Whiskeyjack

Yeah I live in Manila, so at least I don't have to deal with the jetlag. I have a hard time sleeping on the ferry as I'm too tall for the bunk beds and can't really sleep upright in the chairs on the other ferry line either.

Yep, I love Romblon! Just wish getting there wasn't quite so much of a pain...

My partner and dive buddy just underwent her 2nd tympanoplasty in early December after the 1st one failed in August after just 2 dives... So hopefully more time in the water this year once she has healed up!

Thanks for the explanation. not sure if it's worth adding a whole new program to my workflow!

Is this only for PS? I only use Lightroom and have no real need for photoshop...

Yeah Holy week is one of the busier domestic tourism times here in PH so not surprising resorts are booked. Solitude Acacia is nice, on the spendy side.

Thanks, that's what I figured regarding back mount for boat diving. The section I bolded is not a thing I have ever seen done here, as the boats are owned by the resorts/dive shops and they have a schedule of 2 60 minutes dives, lunch, then 1 more 60 minute dive. I think it will be difficult unless you're at one of the few shops that do tech/CCR unfortunately, or you have access to good shore diving here.

You can usually dive as a drop in as long as they have space, I frequently make day trips from Manila. It may be kind of awkward if you're staying at one dive resort and diving at another. The resorts are not really walk-able unless you happen to be diving at the resort just 1 or 2 lots over. You could pay a tricycle for 20-100php to drive you. I have pretty much exclusively eaten at the resort I'm diving with or staying at. You'd have to walk up the steep hill to the main road, then walk to another resort or hail a trike to take you somewhere else. Too much effort in my opinion, and the food in PH is generally acceptable but not great. This includes the expensive resorts in my experience. My favorite food has actually been at Bontoc as it's all cooked by the Wife/Owner. It's not western food for the most part though.

If you are looking for options less expensive than the commonly suggested Crystal Blue, Aiyanar, etc I am a frequenter of both Blue Ribbon and Bontoc bed and breakfast.

I've been interested in switching to CCR for a while. Aside from the obvious cost as a barrier to entry, I see very few of them here in the Philippines. I know of a handful of shops around the country that would support CCR diving, but I imagine 99% of the dive shops here would have absolutely not be able to provide you with any support. It's also very rare to find shops that would allow you to dive longer than ~70 minutes unless you're paying for a private boat/guide so that limits some of the upside in my opinion. Still, it's on my radar in the next few years for sure.... For anyone who does primarily boat diving with a CCR and camera, would a backmount unit be the most sensible option?

Yeah I already have the Backscatter system and don't really have any issues with it, it does what I want it to... but if they are about the same then I'll likely offload the Backscatter stuff just to have lest gear to haul around! Thanks everyone for the opinions.

Thanks for the opinions! I do like the compact size of the backscatter setup but I can't help but think the Retra will give better light. Does the LSD have more flexibility with the distance the strobe needs to be from the subject?

Has someone used the Backscatter Snoot on the MF1/MF2 and the Retra LSD? I'm curious how they compare. I currently have an MF1 and an MF2 with the snoot and quite like using that setup, but recently picked up some Retra Pro max strobes for wide angle. If I could reduce my kit to only having the Retras that would be great. I'm kind of concerned the Retras with the LSD would be so much bulkier than the backscatter MF2 + strobe it would be harder to position/maneuver into tight sports, etc.

Yeah this guy's videos are impressive.

I use the Oly 90 and can't imagine using a diopter with it! You coudl get some crazy magnification though I'm sure...

Yep, like he mentioned doesn't matter much for macro in Anilao, Dauin, etc, but if you're going to hit Bohol, Malapascua, Moalboal then the better vis is definitely nice.

Perhaps marginally warmer in March, especially the 2nd half. By April things are definitely warmer.

I just pulled out my teric logs to confirm I wasn't off on my temps. I have low temps of 24.5C in Feb of 2020, 25 in Feb 2021, 26C in 2022, 26C in 2023, didn't dive this Feb. So it likely won't reach 23C but 25 I would expect. Outside Feb-March it would be similar to Indonesia at 27-30C

I don't think they would return to the resort between blackwater dives but I could be wrong. Are you talking about air temps or water temps? Feb is the coldest water temps here in PH, I would expect 23-26C in the water. Air temps don't really go below 26C. I run warm but dive a sharkskin (2mm equivalent) down to about 22C with no issue. It's rare to see 5mm suits here and I've never seen anyone diving 7mm. Most people have 3mm suits and perhaps a hooded vest if they run cold.

I'm pretty sure the resorts that do blackwater (Crystal Blue, Anilao Photo Academy) will do blackwater any night you want to. There might be an additional charge if you're the only diver since they have to take the boat out. I've only done 1 dive per night but they might do 2, you'd want to contact them as suggested.

There is lots of blackwater in Anilao (Crystal Blue is a good spot for that as others have mentioned, the owner Mike likes to do blackwater dives), and it's also offered in Romblon. Anilao also has what they call "bonfire" diving which is similar in concept, but they stay shallow and place the lights in the sand instead of on ropes out in the blue. I would try to contact Ram Yoro if you're interested in bonfire, he's the guy who pioneered it and offers courses, etc. It's generally cheaper than blackwater dives as you don't need a boat.

One of the resorts in Anilao has mandarin fish on the house reef, I think it's the Aiyanar house reef? It's been a few years...

I live in Manila and have been to every place mentioned so far. Anilao and Puerto Galera are going to be the easiest to get to. Fly into Manila, 2-3 hours by van to Anilao, PG is just a 1 hour boat ride away. You'll get lots of macro in Anilao and more variety in PG. You could fill 2 weeks at these two places. I really like Malapascua, and recently tiger sharks are common along with the threshers. However, the other areas you mentioned in conjunction with this will be a full day travel in between. For example, to get to Malapascua you fly into Cebu, take a 3-4 hour van ride, then a 45 minute boat to the island. To get to Moalboal from there you are looking at the same boat back to the main island, then probably another 3-4 hours by van. Then you would take a 2-3 hour bus back to Cebu city, and from there either a 30 minute flight or a 2 hour ferry to Dumaguete/Dauin. You'll have to decide if that much travel is worth it. Unfortunately the common theme here in PH is going to be lots of slow land travel to get between places. The roads are bad, domestic flights and ferries are more often delayed than not. Romblon was one of my favorite macro destinations mostly because there are many fewer divers. The reason for this is that you have to take an 8 hour ferry to get there and there's only 2-3 resorts on the island that offer diving. Bohol is another interesting option, you could do a few days in the Panglao are and dive Alona beach/Balicasag island, etc to get your fill of walls and reef diving, then head to Anda by van and do your macro and muck diving there. If you don't mind the land travel, I would personally do your Moalboal/Malapascua/Dauin trip. Dauin has my favorite muck diving (I prefer it to Anilao mostly because I like the beach and the resorts in Dauin more, and Romblon is too hard to get to), the sardines in Moalboal are a cool thing to see, and Malapascua is one of the only places in PH you'll 100% see sharks, and there is good macro diving there as well for your afternoon dives. Be aware the shark dives will elave at 5am, something to consider if you're not a morning person.

I found one a while back. Thanks

Thanks, this is really helpful. That shot looks quite nice so maybe my fears are unfounded.