I saw a juvenile sea turtle here while snorkeling but as soon as he saw me he took off like Usain Bolt; I've never seen a turtle swim that fast!
The blue-spotted stingray was frolicking with a friend and moving so fast that I was lucky to get a photo; they were the only two stingrays I've seen so far on the trip
I had the hardest time figuring out what this was!; it's actually the egg ribbon from a Spanish Dancer nudibranch which is a relatively large, nocturnal sea slug
We visited many places where the sea floor was just covered in colorful, pristine coral; of the 4 airports I visited in the Philippines, only Manila had a luggage carousel (the others all distributed luggage manually)
The Philippines is part of a region called the Coral Triangle, which is a marine area that has the highest biodiversity of coral species in the world
This juvenile black-tip reef shark was the only one I saw in Coron; on the boat we had been told that juveniles were sometimes spotted here but never adults
Titan triggerfish; in more than 2 weeks in the Philippines I have yet to see another American (and this is peak season)
My first attempt at Escapade Tour D failed since it was too windy so we went to random islands closer to Coron; I'm so glad I booked the tour again for my final day in Coron since it was easily my best excursion thus far on the trip
Huge porcupine fish; this was easily the largest porcupine fish I've ever seen but he was super shy and would only come out when he thought I'd left
I just love the many bright colors of Christmas tree worms; you can't get too close photographing them since they'll quickly close up and withdraw into their holes
Finding Nemo made almost a billion dollars at the worldwide box office; since the film more than a million clownfish annually are taken from reefs for aquaria (400,000 shipped to the US)
Scarlet sea lily; on the bangkas the front seats on one side are reserved for disabled guests and the other side for senior citizens; I laid down on the floor between the two!
School of porkfish; there are roosters everywhere in Coron as they are raised for cockfighting which is a huge event here; they could be heard at all hours
Crescent wrasse; the beaches are seldom sandy, but composed typically of rocks and/or coral debris; there are very few shells
This was an interesting book set in Depression-era Boston and Tampa during Prohibition; the characters are well-developed and there is plenty of action and plot twists
Yellow boxfish; when juvenile, it is bright yellow in color but as it ages the brightness fades and very old specimens will have blue-grey to black coloration
I was surprised to see so many Europeans here since I expected to see mostly Chinese, Japanese and other tourists from Asia; there haven't even been many Aussie tourists
This clam decided to make its home right in the middle of coral; it is essential to wear watershoes here since there are vicious sea urchins and lots of sharp coral rubble
Colorful clams cuddling; locals take off their shoes and leave them at the door before entering a home which is easy enough since most wear flip-flops
There are a few primitive cabins on Banana Island where you can spend the night but you'd have to be pretty self-sufficient; you'd have the island virtually to yourself except for the few afternoon hours with daytrippers
It is estimated that the Philippines has lost a third of its coral in the last 20 years; the Philippines has the world's third largest coral reef system after Australia and Indonesia
Brain coral; the roads here are primarily used by motorcycles and trikes while there are a few vans but no passenger cars
A ferry runs once a day from El Nido to Coron; the journey takes 4 hours but was fully booked every day when I was there since one of the two ferries was out of service
This tour was definitely the best from Coron!; it goes to three islands 1 1/2-2 hours away by boat but that also means the sights aren't crowded and the sea life is in better condition
Mustard sponge; among the hundreds of trike drivers in Coron I saw not one female
Porous star coral; despite reading several books and eating 2 weeks worth of PowerBars, my luggage is still over my allowance; luckily the airlines here don't charge a fortune for the excess weight
The only lodging on this gorgeous island was just a few primitive cabins; the fine, white sand was ideal and very unusual for a beach in the Philippines
Between the rough boat trips and the horrible roads my back is in even worse shape; most of the roads are not paved and full of huge potholes
School of porkfish; locals all seemed to have cell phones but most of the ones I observed were not smartphones (they must have figured out how to get service where I struggled)
It was surprising that there wasn't any trash in the water when there was trash everywhere on land; empty lots were just informal dumps
The attractive colors of the small giant clam are the result of crystalline pigment cells; these are thought to protect the clam from the effects of intense sunlight or bundle light to enhance algae's photosynthesis
While the group was eating I went snorkeling and saw my one and only shark in the Philippines; there was a nice coral area I found that tourists never visit
A common misperception is that there are bananas growing on Banana Island or that the island is in the shape of a banana; actually the island got its name because it is shaped like the leaf of a banana plant
Batfish; my basic hotel was clean, had great AC and a comfy bed with a price of only $200 for 5 nights (breakfast was included although I stuck with PowerBars)
Crown of Thorns sea star; most locals wear second hand clothes which, for the guys, usually means a t-shirt or sports jersey with shorts and flip-flops
It's hard to imagine but these Christmas tree worms have a central brain, complete digestive system and a well-developed closed circulatory system
This featured blog entry was written by VagabondCowboy from the blog The frugal travels of a vagabond.
Read comments or Subscribe
