Poseidon's lair

after more than four months, i'm really looking forward to go under the sea. adding to my excitement is the news of the discovery of more than 300 new flora and fauna species in the country by the California Academy of Sciences, most of which were deep sea creatures.

so eventhough typhoon Falcon is still unleashing his wrath in Luzon, i grab my backpack and went to Pods Cove (aka Bahay ni Lola), a rest house in Batangas which i co-managed with few dear friends. luckily, the typhoon stopped on the next day and we were able to organize a dive - Danny O, an award winning underwater photographer, Roy, a dive guide from Apo Island, and me. visibility is terrible at the start of the dive, maybe due to the storm. but after 20 mins, the water became clearer (or maybe my eyes were already able to adjust) and we started to encounter beautiful sea creatures.

like this rare striated frogfish,

beautiful nudibranch,

a flying gurnard, white stonefish, weird-looking crabs, lobster, giant clam, anemone shrimps and beautiful coral fishes. a very fruitful dive. we stayed underwater for more than 70mins.

the coastal zone fronting Pods Cove is good for muck diving. in fact last year, we were able to see green sea turtles and manta ray in the area. also high chances of spotting octopus and cuttle fish during night dive/snorkel. Mabini waters is also a migration path for whale sharks and dolphins. underwater photos by Danny O.

.... i'm daydreaming and planning to accomplish one of my life wishes - to dive in Tubbataha Reef. hopefully next year :)