The Ark Royal Maldives Dive Yacht & (Spa)

The Ark Royal Dive Yacht & Spa

Read this post on the NEW ToT: 

http://www.triportreats.com/2011/11/14/the-ark-royal-maldives-dive-yacht-spa/

Tubbataha Reef: Wonder of the World, Indeed

Sometimes... words get in the way.

 I remembered seeing this "Immigration" table, and feeling the urge to whip out my camera at the Palawan Airport

 Where we flew in to get on this dive yacht to go to one of the most beautiful dive sites in the world, as well as a UNESCO Heritage Site and finalist of the 7 Wonders of the World.

Palau Dive Diary Part Uno

I've semi-recovered from the shock and awe that is ZE Palau Dive Trip. Just enough for me to relive the madness to ToT and the readers who have a pretty good sense that, when it comes to scubadiving alongside travel, I go completely bonkers and stare all googly-eyed into the blue!

I started reading the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Poland during my Tubbataha Reef trip last year, and I'm still reading it during Palau. One of the best things I've read so far, and really want to soak in the words. What struck me was something he wrote (though not related to scuba as it is about the natural history of four meals") which is a close comparison to the high that scuba diving brings me  

 

He talks about his first time hunting for wild pig in the forest and reiterating the words of Ortega y Gasset, an author who was enamored with hunting and believes it offers a last best chance to escape history and return to a state of nature, albeit momentarily, for what he called a 'vacation from the human condition'. And then he writes the line which, for me, will best sum up the feeling that diving brings: The crystal stillness of the scene and the moment in time now exploded into a thousand shards of sense.

Exacto.

Anyway, enough contemplation. Let's begin reliving the moments of Palau!

Scuba ala Sogod Bay

Inexcusable, I know. After an almost two week hiatus from ToT I come back (hopefully) banging out post after post, since I'm recovering from a flu with some more clarity in my head literally from the flushing of congestion as well as the recapturing of some alone time. I haven't been boring, I've just been lazy. I promise I'll work on the procrastination bone.

So a few weeks back I went on an impromptu vaca for one of the numerous September long weekends and did what I love to do: scuba!!! Everyone who's known me this past year can attest that I am gaga over scuba diving and all the technical gadgetry involving it. Save for the everpresent freckles and occasional jellyfish stings, scuba has literally changed my life, just like yoga. It gives me two things: one, the chance to explore yet another part of the world, this time not involving a plane, train or sneakers; the other, the opportunity to get to meet the delicious plethora of seafood that I absolutely adore seeing on my dining table. Hey, my stomach thinks first, I'm just being honest :) So my long weekend destination of choice: Sogod Bay. Sogod wha?!? Yes, its not really on the diving map just yet, as more accessible places like Anilao and Puerto Galera and more famous finds like Tubbataha and Apo Reef, are more on the list of dive locations. But the dive crew is always on the lookout for the next best thing, so we were lucky when A got in touch with his dive guide from Palau who recently moved back to his motherland to start anew in the hidden gem that is Sogod Bay.