On the weekend of May 13 to 16, 2005 seven members of the HKUC took advantage of the Buddha's birthday holiday and escaped to Anilao in the Philippines. The trip was well organised by Jo, the club's secretary. Everything went as planned, which meant we arrived at the resort early Saturday morning (or late Friday night, depending on whether or not you had any sleep on the way there), had two days of diving and returned to HK on Monday evening.
Getting there involves a flight to Manila followed by a three-hour drive south. Anyone who can sleep the whole way will find the whole journey smooth and efficient. (If you can sleep on that journey you must be able to sleep anywhere! Ed.)
The Balai Resort is situated right on an embankment that slopes down to the water. The position of the restaurant allows you to have full sea views and a chance to catch some great sunsets. Although the resort was described as "basic" it seemed to have everything that you would want from a dive accommodation. Each room had air-con, ceiling fan, private bathroom with a hot-water shower and of course the occasional creature crawling around. The boat access was right in front of the resort, next to the rinse tanks and outdoor showers. Since we were in a group of seven, we had our own dive boat and DM the whole time. We set the schedule for when we wanted to dive.
The dive sites were all located within a short boat trip from the resort. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised with the almost pristine conditions and the wide variety of life that there was to see. Each dive seemed to be abundant with clouds of anthias, acres of soft corals, tribes of nudibranchs (you get the picture). There were also the occasional baby sharks, rays, frogfish and ribbon eels - a veritable treat for all divers.
On Monday we had the morning to relax, pack and eat. A couple of ambitious souls (Jo and James) went snorkelling in front of the resort but for the most part it was a chance to reflect on the great diving, food and hospitality that we had experienced.
Irene (with photos by Jo, James, Carmen and Tristan)
