Philippines, Coco Beach
Getting There.
From Denmark to the Philippines is a loooong way. I thought I had been travelling a lot, but I had never been to the East before. This was really a long trip. I hate short connections and as I arrived in Manila I was proved right. My luggage had not made it - neither my suitcase nor my divegear. Needless to say it put a dark shadow over the group, which was already tired from the long trip. Ahead of us we had 3-4 hours by bus and after that almost 2 hours by boat. The boat was not like the ones we are used to in the west. It was small and today I am pleased that we did not have all the luggage there too. There was no such thing as a bathroom, and the shelter was only a tarpaulin. But the beers we were offered tasted good.Upon arrival the boat just stopped right on the beach and we had to wade ashore with help from the locals and the staff on the resort. It was so different from what I expected.
The Resort
We arrived straight into the restaurant where we were seated and had a refreshing coconut drink. We were all tired and it was becoming late. However the weather was so nice that some of us went swimming in the ocean. Only later we discovered that swimming in the ocean after dark was not recommended.We the went to our bungalows, which was situated up a hill with a beautiful view over the ocean. There were lots of bugs so the beds all that white curtains around them, but we did not mind. This was living close to the nature in a civilized way. On the porch there were hammock where one could enjoy a "happy hours" drink or just take a nap.
The resort had everything close at hand, a small supermarket where I bought some clothe to wear untill my luggage arrived. It had a medical clinic, a massage and health center, a hairdresser, restaurants and bars. The prices were more than fair - I wonder if that is still the case today?
Diving
We dove out of Philippine Divers, which is situated right beside (or at) the Coco Beach Resort. It was less than 100 meters from the resort pool to the dive center. The dive boats were the small "banca"s, and I don't recall the dive sites to be far away.We usually suited up at the dive shop exept for tanks. We then walked down to the beach - less than 20 meters and sailed out to our destination. It was easy diving. We were then dropped in the water right over the dive site and picked up after the diving whereever we surfaced. Only once I recall having to wait for the Banca to find us.
We dove the Coral Garden (why does every divecenter have a divesited called that ?) and the Pink Wall. We dove the Hill, The Sabang Junk and the Hole in the Wall. I saw two sharks on the depth of 26 meters, barracudas, Batfish, Surgeonfish, Lionfish, etc. etc.
View from the diveboat
Sunset
The food was prepared on the beach
Enjoy the Happy Hour drink in the hammock on the balcony
It is easy to get new friends from all over the world
The sunset is magnificent