with Coleman shrimp, blue-ring
octopus, fluorescent urchins plus
lots of gobies and their bulldozer
shrimps. It is a great macro spot that
also has some very photogenic
bobtail shrimp and hiding spotted
crabs on the sand anemones.
- Mainit
Icons:
Location: Off Cazador Point
Depth: 16-115 ft. (5-35 m)
This rocky point is one of the
better dives for variety and fish life.
Mainit means “hot” in Tagalog and
nearby onshore there are hot
springs. You can bring eggs and boil
them here too!
There are no springs underwater but there is a good variety of terrain
Muck DivingThe term “muck diving”is
attributed to Papua New Guinea
dive pioneer Bob Halstead. He
found that there were unusual,
exotic and juvenile critters near his
wife’s home at Dinah’s Beach at
Milne Bay. These odd and unusual
creatures make their homes in the
volcanic black sand, sediment and
even trash that the popular sites
seem to have in common. Lucky
divers may find colorful
nudibranchs, frogfish, blue-ringed
octopus, scorpionfish, seahorses
and a host of other strange and
hard-to-find marine creatures in
these habitats. While not as pretty
as corals reefs, the muck dives are
fascinating and require a sharp eye
and a knowledge of how a fish or
invertebrate uses camouflage.
Perhaps those that enjoy muck
diving the most are the macro
photographers. The normally calm
and shallow water provides
amazing opportunities to
photograph the creatures and the
dives are normally longer,
providing plenty of bottom time.
Anilao is considered one of the
better muck diving regions in the
Philippines.Hypselodoris nudibranch