Dives #77 (Coral Garden) and #78 (Heaven's Gate), Southern Leyte (off San Roque), Philippines (Nitrox EANx34)

OK, the game is on! I was invited to a private safari tour, since by instructor had to collect some cylinders and equipment, he asked a few fellows to join him for the tour with minimimal cost. It was a 5 and a half hour boatride from Mactan Island off Cebu, so lots of time to get close and personal with (nobody but) my new Suunto Zoop. Entry level [ dive computer ] it may be, but serves percetly to my current needs and allows a nitrox mix from 21 (obviously) to 40% oxygen, has visual and sound alarms, waterproof to 100 meters (not like your "waterproof 100m" watch), divelog and planner. This all for less than 200 euro by the way, thanks Suunto! This rare moments of pride for being a Finn!



After getting to know the people onboard and having a rough not-very-urban lunch, it was time to get to the business. We started from Coral Garden and continued with Heaven's Gate. Both interesting dives, and you can really tell these corals are very untouch EVEN THOUGH reports on dynamite fishing do exist. (But at Mactan I heard the blasts on myself, so this could not be worse for sure.) And yes, the virgin corals gave enough feeling of satisfaction and made a long and rough boatride worthwile. Actually at the time of the dives, I considered these very good ones (compared to Mactan at least) but now when I know better - read the future posts to come - these two were... well, just ok.

But it's woprth mentioning that these were my very first enriched air / nitrox dives, giving almost double no deco time underwater. Is this very useful given the same tank size can be questionned, but I think diving with enriched air with more oxygen has also other benefits. It's the nitrogen that really makes you tired after the dives, and having less of it (due to higher concentration of oxygen) really keeps you fresher after the day is over.

Coral Garden: entry time 14:00, divetime 35min, max depth 25m, water temp 28 celcius, gas mix EANx34 (34% oxygen / 66% nitrogen)

Heaven's gate: entry time 17:01, divetime 40min, max depth 25m, water temp 28 celcius, mix EANx34