MUCK DIVING an exciting new underwater activity in the Philippines

Get ready to discover a whole new world in diving!

It took the vision and resources of two persons to reintroduce muck diving in the Philippines.

Marissa Floirendo visited the small village of Lembeh in Indonesia and discovered that there was little to see in terms of the usual scuba diving attractions. But she was perplexed at the busy level of diving industry in the area. There, she was introduced to the whole new field called muck diving. And she got hooked.

Muck diving is actually the anti-thesis of scuba diving because it defies the established conventions of what is beautiful in diving. Instead of the usual coral reefs that are teeming with life, muck divers are guided in, yeah, muck – sea bottoms where the substrates are mud, sand, sea grasses, and yes, even rubbles. They don’t go out to find impressive and awesome sea creatures, but they search for critters that seem to shy away from the usual coral malls.



The rewards to the muck divers could very varied. Topmost is the chance to take photos of sea creatures that have never been documented. So a diver could be the first or only the 20th person to take a shot of a crab that looks like a Christmas tree. The critter photos are considered rare gems compared to the usual underwater subjects. Like, can you guess how many photos of jacks and barracudas can be seen in the internet?

Muck diving could bring a scuba diver to a different level of his hobby. The usual diving would require eyes wide open to see as many creatures as possible and while the tank allows him to stay underwater, muck diving could make the person have an extended encounter with the sea creatures for extended periods. Its because this can be done in a ten-feet of water depth! And this brings in an opportunity to the non-divers, one can actually do muck diving and photography through snorkeling in shallow waters. The waterproof underwater point-and-shoot cameras that now flood the market can be the simple tool to take great underwater photos!





So with a friend named Joel Uichico and an Indonesian dive master, Wilson Serang, Marissa started that small, no, critter-scale revolution that has now started to touch the interest of a lot of divers in the Philippines.

The secret in muck diving is developing good guides that will show the diver where the most interesting creatures can be spotted. The trio went all the way to train Filipino guides in areas such as Donsol, Davao City, Bohol, and Anilao.




One good thing if muck diving becomes a major offering in the Philippines is that it is a one-to-one industry. Meaning, one guide would provide his service to only one diver. More Filipinos could actually benefit from muck diving compared to many other tourism products we could offer. The more good guides we can develop and they would know where to spot creatures such as hairy frogfishes, ghost-like critters, colorful shrimps, and alien-looking whatever sea creatures, the greater chance for this country to be a major muck area (pun intended).

Here’s an interesting fact, in the course of knowing more about muck diving, Marissa came across Bob Yin, a seasoned dive photographer. He revealed that muck diving actually started in Anilao in a place called Basura. Back then, dive photography was very limited to a few persons, and they were the ones who got great shots of the underwater, critter world. It was only in Indonesia where the activity grew into a solid activity.




One of the most impressive products of their effort is the on-going competition on muck diving photography called MAD About Us. If the number of participants and their outstanding photos are any indication, we could say that the Philippines is well on its way to getting a benefits of this new scuba diving product.

All photos courtesy of and owned by Marissa Floirendo.


To know more about muck diving, you can contact Marissa through mars1@mydestiny.net or Joel through aquaman@mozcom.com

Palawan Itinerary

I've always been asked how to best enjoy Palawan. Im sharing this itinerary should you want to visit Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Its a tried and tested itinerary enjoyed by lots of my friends and their friends.

PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN
Always touted as the last frontier of the Philippines, the island province of Palawan holds true to that reputation. This area is considered as one of the few dream destinations for many seasoned and would-be travelers. With more than a thousand islands, islets, cays and shoals and matched by impressive limestone cliffs, excellent coral reefs, cultures and other interesting natural treasures, I recommend that you allot at least three to four days of your entire lifetime to visit the attractions in Palawan.

DAY 1
6:00 A.M. ETD Manila

7:00 A.M. ETA Puerto Princesa City
Take a tricycle or get to a service vehicle
Check-in Hotel or Lodging House
Breakfast

After Breakfast
Hire a tricycle or a service vehicle for a city tour

Visit the following:

Butterfly Farm
This is a private lot that was converted into a butterfly farm where one can see butterflies in all stages of their lives. Adult butterflies flutter about in a landscaped garden where tourists can freely walk.

Iwahig Penal Colony
This is actually a prison area where the inmates are given the chance to become farmers and workers in the sprawling land. A visitor can buy handicrafts made by the prisoners.

Crocodile Farm
A different kind of farm where crocodiles are kept in captivity to help their species survive in the Philippines. More than 500 crocodiles call this home. Visitors can see the skeleton of a huge man-eater that gobbled up people in the past. They will also be given lectures on the ecological importance of crocodiles and later, made to walk on steel boardwalks located on top of crocodile pens. Have some pesos ready for a photo opportunity while holding a baby croc and buying some souvenir items make of crocodile teeth. Try to cajole the staff into telling you the stories on the man-eaters they caught in the wild.

There are also cages of different animals they rescued from poachers and traders.

Late P.M. Back to Accommodation
Rest
Dinner (Accommodation or city restaurant)
Recommended: Kaluis, Kinabuch, Kamarikutan
OVN

DAY 2
Early A.M. Proceed to Honda Bay by hired tricycle or service vehicle (must have packed lunch)

Honda Bay is one of the must-visit destinations in Puerto Princesa. It has numerous small islands that are usually ringed by white sands. Get ready to have tanned skin under the sun while having the time of your life swimming, snorkeling and sun bathing.

Whole Day Island Hopping
Snake Island
Pandan Island
Any other island in the area

Late P.M. Back to city proper
OVN

DAY 3
7:00 A.M. Proceed to Sabang for a visit to St. Paul Subterranean River National Park (okay, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park). Either hire an FX or service vehicle.

10:00 A.M. ETA Sabang
Transfer to a boat

10:30 A.M. ETA Park
Register
Wait for your turn to explore the cave by boat

Lunch at the park area

2:00 P.M. Exploration should be finished by this time

Take boat back to Sabang

2:30 P.M. ETD Sabang

5:00 P.M. ETA city proper
OVN

DAY 4
Early A.M. Panic Shopping
Hire a tricycle and visit the souvenir stores in the city
Actually, there is an easy way – you can buy a lot of items at the souvenir shop beside the airport. You can do this after you have checked-in and while waiting for your flight.

11:00 A.M. ETD Puerto Princesa City

12:00 NN ETA Manila
Back to Reality

Butanding Festival

For those of you who are planning to visit Donsol anyday on April 28 - May 5, that will be a good time to witness the annual Butanding Festival organized by the local folks. As a sampler, here's a good youtube video made a friend of mine, Yogi.

Lessons On Beach Management Part 1

This article can be most useful if you’re planning to build a beach resort.

The Philippines and most tropical countries are really blessed with beaches that become major tourist destinations. Coupled with emerald waters, swaying coconut trees, and warm sunlight, it can be easy to paint a tropical coastal area as a postcard-pretty, "I-wanna-go-there" place.

For those who have enough money, it can be very tempting to develop every square inch of the coastal area to earn great moolahs from the tourists. But there are some things you should know about responsible beach development in order to protect the resource you’re exploiting.

Get ready for some serious lecture stuff here. You can click that ‘x’ button now if you don’t want to read more of this.

Now, the following terms can be very useful if you really want to appreciate the concept of beach management:

Energy – each wave that hits the coastal area has a corresponding energy. Gentle waves would have low energy level, they’re usually harmless and does very little impact to the beach area. Typhoon-type waves would be very devastating and carry away so much beach materials when they retreat back to the sea.
Velocity (or roughly called speed by many) – the corresponding velocity of a wave or current would be able to carry a particular size of sand particle. The higher velocity, the bigger and more sand particles it can carry.

How beaches are formed
Most people would know that beach materials come from the bottom of the sea. This can be quite true if you see that the beach is white and composed mostly of crushed or ground corals. But there are other sources of beach materials:
by the river – the beach quality may be affected if there is quarrying activity or a dam is built upstream.
From cliffs – the erosion of the cliffs could provide the beach materials
Blown by the wind from another beach area
Nourishment – when man dumps materials to create a beach

On Beach Profiles
Beach profiles are formed by two things: waves (alon) and long-shore current (agos). If the waves bring in the sand materials to the shore, the long-shore current redistributes the sand along the beach.

Things that could go wrong on beach development
If you build structures that cut across the shore into the water (such as solid piers, runways, ports, resort facilities), it will result in the erosion of the sand at one side. In some cases, it results in the erosion of sand in the whole coastal area.

The long-shore current that distributes the sand materials would be abruptly stopped by the structure, it will lose its velocity and consequently the ability to carry sand particles. The current then drops the sand. As the water continues flowing (around the structure), it would regain its velocity and be able to carry sand materials again. Unfortunately, the new batch of sand materials will come from the other side, resulting in erosion.

What to do – do not build anything that will impede the flow of the long-shore current. If you must build something such as piers of cottages, make sure you pile the foundations instead of building a solid one.

If you build structures on the beach area or on the dunes that formed near the beach, chances the sea will erode and you will lose both the beach and your facility.

This is where the value of easement or buffer zone comes in.

Water is a very consistent, powerful, and incorrigible agent of change. As long as it cannot find its equilibrium, or balance, it will continue to change whatever it comes in contact with. You can see a lot of examples in beach areas in many countries.

As I wrote above, each wave would have it own energy level and velocity. As a wave hits the beach, it will travel inland until its energy is dissipated, then it goes back to the sea. Should there be an equilibrium, the waves would not be able to carry away sand from the beach (thus, maintaining its quality). Depending on the wave energy, the distance needed for the wave to travel inland without making any damage would be between 20-50 meters (or longer in some areas)

The problem would come in when somebody starts to build permanent facilities at the beach area (or any point before the wave energy dissipates). So try to imagine a wave that hits inland but is blocked by a structure before it completely loses its energy. When it retreats to the sea, it would still have enough energy to carry sand particles which then results to what we call “scouring” This causes erosion, and consequently, the decrease in the quality of the beach area.

I hope this little lesson on beach management would help enlighten the minds of the moneyed people who have the power to change our coastal areas, for better or for worse.

How Our DOT Officials Test the Marketing Stuff

Got to pass by the DOT bldg. a feews ago ang I was lucky to witness how the DOT (Department of Tourism) officials literally test the products they are going to showcase to the whole world.

This time, they're bringing the bubble guy to Europe and make his craft into an attraction and part of the Philippine booth in a major travel trade fair there. For those of you who never had any orientation on the gimmicks done in tourism events, this could look like really, really strange. But that's creative marketing for you, guys.

That's DOT Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque and PCVC's Susan del Mundo inside the giant bubble.

Let's just wish them goodluck!

Birdwatching in the Philippines

[I just updated this blog because the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) provided me with some very good bird photos! ]

Try to answer this one: In two minutes, name as many bird species as you can. Chickens not included. I bet 90% of you got to name only one or two species (let me guess..... maya?).

Since the early 90's I have been advocating birdwatching as a tourism product of the Philippines. We got the numbers: more than 600 species of birds and about 200 of them are endemic to the Philippines (found only in this country). The international market is HUGE. From Europeans, Americans, and now even Asians.

But lo and behold! Its been more than 15 years since I started doing a study on that thing and not much has happened (well, touristically). Its a good thing that a local birdwatching club name the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) has been organized by bird enthusiasts and they have been doing a great job in spreading the word on the value of birdwatching and environmentalism. The only thing is that there is less than 200 birdwatchers in the country. The country does not have enough warm bodies yet to become good birdwatching guides. So we stay here in our little corner while that huge, quality market stray to other destinations.

Well, aside from the guides, we actually have other challenges - have you heard of deforestation or habitat loss? In 1930's the Philippines used to have 16 MILLION hectares of virgin rainforest. Now the statistics are down to less than 800,000 hectares. Can you imagine how many bird species may have gone extinct without us even knowing they even existed? So those almost 600 species may actually be hard to encounter since there are very little and patches of hiding places they call home.

This is actually one of the reasons why we have to promote and develop birdwatching. There is a great market out there, we have the product (high quality, Im telling you). The only thing missing right now are the guides.

At the start, it can be quite intimidating trying to learn the appearance and names (scientific also) of 600+ species. But actually, it can be really easy, especially for the locals. Usually, the number of birds in a small area would only be in the vicinity of 30-50 species, the locals would already know a lot of them birds. So, its just really be the common and scientific names that remain to be hurdled.

What about expense? Birdwatching is one of the cheapest forms of hobbies. Just a pair of binoculars, a field note, and a field guide would do. A pair of binoculars could be bought between Php500 - 5,000, depending on where you buy it. More expensive options would be a spotting scope and long lens cameras. But those are reserved for the real birdwatching addicts (yes, this can be very addicting).


So what's the reward in birdwatching? Its the discovery of seeing more of nature (wow, there are actually more impressive birds than the mayas!!), of learning, of touching your heart and your spirit that we are part of this universe, of pinching your morals that we can do something to help contribute in keeping our environment the way it should be.

And where can you start doing birdwatching - try to walk around your neighborhood. The mayas are everywhere. but have you noticed the fluttering birds whose dancing tails are edged with white color? You have seen the pied fantails. Have you walked under a raintree in the park and saw a small, yellow-bellied bird that sings a long song (actually sounding like a whistle of a cop played nicely), that's a golden-bellied flyeater. Or you may have heard a similar but shorter whistle and saw a small bird drumming its beak on tree trunk - you have actually seen a woodpecker bird that is found only in the Philippines. And come September, you could very well see a relatively large bird (compared to the maya) whose face looks like the masked Zorro. This species has now arrived from Mainland Asia (well, China and probably Korea also) and will now spend the cold months in the warmer Philippines. You probably already know this one - its called the Tarat or Brown Shrike.

So the next time you walk in the tree-lined streets and parks, try to observe a bit more and you may discover that birdwatching can actually be fun. Then you'll be ready to explore the forests and discover the world of the eagles, malkohas, doves and flowerpeckers.

Who knows, maybe you can decide that you want to be a birdwatching guide in the Philippines.

And no, the hummingbird you guessed earlier is not found in the Philippines.

The Fireflies of Donsol

Down the river at dusk to see the fireflies when its completely dark

The first time I witnessed the fireflies of Donsol was more than four years ago. Then I got the opportunity to see them again about a month ago. The experience was really out of this world. Many would say that nothing could compare to the whale sharks (which are also found in Donsol). But for me, the fireflies would equal the rewards of the giant sharks. Swimming with the whale shark is an adventure, even a heart-thumping one (especially when water visibility is less than four feet and you would worry about bumping into the head of worse, the tail of the giant). But the fireflies offer serenity, well I could safely say spirituality.

For how can you explain the feeling of seeing thousands of glowing insects that form into throbbing balls of light, or cascading ribbons that engulf a tree, and yes, like Christmas lights covering another tall tree. Nobody can paint to you the whole picture of firefly watching unless you experience it yourself.

Some info about the fireflies:

There are more than 2,000 species of fireflies

Its also called lightning bug or glow worms (but only the larvae - this is quite different from the glow worms found in New Zealand)

Not all fireflies glow (only all the larvae). Most of the fireflies in the temperate countries do not glow.

Many of the fireflies species in Southeast Asia (which includes the Philippines) are known to glow like Christmas lights.

We Owe Our Civilizations to OCs!

Come to think of it, can you try to imagine how the world would look like if there were no OCs (obssessive-compulsive) in this world?

The OCs are the ones who are obssessed with order, with cleanliness, with numbers, and with whatever that resembles symmetry. They cannot bring themselves to compromises. Everything that they are obsessed with will have to be made in perfect form, or else, they die of frustration!

If not for the OCs, would we have the great pyramids? the Stonehenge? the great monuments and the palaces? Heck, I doubt if we would have well-planned cities if not for the OCs.

The next time you wonder and try to see the perfections of the landmarks and cultural treasures of the countries you visit, you can perhaps conclude that the OCs were responsible for them.

So, we do not only owe the great man-made tourist attractions to the OCs, but perhaps our great civilizations as well.

This article is a salute to the OCs of the world! Ang galing nyo!

Can We Save the Thresher Sharks in Verde Passage?

It was in late 2007 when Cecille Rosales, the tourism officer of Batangas City started posting and reporting in her multiply site about the catching and selling of thresher sharks in the waters of Batangas Bay (which is part of the larger Verde Passage located between the province of Batangas and the big islands of Mindoro and Marinduque. At first, I hardly gave any notice given that I could not really relate because I am not a scuba diver.

But her reports and logs kept increasing and I began to do more research on the animal. By another co-incidence, I became a consultant of Bantay Kalikasan, a big, media-based NGO that included the Verde Passage as part of their advocacy areas. That's when things started to fall into place (as far as I am concerned).

One barangay in Batangas City really catch the animal in order to augment their iffy fishing livelihood of sardines. They regard the shark as more of a pest because it eats their catch and destroys their fishing nets (actually not true, but more of a convenient excuse). Listening to the fishermen how they survive through fishing the shark could make you shake your head that issues like this are ever present in many communities in the Philippines. But we could not just accept this as a fact that we have to live with. We know, from many experiences, that there are ways to address the issue of conservation and socio-economic well-being of the people.

The situation for the thresher shark could already be very bleak. Their sexual maturity could be very late (8 years for the female) and they reproduce only about 2 offsprings per birth, and they don't give birth on a regular pattern. In March, a total of 29 thresher sharks were caught in only three days! For conservationists like Simon Oliver (a visiting British guy specializing on the sharks), that is already very, very alarming!

I've personally seen some of the dead sharks that were caught and I'm telling you, the experience could be numbing. Five dead sharks were lined and you could just imagine how awesome they could be if seen alive and swimming freely in their natural habitat. The long, banner-like tails that reach about five feet, easily match their body length. Their mouths and teeth were quite small, indicating that they only eat small preys such as sardines and squids. Yup! They DO NOT and CANNOT eat humans.

And I was imagining that there could be an opportunity to help save the remaining thresher sharks (the three species found in the Philippines are now labeled as Vulnerable by the IUCN, an international conservation body). The good thing is that thresher shark encounter has been an established tourist activity in very few areas in the world (one is in Malapascua Island in Cebu). So we have here a major, MAJOR ecotourism product that can attract a good number of scuba divers. Another good thing is that the Philippines is no stranger to wildlife-based ecotourism product development. We've seen it with the whales, dolphins and whale sharks whose numbers and habitats are now zealously protected by the locals because of the viable livelihood they now enjoy (update: except Oslob in Cebu where the practice of whale shark watching is constantly questioned).

For the thresher shark ecotourism to flourish, some major efforts will have to be done. The people and officials of Batangas City (and the province) should pitch in to protect the animal by banning the catching of the animal. Of course, the national government agencies must also do their jobs. Efforts must be done to convince the fishing community to stop the catching of animals and they should be willing to embrace an alternative livelihood in place of unsustainable harvesting. And yes, ban the catching and killing of this awesome animal in danger. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. As I said earlier, it has been done in other areas, it could easily be implemented for the Thresher Shark in other parts of the Philippines.

The Whale Sharks of Donsol

When AA Yaptinchay (he was then connected with World Wildlife Fund or WWF) approached me to help them out in their project on whale shark conservation in 1998, I was a bit hesitant. I could not imagine that a tourism product based on swimming with the world's biggest fish could become a tourism product. And I could not imagine doing it myself!

But it was already in a dire situation. We knew before that whale sharks were being hunted basically for their huge fins to sate the craving of people looking for shark's fin soup in expensive restaurants. In one island in the Visayas, we walked on the beach littered with discarded whale shark parts. Donsol can go the way of that Island and we needed to act fast. Two whale sharks had already been killed since the news of the presence of the animals found its way to the media.

So off we went to Donsol to develop an ecotourism program designed to help save the remaining whale sharks in the area.

It was a very good day for us because we found out that the Donsol folks did not want to kill the whale sharks and have in fact, started protecting the animals from getting fished out. So we went developing a management plan designed to protect the animal and at the same time provide economic livelihood to the people of Donsol.

Now, ten years later, I can definitely say that the Donsol folks are on their way to succeeding going the way of ecotourism. Its not perfect yet, there are times that whale sharks get crowded by boats and some visitors leave the area dissapointed. Much work will still have to get done.

But Im sure of one thing when Im asked how the effort has been. Its a year-to-year measure of success. Every year that the whale sharks come to Donsol waters and the people try their darnest to manage the tourism industry, then it is successful for that year. If we let the fishermen to harvest the newly discovered whale shark waters in 1998, then all the sharks would have been gone nine years ago.

Photos courtesy of Carina Escudero.

Greenbelt, Makati

Although its quite far from my house, and I say to myself that I will try to avoid going to Makati because of the usual traffic, one-way streets (I really promised myself never to drive in that part of Metro Manila), there are actually some very good greens in the central business district. Like this landscape made between Greenbelt 3 and 4. what a refreshing way to be reminded of nature. Its like a tiny oasis in the middle of huge buildings that look like dipterocarp, concrete trees that try to outgrow each other.

Mall of Asia

Whether we admit it or not, the malls in Manila are now officially part of the tourist attractions in the country. Foremost is the Mall of Asia where there are hundreds of shops and the property actually extends to a kilometer in length. The place is actually visited by both foreign and domestic visitors and they are all awed by the immense size of the behemoth! Heck, my mouth was wide open when I first explored it on the first week it opened.


Its really a bit disorienting when you walk its wide halls, specially when there are few people inside. But when the throngs of people fill the mall, then things can get a bit crazy. Ey, if you want to enjoy the mall with the least number of people, go there when its doors just opened. And stay there, say until lunch time. If you want to experience real Filipino mall culture, go there on a Friday - Sunday afternoon, you'll see what I mean. Oh, there's a bonus on Fridays and Saturdays. At exactly 7 in the everning, an amazing fireworks display goes off at the bay side of the mall. Yeah, I just put in the word, "amazing" for the kids and guys like me who would like to think that we are not yet jaded on the old-style fun things.


The best way to get to the MOA is by cab (talk about.... okay, hit me!).

But if you want to save on money or just want to experience local transport, one of the best options is to take the elevated rail (MRT or even LRT line 1). Get off the Taft Avenue station (the last station of MRT), then get on a (very small) jeepney stationed near the steps of the MRT. If you're using the LRT1, you can either get off in Taft Ave. or Buendia (aka Gil Puyat) station. Same thing, there are small jeepneys (actually called multicabs) near the Buendia station going to MOA. Buses along EDSA going to Baclaran also pass by the mall. If you take a bus (air-conditioned, never ordinary - you'll know what I mean when you try the ordinary bus), you must bring a lot of patience as those buses really take their time moving to earn more fare.

Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay

From part of the sea where I used to swim in polluted waters in the 70's (i was a veeery young kid then, okay?), this section of the Metropolis is now a sprawling ground for various facilities. And some are actually great tourist finds - like this Dampa style, food galore, section. This is where you buy raw food stuff (ala-palengke), then have it cooked in one of the restaurants in the area. Tip: you get the best value for your money if you come with a minimum of four persons in your group.

If you don't have plans to get a gourmet adventure in this part of Macapagal Avenue on a Friday night, I suggest you take a different route as the traffic can become a poster shot of how a traffic looks like in the Philippines.

Another great find is the Balikbayan shop where you find local crafts and great souvenir items. The stuff they sell actually look pricey. But here's a tip: ask for a discount and most likely you'll get a good rebate (except for the t-shirts, and maybe some other stuff).

Ticao Island, Masbate

Although this new discovery is within the province of Masbate, its nearest tourist jump-off is Donsol, Sorsogon (where the Butandings are!).

Together with the guys from Donsol and volunteers of Bantay Kalikasan, we made a very good discovery in the almost unknown island of Ticao. We actually saw and bathed in a beautiful waterfall whose cascades flow down several cataracts and eventually to the sea. Yep, Its how beautiful that site is. Apparently, we were the first "tourists" to the site and we selfishly named it "Voltes V Waterfall." The Gen-X readers would have an idea about my age on this one, ha ha! Well, it seemed appropriate, there were five visible falls and basins, the last one being a pool that formed by the sea. It was really a great, great moment. We (there were almost 10 of us including the boatmen who also saw the waterfall for the first time) acted like kids. Some went on impromptu yoga under the water, some jumped to the lowest basin, the others trekked through the highly inclined walls to see the headwater. We also got another bonus when we visited a fishing community that never saw tourists in their midst. As usual, it was an absolute baby-making machine with laughing children dominating the scene. Really nice and happy community living in extreme hardship. We bought banig (sleeping mat made of leaves), a giant squid (not that giant, but a 4-kilo tinter minus the guts and the head/tentacles). Would have wanted to visit the spring source but night settled in. While some in our group drank rhum with the locals, we got another surprise just beside a house and saw one tree filled with fireflies! Some other highlights of that trip - some of my companions snorkled near the waterfall and saw night-time corals that are active in the middle of the day. Did some birdwatching and saw a nesting site of rufous night heron on a rocky pinnacle along the coast. Bought 2 small tunas from local fishermen and had a great lunch on an islet with white sand and interesting rock formations (almost similar to the one in Apo Island in Negros Or.) . This is just to show you that a few minutes beyond what must be your best destination, there could be a better one.

What made us go beyond the established tourist spot? We were trying to help make Donsol into a multi-day destination and for it to be able to offer more highly interesting attractions for the tourists to spend more time in the area and thus make tourism a real economic driver in that municipality. I guess, the people of Donsol are on their way there.

Below are photos of the first waterfall and our lunch on a small island.

Oh, a small caveat. Intense summer lessens the volume of water cascading down the two waterfalls. You may either have to live with this fact or drop it and snorkel instead and go island-hopping.

Another oh! Photos courtesy of Carina Escudero of Bantay Kalikasan.

For people who want to experience the whole thing in Donsol, here is one very good itinerary:

Day 1

AM (probably 7 AM) - Arrive in Legaspi City. Take a tricycle to the Satellite terminal for the van to Donsol.
- Arrive in Donsol (check-in the lodge in the town proper or tricycle to the Visitor Center for nearby resort accommodation)
- Go whale shark interaction

PM
- Firefly Watching

Day 2
- Island Hopping, snorkeling, and visit the waterfalls in Ticao. If you're lucky, you might encounter dolphins along the way.

Day 3
- Depart Donsol
- Optional tour of Albay
- Back to Manila

Welcome to this Travel Blog

This will be my nth attempt to create a travel blog on the Philippines and other countries I visit.