After seeing Mike Pak's terrific photos from Cabilao, we just had to head there and check it out for ourselves and we just got back from 5 diving days there. Cabilao is a small island of the coast of Bohol on the Cebu side here in the Philippines. After a quick 70 minute flight from Manila, we landed in Tagbilaran. The transfer to Cabilao went very smoothly by car and boat which the resort,
www.polaris-dive.com, arranged for us.
The resort itself is small but has all the amenities of a larger resort including a big pool. The staff made us feel at home as soon as we arrived, typical here in the Philippines and we were met by Marie, part of a husband wife team who own Polaris. We also met Greg, an instructor who runs the dive shop and scuba school. This is a very laid back resort with hammocks hanging in numerous places from the Palm trees, a bar by the huge pool and a pool table, TV and reading area near the beer gardens where the outdoor BBQs are located. The rooms were big and clean, with covered lanais for relaxing. We stayed in the largest room, 2 stories with a lanai upstairs as well as out the front door.
There is a covered restaurant where we usually ate lunch and breakfast but there are also tables out on the jetty by the Sundowner Bar, which is shaped like a boat, where we had candle lit dinners every night overlooking the ocean. The food is very good, an excellent selection of Philippine and international dishes and cheap with the average dinner running around $4 USD. Drinks are very inexpensive as well with beer at around 80 cents.
You can walk around the tip of the island along deserted white sand beaches and take a dip in the clear blue waters. We did this several time and except for a few dive boats, it was like having the island to ourselves.
The diving? Spectacular. A mix of hard table and other corals along with big thick soft corals of all different colors. The island has wall diving with gentle slopes leading up to them from the shallows as well as muck diving in areas on one side. Clouds of fish met us on the first dive and persisted during all our dives there. Not a lot of big fish, although there are some very big Napoleon Wrasses there along with Jacks, big Frog fish and even some Rainbow Runners but smaller fish, there were a LOT. Terrific macro, you can see some different stuff there, especially on the night dives. I knew this was going to be good when during the first dive briefing the DM told us we were planning on a 70 minute time limit... We did 84 minutes.
Overall, a great experience. From the resort to the pros at the dive shop and of course the wonderful diving, this is a place we will be going back to. Probably in the next couple of months.
All of these shots are full frame, no cropping. I was using the Mike Veitch method and practicing my composition using my trusty Woody...
07-10-2007, 11:33 AM
Some shots from Cabilao Island, Philippines
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