With the sun shining and the water temperature at a very comfortable 29c- 30c it’s been another fantastic week at Asia Divers & El Galleon Beach Resort. We have several divers, students and group of eight students from China keeping up the excitement around the dive shop.
Allison was guiding the way for Peter Zheng a PADI Instructor from China who brought in a group of 8 to complete the Open Water and Advanced open water course. As you can see from the photo it was a fun time with a few highs and a few lows. Congratulations to all the new divers.
Andy and Jamie teamed up with this group of students from China. Xu Juejue, Zhang Dan –aow;Fu Hai Liang, Yu Shi Mou, Zhang Zi Han, Lei Jing Ling, Cfang Fang, Yao Qiong, Youcheng—ow. Congratulations!
Thanks to Phil Hsieh from Scuba Shop Taipei for sending us this very fun group of divers, “Forte Scuba Diving Club”. Though they only had three days of diving they maximized their time and did lots of amazing dives.
What a week it’s been for Blue Ringed octopus sightings. Within the past 5 days there have been 6 different ones spotted at different dive sites. You have to realize how special this is. Normally for many of us who dive every day we might be lucky to see one, once or twice a year! To see this amount in such a short time is astounding. The great thing is that it’s not just the dive guides who have been seeing them, it’s the divers. Lucky Elizabeth Annand from Vision Divers managed to see three in her last two days of diving with us. We don’t really understand why we are seeing so many right now. We do know that the water temperature has warmed up in the past 10 days and we just had a full moon. Perhaps this might have something to do with it? Maybe it’s a mating season so they are coming out to find a mate and lay eggs?
According to Wikipedia: Blue-ringed octopus females lay only one clutch of about 50 eggs in their lifetimes towards the end of autumn. Eggs are laid then incubated underneath the female’s arms for about six months, and during this process she does not eat. After the eggs hatch, the female dies, and the new offspring will reach maturity and be able to mate by the next year.
Puerto Galera is still in the Northern Hemisphere, but in the Southern Hemisphere it’s autumn now so they are there breeding now. Maybe they think they are in the Sothern hemisphere??
It’s been wonderful to have Peter and Deb Webster from Vision Divers return with some familiar and new folks. What a great week it’s been with amazing diving conditions. The sun has been shining, the water has been warm and the beer has been cold! What more can you ask for?!
It’s been an absolute pleasure to have hosted Ken Knezick and his group of 36 friends here at El Galleon & Asia Divers recently. Ken has been coming here for several years now and we thank him for his continued support. Besides running Island Dreams Travel he is also an enthusiastic diver and underwater photographer. Here are a few of his awesome photos that he recently took here.
All photos Copyright of Ken Knezick – www.divetrip.com
It’s been wonderful to have the Deutscher Unterwasser-Club Hamburg e.V. with us this past week enjoying the sun and the sea in Puerto Galera. The group has seen the best of the area including the beautiful healthy corals, heaps of fishes, some weird and wacky critters and the stunning Verde Island. April and May are such a perfect time of the year to be here. If you’re looking for a quick escape to paradise over the next while contact us at admin@asiadivers.com as we still have some vacancies.
By Ken Knezick, Island Dreams Travel, www.divetrip.com
As I wind up another very satisfying visit to El Galleon Resort, permit me a few comments on this most recent trip. For starters, I’m gratified to see so many smiles on the faces of both the 36 intrepid Island Dreams dive travelers and the amazing staff that has served us so graciously over our 10-night stay. Despite our large group size, the resort and Asia Divers are clearly working at top efficiency. All of our needs have been met, and expectations exceeded, with nary a command heard. Everyone here knows their job and does it with integrity and good humor.
Copyright Ken Knezick – www.divetrip.com
Dining – El Galleon’s open air,
ocean view dining room is one of the most attractive and accommodating you will find anywhere in the world. Under the tutelage of Corsican-born Chef Anton, the delicious and varied cuisine and friendly service are well equal to the organic setting.
Accommodations – The lodging rooms continue to be simple, but meticulously clean and comfortable with good air-con. While some guests were reluctant to make the hike upstairs to the Seaview rooms, I found the short bursts of cardio to be enjoyable and rewarding, perfectly replacing my visits to RPM Spin Class back home, and making me feel much better about enjoying Chef Anton’s chocolate croissants with my morning coffee.
Dive Operations – For all of the other creature comforts, it is the dive deck that places El Galleon and Asia Divers head and shoulders above almost any other dive resort I’ve experienced in 35-years of leading scuba tours around the world. From 6 am through return of the night dive, this expansive area is a hive of well-orchestrated activity. My guests repeatedly remarked that they felt as if they had a personal dive valet to assist them throughout the day. Thus my hat is off to owner Allan Nash, dive coordinator Kjell, repair maestro Andy, and the entire remarkable team of divemasters, boatmen and dive deck staff.
The Diving – None of the above would be of much import if the diving was not equal to the rest of the El Galleon picture. Fortunately, on this count my guests and I again come away very much satisfied. As easy it is to get to Puerto Galera, this region is host to a stunning variety of diving options and marine life variety. Our Island Dreams package had three two-tank trips to Verde Island, where we enjoyed great visibility and a swirling cornucopia of marine life. Other dives offered coral reef, wrecks, critters, and muck diving. The night diving is superb. Best of all, most dive sites are within a five minute ride from El Galleon’s excellent dock. But enough talking, check out a few of the images I produced on this trip, and then come enjoy El Galleon Resort for yourself.
All though it has no importance in a photo competition competitors are always looking out for the most seldom seen critters of the underwater world. It’s however better to make a breathtaking picture of a common nudibranch than to have an interesting picture of a seldom seen animal. Nevertheless at the HUGYCUP at Asia divers we’re always “hunting” for a rare find as a breathtaking picture of a unique find can also push a bit towards a winning picture. This week we found one of the holy grails for underwater photographers & videographers : A hairy frogfish ! I’ve logged now 4150 dives and it’s only the third time in my life I had to pleasure to see a black hairy frogfish. Most of the time they are pinkish/white and juveniles tend to be more orange/brownish. Where does the black one fit in ?? In the picture, a 3 cm size, black hairy frogfish from the dive site ‘The boatyard’. The HUGYCUP is entering its 7th week. Two more weeks to go, who knows what we’ll find next at the amazing dive sites around Puerto Galera.
Just about to head out on a HUGYCUP photo dive with Steve Watson, John Van Lent, Danny Van Belle, Anouschka Mornie, Daan Deubare, Beth Watson and a whole heap of very big cameras!
It was all sunshine and smooth seas for us this holiday. There was a looming typhoon that managed to stay way up north from us which made everyone very very happy! It’s been great to have lots of old and new friends here enjoying our piece of paradise.
It was wonderful as always to have Jeff and Julie Barker here and it was made even more special by them bringing along friends Derek (Tim) and Debbie Jeffrey. Congratulations to Jeff for getting his 900th dive as well. You can see he got to go home with a brand new t-shirt!
Our Hong Kong guests Chris, Kelly, Ian, Emma, Shane and Vickie (aka Dickie) all had a splendid day at Verde Island, with two great dives on the pinnacles and a delicious El Galleon BBQ on the beach, accompanied by a few sundowners. A great day was had by all followed by a great night back at the Point and Barrel bars!
Alli took this happy gang over to Chicken Feather and Bonito Island for a change of scene and some time to play in the bubbles. (Sue Goodman, Garry and Zoe Ames, Beth and Steve Watson, Mal Hammer, Matt Watts)
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Allison was guiding the way for Peter Zheng a PADI Instructor from China who brought in a group of 8 to complete the Open Water and Advanced open water course. As you can see from the photo it was a fun time with a few highs and a few lows. Congratulations to all the new divers.
