A chilling, foggy morning greeted me when I woke up. It was already sunrise but the sun was obscured by the clouds. We soon had breakfast prepared, packed our gear and waited for our “porter” and guide to arrive. In the meantime we posed, as mountain conquerors would do, behind our cameras. Our guides soon arrived and similarly unburdened, we easily proceeded down the mountain and back to our starting point. After refreshing drinks at the store, it was back to our car for the now downhill, but nevertheless still treacherous, drive down the zigzag road. The guys hiked down to their car further down the road.
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| Arthur’s Place |
We decided to all meet at Arthur’s Place to savor what Anilao has to offer underwater. The beach here was a relatively shallow. Offshore is a dive site aptly named Arthur’s Place, gradually sloping from five to 21 meters with plenty of reef fish, small coral heads, soft corals, feather stars, hydroids, anemones and sponges. The resort, opened in 1984 (with two rooms) by the late Arthur Abrigonda was, together with Aqua Tropical Sports (opened in 1967) and Aquaventure Reef Club, the first to open resorts in the area. It now has 12 rooms with bath (two of them airconditioned), a restaurant, dive shop, picnic tables, shower rooms and offers two boats for diving trips.
None of us went diving (although Cecil was a trained diver) but we indulged in the next best thing by going snorkeling. Even near the shore, the fish and coral life along the reef was quite good. I’ve tried diving once (in Club Paradise in Palawan) a long time ago. Anilao is sure worth the second try with its coral slopes or steps of small drop-offs, shallow coral gardens among sandy patches, profuse small fish life and numerous crinoids and nudibranches. Some marine sanctuaries have been set up. Diving is good all year round but the best season is from November to May.