Name: ExploreTraveler
Price range: $

Exploring The Crystal Clear Waters

Exploring the crystal clear waters of Pandanon Island in The Philippines is astounding! Have you ever seen water this clear? Can you imagine what you can see? This is the dream of every diver! This is what they come for. They come to see! What an amazing opportunity for divers to see everything in this gigantic underwater playground! The water around Pandanon Island is so clear! It sparkles in the sun! It shines like a diamond! The crystal turquoise of the water is spectacular. Grab your gear, and head out! It is time for exploring the crystal clear waters. It is time to dive!

The boat is ready for us to join the crew. Adventure is waiting in this amazing playground of the deep. Going out to a diving site, we are then able to take the plunge! All fears and worries wash away, as we embark on another diving adventure in the crystal clear waters. Exploring the deep is amazing! The reefs are gorgeous and alive with many different species of fish. Keep your eyes open, you may even sight the famous Thresher Sharks, which are common to these waters.

Exploring the world of the Thresher Shark is absolutely extraordinary. To see one of these massive creatures with their astonishing tails is the perfect end to a perfect dive. Their tails are like weapons in the sea. Exploring their habitat, we watch and wait. It is a chance of a life time. So we wait and keep exploring these beautiful reefs. We keep our eyes open, and watch for schools of fish on the run! The Thresher shark is fast, aggressive, and violent! When their tail comes in contact with a school of fish, it is death and devastation! Come along and join us. It is time to dive!

While diving in this amazing reef, you will also have a chance to see Whale Sharks. These sharks are the largest of the Sharks and also the largest fish. It is important to note that they are not Whales! These magnificent reefs are full of Groupers, Sea Snakes, Scorpion Fish, Stone Fish, Frog Fish and even Barracudas. You may encounter Squids, Rainbow Runners, Nudibranchs, Blue Ribbon Eels, Octopus, and Puffer Fish. Some of these have amazing colors and shapes. Many of the fish are colored to fit into these colorful reefs. These reefs have so many species of fish. The funny Clown Fish, Sweet Lips, Butterfly Fish, Pipe Fish, Moray Eels, Snappers also call these reefs home. Also scattered among the different reefs are Drummers, Harlequin Fish, Fusiliers, and more. Exploring these reefs is like taking a small child to a candy store.

If you dive in some of the larger marine sanctuaries, you are quite likely to see schools of Mackerel and Jacks. Turtles, Sting Rays, and even Hammerhead Sharks call these sanctuaries home. These dives are often for experienced divers, as most are either Drift Dives or Wall Dives. There are dives for every level, but make sure you are on the right dive!

Exploring the crystal clear waters can be an amazing experience. What an adventure! So if you are a diver, come join us for an exciting day of adventure, as we explore the ocean depths.

Watch your step on the old bamboo boat docks in the southwestern Islands of Leyte Philippines

Fishing On The High Seas

Fishing, a constant game of cat and mouse, is a way of life in the Philippines. On any hot and muggy afternoon, fisherman prepare their boats for the night a head. Sleepy villages come alive as blocks of ice are hauled aboard these small wooden fishing boats. Sometimes it is made even more difficult, as the boats may be bobbing at the end of a very old rickety bamboo dock. These docks are still in use and these skilled fisherman maneuver them with care. Not much room for error! Fishing is a way of life here and the docks are just a minor inconvenience. By night fall these wooden boats will be out to sea…. heading toward one of the many coveted fishing grounds.

Bangka boats have bamboo outriggers to give them stabilization in the rough waters of the sea. Bangka fishing boats usually are no more than 30 feet long. These small fishing boats work the reefs during the sultry nights. These fisherman are bound for the rich reefs in the China Sea. Here they hope to encounter blue marlin, red grouper, yellow-fin tuna and lobster to name a few. Many are the species of fish that call these reefs home. Fishing the reefs is the life of a Philippine fisherman. These reefs are a haven for those who make their livelihood from the sea.

In a time where often there are International disputes and international poaching in the reefs, these fisherman are on the front lines. Many days they return to their ports with fewer and fewer fish. Fishing is a way of life and fish is the main source of protein eaten in The Philippines. So generation after generation of fisherman make their way out to sea each night. Their hopes……. to haul in as many fish as they can.

Fishing is the main source of income for many of these tiny villages. Rice farming is also a major resource and a close second. They have no other industries to fall back on. You are either a farmer or a fisherman. If you are the son of a fisherman……you fish. If your father was a farmer….you farm. So down at the sea shore a community waits each morning, to see the fishing boats return to port. They have fished all night and hopefully they will bring back many mackerel or octopus.

Down on the docks in the small fishing village are wives who have waited all night and now look for their men to come home. These may be sleepy villages, but they are wide awake when the call goes out ……the fishing boats are coming! The fishing families are a unit, as the women wait to mend the nets that were damaged in the night. The boats will once again dock at these small bamboo docks, the fish are hauled in and sold. Restaurants and markets are eager to get their share, of the catch of the day. Fish is eaten by most of the local population. Good fresh fish is a must, if you want to stay in business.

The sons clean the boats for the next night and the fisherman go home to sleep. All too soon it will be time to do it all over again. This is the life of a fishing village in The Philippines.

https://www.pinterest.com/exploretraveler/i-love-philippines/

Exploretraveler.com

Published on steemit.com@exploretraveler March 25,2017 at:

https://steemit.com/travel/@exploretraveler/fishing-in-the-philippines