Sogod Bay - Philippines

[diver-hloc]

First off.... a BIG thanks to ClubSNAP-er - antacid - and others for providing me with info for this little Jem of a dive site.... not forgetting where to get a good meal of Roast Pig after diving.

Getting to Sogod Bay itself isn't easy..... a 12hrs trip from S'pore to the Dive Centre and a 18hrs return trip to S'pore.... no direct flight on our return date. But its all worthwhile !!! Me & my diving buddies 'chase' Whale Shark till almost too tried to climb back onto the boat... we got sighting of Whale Shark for the full 2 days we were at the Whale Shark area.... We did both Snorkel and Scuba while looking for Whale Shark, and have some good video footage (no time to edit yet).... Sadly, my Canon U/W casing decided to 'Sabo' me on this trip.... the black rubber thingy which allows my camera to change mode (Photo or Video), totally broke apart. So, I'm left with either Photo..... or Video (must select before going underwater).

P.S - Canon don't/can't repair this problem.... no spare parts, they claim. But I've used some rubber tape (non stick type), cut into size, wrap around the knot till the rubber tape could now touch and turn the mode selecter on my camera..... it works on land, lets hope it won't flood on my next trip.......



#01 - Whale Shark

#02 - Whale Shark

#03 - BlueRing Octopus

#04 - BlueRing Octopus

#05 - Small Octopus (unknown breed)

 

[diver-hloc]

#06 - Pygmy Seahorse (my 1st yellow Pygmy !!)

#07 - Pygmy Seahorse

#08 - Hermit Crab

#09 - Pink Anemonfish

#10 - Spider Crab

 

[diver-hloc]

#11 - Tiny Crab on softcoral

#12 - Jellyfish

#13 - Tiny free swimming Squid

#14 - Nudi having lunch

#15 - SeaScape (sorry.... my strobelight isn't prowerful enough)

The rest of the collection is here - diver-hloc - Sogod Bay Collection


Thxs for viewing.....

 

[thanantosis]

very nice bro!... hows the diving condition there? you using a point and shoot camera?...

 

[lovells19]

wah nice man,

make me wanna go back there again!

 

[diver-hloc]

very nice bro!... hows the diving condition there? you using a point and shoot camera?...

Mostly Wall Diving with only one super good Muck Dive site..... Vis depends very much on where you are. Want to see lots of Whale Shark ?? Then hope for slightly bad Vis (due to Plankton).... Whale Shark will feed and you'll have a great time.

Yes... using a Canon PowerShot A650 IS with and a Inon Z-240 Strobe.

wah nice man,

make me wanna go back there again!

Thxs Bro.... weather was good, sunny with strong cool sea breeze. The villagers are super friendly. My only 'complain' will the the food at the DC is a little $$$$ ($4.50 SGD for soup or a mango shake) :sweat:

 

[antacid]

very nice, thanks for sharing! where was the bluering found? makes me want to go back again this year!

 

[diver-hloc]

very nice, thanks for sharing! where was the bluering found? makes me want to go back again this year!

Night Dive at the jetty..... of the 3 night dive I did, only saw it on the 1st night. :thumbsup:

 

[lovells19]

Mostly Wall Diving with only one super good Muck Dive site..... Vis depends very much on where you are. Want to see lots of Whale Shark ?? Then hope for slightly bad Vis (due to Plankton).... Whale Shark will feed and you'll have a great time.

Yes... using a Canon PowerShot A650 IS with and a Inon Z-240 Strobe.







Thxs Bro.... weather was good, sunny with strong cool sea breeze. The villagers are super friendly. My only 'complain' will the the food at the DC is a little $$$$ ($4.50 SGD for soup or a mango shake) :sweat:

you stayed with peter's? walk out and eat la, its like 50% cheaper

 

[thanantosis]

wow seem like a great place to dive... and shoot.... hmmm will check it out soon...

yet to see a whale shark....

btw im using point and shoot also...however your shot is much better then mine ...

Mostly Wall Diving with only one super good Muck Dive site..... Vis depends very much on where you are. Want to see lots of Whale Shark ?? Then hope for slightly bad Vis (due to Plankton).... Whale Shark will feed and you'll have a great time.

Yes... using a Canon PowerShot A650 IS with and a Inon Z-240 Strobe.







Thxs Bro.... weather was good, sunny with strong cool sea breeze. The villagers are super friendly. My only 'complain' will the the food at the DC is a little $$$$ ($4.50 SGD for soup or a mango shake) :sweat:

 

[diver-hloc]

you stayed with peter's? walk out and eat la, its like 50% cheaper

Hahahaha..... my dive group got a large brunch of 'Hungry Ghost'.... if come back late from 2nd dive.... must have food asap. And you know how long the philippino cook takes to cook something if you don't pre-order it (soup also took 20++ minutes).... But we did mix abit... eating breakfast at PETER's and having dinner somewhere else. Lunch would depends on timing. :bsmilie:

wow seem like a great place to dive... and shoot.... hmmm will check it out soon...

yet to see a whale shark....

btw im using point and shoot also...however your shot is much better then mine ...

Well.... if Whale Shark is what you want, Sogod Bay is the place to be. Even off season, PETER's DC owner (Peter himself) claim to have seen a Whale Shark just outside his House Reef last Nov till season begins.... his only solo guest have sighting daily for well over 2 weeks. :bsmilie:

Are you using a Strobe light ?? Most PnS camera (even DSLR) would benefit greatly from having a U/W Strobe light. :thumbsup:

 

[thanantosis]

hi bro.... will take note of that.

yes im using strobe... sea and sea 110a... will post some of my picture for your comments soon

thanks ya

Hahahaha..... my dive group got a large brunch of 'Hungry Ghost'.... if come back late from 2nd dive.... must have food asap. And you know how long the philippino cook takes to cook something if you don't pre-order it (soup also took 20++ minutes).... But we did mix abit... eating breakfast at PETER's and having dinner somewhere else. Lunch would depends on timing. :bsmilie:






Well.... if Whale Shark is what you want, Sogod Bay is the place to be. Even off season, PETER's DC owner (Peter himself) claim to have seen a Whale Shark just outside his House Reef last Nov till season begins.... his only solo guest have sighting daily for well over 2 weeks. :bsmilie:

Are you using a Strobe light ?? Most PnS camera (even DSLR) would benefit greatly from having a U/W Strobe light. :thumbsup:

 

[diver-hloc]

A few more.....


#16 - Anemone.... and fish

#17 - A face only its mother will love....

#18 - Snake Eel....

#19 - Alien....

#20 - Commensal Shrimp

 

[diver-hloc]

Some above the Water photo....


#21 - Sun Rise

#22 - Sun Set

#23 - View

#24 - Children

#25 - Dinner (best type there is.....)

The rest at here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hlocphotoscollections/sets/72157623557254869/

 

[2evans]

From your these pretty nice photos, seems like the trip was well worth the effort!

Was the person snorkeling in flip flops? He didn't want to step on anything?

 

[diver-hloc]

From your these pretty nice photos, seems like the trip was well worth the effort!

Was the person snorkeling in flip flops? He didn't want to step on anything?

He's part of the Boat crew.... and jump into the water in those flip flops (the depth is well over 10 metres.... nothing to step on !!). The funny thing is this.... he could easily out swim us and keep up with the Whale Shark.... with us using fins and carrying camera panging behind. :sweat:

 

[antacid]

how much did the lechon cost you? we walked further down the street and had a big blowout party on the last night with lechon, lots of seafood, and cleaned out the place of SML and SMM...came up to 550 pesos per pax. damn cheap lah

 

[scubagolfer]

Whale Shark , blue ring octo ... looks like this is the place to go soon .....

 

[diver-hloc]

how much did the lechon cost you? we walked further down the street and had a big blowout party on the last night with lechon, lots of seafood, and cleaned out the place of SML and SMM...came up to 550 pesos per pax. damn cheap lah

Roast Pig + Bee Hoon 2 plate + Veg 2 plate + Coke + Beer = slightly above 5000 peso. Divided by 7 person.... about $20++ SGD per person. Damn worth it :thumbsup: Enough leftovers to let the DM bring home for his kids.... and feeding 4 very hungry puppies at the DC :bsmilie:

Whale Shark , blue ring octo ... looks like this is the place to go soon .....

Whale Shark is more or less a confirm sighting during season..... Blue Ring is much rare. Only saw it for one night dive out of 3.... I guess being small, helps

 

[scubagolfer]

Yes, blue ring as elusive as any marine creature ... hoping to see one in Sipadan house reef next week .. keke