In better times when we were able to travel, myself @biggypauls, wife "Koz" and friends Ernesto and Vanessa visited a special place. Tubbataha reef is a Unesco world heritage site in the middle of the Zulu sea in the Philippines.
Sailing from Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan we made a over night journey in calm seas, to arrive on site for diving at first light the following morning.
100 kilometers from dry land, this protected site is out of bounds for most of the year but for 3 months a very limited amount of divers are given permission to visit. With high levels of protection you get a glimpse of how the oceans were in the past.
As a diver and ocean lover, I have seen with my own eyes fish stocks dwindle and in particular the large apex predators slowly disappear. Our main reason for this trip was to hopefully see many sharks, something that was common place 20 years ago but now sadly a rare thing.
Early morning on our first day we woke up to coffee and a light breakfast, there was a buzz of excitement on the boat. After a briefing about the dive site we set up our equipment and readied our cameras. I had my GoPro and DSLR rig with the hope of getting a nice mix of film and photos. All set we jumped in the zodiac speed boat to get us closer to the reef as the large boats have to keep their distance.
We were on a five day trip and full of anticipation of what the first day would bring. In two groups of five we made our first couple of dives then took a lunch break before jumping back in later that afternoon, later we took some time to relax and review our footage.
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For my video I chose the music, Apres midi d'un faune, by Debussy as it was one of the favorites of Jacques Cousteau in his documentaries, It was watching them as a young boy that inspired me to become a diver and visit the underwater world.
Now sit back and relax and let me take you on a journey into the big blue, with these highlights of day one.
The MV Sakura our home for the week was a great platform to explore this part of the world, their staff food and company were top notch and I would highly recommend them.
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Thanks, I hope you like my first video post, of course me being the way I am couldn't resist popping in a few extra photos, enjoy. Stay safe folks!
Thank you for taking us on the dive journey with you. I felt this jolt of adrenaline watching your video when the sleeping shark woke up. Wow, Tubbataha Reef - that is one epic dive!
I do enjoy a live aboard, just dive eat sleep repeat, what more could you want.
#posh
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #943.
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How cool, and what a nice start to the day to find I made the top 3. Thank you for your support it is as always much appreciated.
Feels like I took a dive with you there as well! Thank you! I didn't know that there are amazing sights to see in the riskier parts of Mindanao. I only knew about it when a vlogger went to Sulu and showed us that the locals are quite peaceful in there despite the scary reputation. Maybe that's why sea life is thriving. Because there are not that much tourists.
Anyway, great post! Lovely to see PH 🇵🇭 in the Top 1 spot at @pinmapple 's travel digest.
Thanks, Tubbataha is not like many places in the Philippines, totally protected with full time rangers it is a jewel in the crown.
Yeah, it's best to protect every natural resource and wildlife from irresponsible tourists. Looking forward to go there sometime!
I'm not so sure that tourists can be blamed for commercial over fishing by many nations and the Philippines being the third worst polluter of the oceans.
Oh, I think you've misinterpet me. I'm a Filipino but I could also be a tourist when I visit other parts of my country. What I'm saying is, when a place gets famous and tourists crowd there, I observe that it eventually deteriorates. That's why the local government must do their best to protect these places. Educate the visitors and maintain the beauty of the place. Like how Sulu does with Tubbataha Reef.
I have nothing against tourists. Certainly nothing against you or myself cause we're tourists 😁 As long as we're responsible and respectful wherever we go 🙂
Sorry if you took that as a attack, i agree we are all tourists, what is needed is a major cultural shift and for people to start respecting the beauty around us.
We do what we can to educate people here on the ground when visiting Moalboal and in a effort to cut waste we recycle and refuse to sell anything in plastic bottles. I have worked with the DENR department of the environment and natural resources to try to make a change here.
Thanks for your comments and stay safe.
Watching the video feels like I'm the one holding the camera. It's breathtaking even though I am seeing it on the monitor. How much more if I can see it with my two eyes. And the music is an eargasm. I can feel the serenity in your underwater exploration.
Congratulations on your pineapple feature! A well-deserved feature!
Thank you for your kind words, I struggled for a while to decide what music to use but then had a lightbulb moment and thought back to the old documentaries I used to watch, I think it works well, good enough to make your ears come apparently.
Excellent the video was great.
Thanks buddy, it was a great trip to a special place. stay safe out there:)