Missed whale sharks, but S Leyte's macro awesome

Nov-Apr being whale shark season in S. Leyte, we made a brief trip this Easter; sadly, we saw none. However, the diving there was pretty nice, especially the reefs at Napantao were pretty spectacular. Plenty of macro subjects in this place.

I would rate S Leyte as more painful to get to, but definitely better diving than at Puerto Galera or Dumaguette in Philippines.

I have posted some trip notes and images on my page: Ajay's S. Leyte Pictures

Best,

Ajay.

Ajay

Thanks for the pictures and report. Sorry to hear you missed the whalesharks. I had terrible viz when I was there but we saw 3 of them. Well I saw about 3/4 of the sharks each time cos the viz was crap.

When you say better, what is the basis of your comparison? Biodiversity? Viz? Health of corals? For me, the macro in Anilao and Dumaguette, especialy Dukomi was better than Leyte.

Ajay

Thanks for the pictures and report. Sorry to hear you missed the whalesharks. I had terrible viz when I was there but we saw 3 of them. Well I saw about 3/4 of the sharks each time cos the viz was crap.

When you say better, what is the basis of your comparison? Biodiversity? Viz? Health of corals? For me, the macro in Anilao and Dumaguette, especialy Dukomi was better than Leyte.

Yes, we had ~15-20m viz, which probably is consistent with the absence of the whale sharks. Thanks for the tip about Anilao -- this summer we may try to go there or Malapascua.

About the comparison also, you may have a point: back when we went to Dumaguette, Dukomi was closed; so I was left comparing stuff like large table corals and anemone city of Apo with those in Leyte. Likewise, Napantao to me beats the wall at Verde...

Biodiversity I'd say is similar in these places -- we saw everything in Leyte that we did in PG/Dum, plus baby cuttlefish and the blue-ringed octopus (this is anecdotal, I know).

On my webpage, there are trip reports of earlier trips to PG and Dumaguette.

thanks

Ajay.

Apo Island (not Apo reef) off Dumaguette is ok for coral growth but fishwise it was pretty empty compared to Bohol and Balicasag, especially since they fished the 3 thresher sharks that were there.

Comparisons are usually difficult. So many factors can affect a dive site, current, time of month etc. For sheer biomass, I agree Napantao is impressive. But it seems you had the viz to enjoy it. We had 10m at the spot.

Malapascua is good and bad. Nice macro at Gato snake sanctuary but too many divers nowadays to get good shots of the threshers. Plus they still bomb the crap out of Monad shoals and around the area.

Did you do Limsawa Island? We sorta missed it but heard good things.

thanks for the report and pics. Seems Leyte has had a bad season this year. I've heard the waters have been unusually warm, thus the lack of whale sharks. Some friends also got skunked a few months ago, but Napantaw and the other site sure make up for the whale shark no show...

Thanks so much for the photos and the trip report! I am heading to Peter's on April 11th, and will be there for 4 dive days. You report is really useful for me. The photo of the shrimp on the cucumber is great!

Sorry to hear about the whale sharks. Doesn't bode well for me....

Thanks again, Mike

My wife and I had a great time in Southern Leyte in March last year. We had four whales sharks in clear water, 20m visibility. Great to see these 9m giants cruising over the coral in the shallows.

Would agree that Southern Leyte has superb diving and wonderful critters. Fishlife at many of the site was good, but no prolific, but the fish life at Napantao was amazing.

Ajay, I hope you dived the Padre Burgos Pier as that was a sensational night dive with critters everywhere.

Regards

Nigel

Nigel, we didn't dive the pier -- there was the option but that night we decide to do Bunga. The prospects of good viz and whalesharks makes a pretty good argument to head back there some time. Now if only somebody would offer a seaplane/helicoptor service between Cebu-Padre Burgos :-).

ajay.

Ajay,

I would go back just to dive the Padre Burgos Pier again. We stayed at Sogod Bay Scuba Resort and did a brilliant night dive just in front of the resort on the house reef, but the Pier just blew this away. Not much to look above the water line and lots of rubbish in the water, and too busy with boats to dive during the day, but a sensational night dive. Sea horses, frogfish, lionfish, octopus, squid, cuttlefish, shrimp fish, cowries, nudies, a large pipehorse, sea snakes and heaps more. Don't miss it next time.

We travelled to Sogod Bay the hard way, from Tacloban at the northern end of Southern Leyte. Six hours on a local bus, a bit rough on the bum, but a great experience and plenty to look at on the way.

Can't wait to go back.

Regards

Nigel