunday 5th May

This was to be transit day where we moved from southern Layte to Malapascua island. We departed the dive centre quite early and left in minibuses for the ferry port. We were cutting it a bit fine timewise, but we had been assured that we would not be left behind as the rules had changed with regards night crossings to Malapascua. We managed to get to the ferry port in good time and waited for 30 mins or so before we could board. The ferry trip was smooth and we watched monkey magic whilst chomping on noodles from the onboard tuck shop. We were a little pushed for time by the time we arrived at Cebu ferry port, we arranged ourselves at the back of the ferry in preparation to disembark however we had to move to the front of the ferry in order to get off. We made our way to a full-sized coach which was to take us to our next destination which was to be the short ferry hop to Malapascua island.  We arrived at Maya ‘ferry’ port were local porters carried our bags to the waiting boats. We had to cross the shallow sandy area to get to the boats which in turn took us to the larger boats to take us to malapascua. We arrived on the beach at malapascua which was next to our hotel the exotic island report. We managed to check in and receive a short brief and then to our rooms. To our surprise the shower water was in fact brackish salt water and some of us received electric shocks from the shower units. This was reported to the hotel staff who seemed unfussed by it and it was soon rectified. We all met up at and received a brief for the next day’s diving

Maya ‘ferry’ port on the way to malapascua island

Day Nine - Monday 6th May

​The first dive at Malupasua was north point on the house reef which was interesting as Rachel had an issue at the surface which I assumed was ear related which later became apparent was her computer. Rick, Tony and I kept station for what was about 25 mins. The current was quite strong and the visibility wasn’t great. Eventually the dive guide Paul and Rachel got down to us. We continued the dive but the current picked up and we had a bit of a drift dive. Paul deployed his smb and we made our way back to the surface.
The second dive was the house reef and turned out to be a great dive, we saw mantis shrimp, leaf fish and sea horse as well as much more. We were aided in finding marine life by the expert eyes of Paul Quinto our guide who is an expert at spotting marine life as you would expect.
The third dive was a site called pantau pantau, once again the macro life was in abundance. We even encountered a feather sea star swimming in the open which was a fantastic sight

Day Ten - Tuesday 7th May

​This was our first dive at Monad shoal and we met up at 05 15 in the morning which was pretty brutal start time but with the prospect of Thresher sharks there was a sense of anticipation in the air. We received a brief from Paul with regards to the special procedures required whilst diving at this site such as descending down the bow line and keeping in position behind the ropes on the cleaning stations.
Before long we were in transit to Monad shoal and with a sense of excitement we entered the water. Making our way down the bow line we were soon visited by our first Thresher, it majestically swam and turned in front of us allowing us to get some decent footage. We managed to see a few more threshers on this impressive dive site. It was a fabulous dive and well worth the early start. We then made our way back to the hotel for breakfast and a reset before the next dive. The next was the pretty impressive Kalanggaman island. 
It was about an hour or so before we made it to the island. We had a good second dive along a fabulous wall and made our way back over the reef to the boat. After this we all went ashore and had a BBQ on the beach which was great. I was expecting the island to be quiet but was in fact very busy with people enjoying the idyllic place. We then headed out for our third dive which included another great wall dive and back over the reef to the boat again. My highlight of the dive was watching two large parrot fish having a territorial dispute and a bit of a scrap😊. We then headed back to the resort and discovered the ‘one up’ bar which became our favourite end of the day hang out, especially when we discovered the two for one cocktails and the extended happy hour, the food was decent too

Day Eleven - Wednesday 8th May

​Once again, another early start for Monad shoal, which once again did not disappoint. Most divers saw Threshers and few close encounters were had. It was then back to the resort for breakfast and on to the next dive site. We headed out to Gato island. This was a fabulous site with a lovely swim through at the start. We saw lots on this dive including cuttlefish, nudibranch, sea horses and frogfish. We had lunch on the boat then headed out for the next dive at the same island. My Gopro had been left on over lunch and I was annoyed to discover that I had zero battery left for the dive, which was unfortunate because we found a large whitetip reef shark in a small cave on the next dive, however other members of the group got some fantastic footage. Towards the end of the dive it was nudibranch heaven as there seemed to be lots of them about. It was then back to the resort for food and post dive drinks.

Day Twelve - Thursday 9th May

Another early start for monad shoal, which as usual was amazing, well worth the early start. Many Threshers were seen and some good footage taken. The next site of the day was ubang bato which roughly translated means deep rock. The site is basically an underwater pinnacle with the top at 14 meters and drops down to 28 meters to a sandy bottom. The site was plentiful with marine life and stunning soft corals all over the pinnacle. The third dive was at a site  called quilliano, another fabulous dive site with an abundance of marine life. It was then back to the resort. Some people took advantage of a fourth dive on the house reef, me included. It was a fabulous dive and we managed to find the amazing looking crocodile snake eel. Which was well camouflaged on the white sandy bottom. Some of the group where helping clear up rubbish in the village on malupascua, which was part of PADI project aware, and an attempt to maintain good relations with the villagers, who live in much poorer conditions than the transient holiday makers that pass through the island. The clean-up was a great success by all accounts, with many bags full of rubbish collected

The view from the hotel Malapascua island.

Day Thirteen - Friday 10th May

​This was to be the final days diving, which was sad, However for those that made the early start another fabulous dive at Monad shoal lay ahead. Pretty much as soon as we had got to the bottom of the line, we saw out first Thresher majestically showing off in front of us. We were the first group down and we managed to startle a few white tip reef sharks which had settled down on the reef. Throughout the rest of the dive we were blessed with more Threshers including some close passes. The mood was excited post dive as we headed back to the resort for breakfast and meeting up with the slackers that did not make the first dive.
The second dive was at a site called Batang Bato which another fabulous site, I managed to annoy a clown fish which actually bit my go pro, little tinker. Some divers in the other group allegedly spotted a large cuttlefish.  We had a further dive in the afternoon, which turned out to be a bit of a muck dive, but we managed to see some fabulous macro life.
We then returned to the dive centre to wash and dry kit was this was to be our last dive, we also had a double birthday celebration to look forward to as Mark and James were another year older and maybe wiser😊. The celebrations went ahead in the one up bar and a good night was had by all. Thankfully at the last moment we noticed due to flights that some of us me included would be leaving earlier the next day so we had to make arrangements with Tony Exall to allow this to happen

Day Fourteen - Homeward bound

This was to be the start of the epic journey back home, Myself, Tony  and Steve left the island earlier than the rest of the group and were seen off by them, it all felt a little weird after spending so much time together over the past couple of weeks and I personally felt a little sad to be leaving. The ensuing minibus journey to Cebu airport was interesting as we had a couple of close calls and at one point, we were driving down the wrong side of the carriageway. Though we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We briefly met some of the rest of the group at Changi airport before we settled into the long flight back to blighty. We made it back Heathrow airport safely and then headed our separate ways.

In Conclusion

​Although as a late addition to the trip and not a member of Dive Rutland I was made to feel very welcome and had a fabulous time and enjoyed some amazing diving. The trip was comprised of two separate trips really; the Sogod bay part and the Malapascua island part and of course the travel in between. For me personally and I think I can speak for other members of the trip I would say the Philippines has left a lasting Impression on me and has ensured that I will certainly return and who knows, maybe even see a Whaleshark😊. The spectacular scenery, amazing diving combined with the friendly reception we received was above and beyond anything I would have expected beforehand. So a massive thank you to Tracy and the other members of dive Rutland for making this amazing trip a reality. Also, a massive thanks to Tony Exall from Philippine dive holidays who was our tour guide for the majority of the trip who made the actual Philippine part of the trip run smoothly.

Trip Participants 
Rachel Perry / Rick Smith / Mark Nicoll / Lee Caukwell / Tony Marshall / Tracy Adcock / Sam Adcock / James Jennings / Joanna Durrance / Pete Starbuck / Steve Calver

Written by Lee Caukwell