Photo Tour of the Philippines

At Atlantis Dumaguete, I saw a whole host of things I’d never had the opportunity to photograph before. The mandarin fish mating dance, a pregnant mantis shrimp, a blue ribbon eel and sea snakes are the most memorable to me. Lots of pipefish, sea horses and nudibranchs live in the seagrass, which made the hang time quite enjoyable. We would spend the last 10 to 15 minutes on the grass beds searching for these small hidden treasures. We also dove Apo Island two of the days we were there.

Beyond the diving, the resort facilities, spa and staff made this a great start to our excursion. Dive and eat,dive and eat, dive and eat - then get a massage! The food was terrific, both on the boat and at the resort. I think I ate more in two weeks than I do in a month at home.

The Atlantis Azores is a 110 foot cruiser that took us from Puerto Princesa on Palawan to the middle of the Sulu Sea. Tubbataha Reef, a small atoll, is a 10 hour crossing from the port.