hawksbills resting on the bottom
including a large, old male.
Toward the end of the dive the
twins appear in the shallows. They
are just two similar looking rocks
split by a small canyon in the
middle but they are smothered in
marine life. Pink anthias are
everywhere. Yellow and orange
crinoids nestle on balls of the pink
tubastreas. If there is some current,
the tubastreas open their yellow
polyps giving the twins even more
color. Anemones and all kinds of
hard corals cover the rest of the
rocks. The twin rocks are a great
place to make colorful images.
- Elmer’s
Icons:
Location: NE of Babalangit Point
Depth: 30-100 ft. (9-30 m)
This is a great macro site almost
adjacent to the Twin Rocks Marine
Sanctuary and it is good for nice sea
anemones, corals and a variety of
nudibranchs including quite a few
from the Nembrotha sp.family. Its
very good for macro photography.
What’s nice is that this area isn’t
dived much as its known as a site
that “only photographers enjoy”.
The reason they like it is that such
colorful oddities as flamboyant
cuttlefish, pygmy seahorses, Spanish
dancers and nudis like the beautiful
purple Chromodoris (Hypselodoris
bullocki) can be found.
There are also some nice plume
worms, the occasional blue ribbon
eel and lots of anemones
throughout the dive including
bubble tip anemones with
spinecheek clownfish.15) Cathedral Rock
Icons:
Location: NE of Babalangit Point
Depth: 53-100 ft. (16-30 m)A marine sanctuary, this site is a
popular weekend haunt for Manila
divers. Nudibranch lovers flock here
for macro photography.
There are a few other sites around
the country named the same thing,
but this Cathedral Rock site is,
without a doubt, the most famous.
It’s actually a flourishing artificial
reef developed in 1967 by scuba
enthusiast Dr. Tim Sevilla. This
pioneer transplanted the now-
prodigious live corals onto the
previously barren twin rocks. At the
time this was an act thought to be
impossible. These rocks are now
teeming with fish awaiting a
handout from divers, who for years
have been feeding them. This has
spurred a few other endeavors.
There is a nice artificial reef in the
making at the end of Basura 1, for
instance.