Broken Gear Can’t Stop Us: Our Final Dive Before Dauin 2025

Last Saturday, June 21, 2025, was another full day of diving for our team. Val, Cristy, and Ikuo started early by joining ACIAR’s coral restoration dive in the morning at Shangri-La Mactan. They helped lay down stone tiles seeded with coral larvae in the open sea—the final stage of ACIAR’s annual coral spawning program. Though it was a half-day activity, they didn’t want the fun to end.

So, they asked in the group chat who wanted to do a practice dive in the afternoon. We’re heading to Dauin soon for the annual underwater photo competition, and this would be our last warm-up dive. Regie, Vanessa, Doms, James, Keem, and Chu all responded: “Larga”

The Afternoon Set-up

We met up at Kontiki at 3 PM. When I (Keem) arrived, Val, Cristy, and Ikuo were already there, sharing how exhausting the morning dive was. In Shangri-La, you need to walk more than 200 meters from the dive shop to the beach carrying sidemount tanks—almost 17 kilos each!

Then Doms came, followed by James, and lastly, Regie and Vanessa. Excited, we all placed our cameras on the table and took a photo together before gearing up.

Unfortunately, our trusty YS-01 strobe finally gave up on us. It barely fired—sometimes just 1 out of 8 shots. I joked that maybe I could join the beginner category and bring only my camera without any strobes (of course, not allowed since I already won in previous contests).

First Dive: 4:19 PM

We hit the water at 4:19 PM, with a max depth of 19.1m and average of 11.2m. Our plan was to head left toward the pontoon, where Romy, a Kontiki instructor, said he saw a ribbon eel and tiger shrimp.

The dive felt peaceful. I saw a coral head with an angelfish, clicked my shutter—no flash. Tried again, still no flash. Third click—finally some light. Instead of being frustrated, I embraced the situation and focused on enjoying the dive, improving my buoyancy, and hunting for subjects with patience.

I reached the “tombstone” where hundreds of cardinalfish were swarming, hoping to catch a brooding male, but none in sight. Instead, I found two Chromodoris nudis mating. Ikuo let me borrow her TG6 with an MF2 snoot. With just one shot, I isolated the subject on a pitch-black background. It was refreshing to see how much easier it is with a good light—but somehow, I missed the challenge.

After 1 hour and 25 minutes, we surfaced. Val was all smiles with his MF2. Regie, though, was struggling. His strobe and shutter weren’t syncing, giving him dark shots. Then came a small issue—we were short two tanks! Turns out I didn’t list my name on the tank order, so Ikuo only ordered for those who signed up. We quickly called Alvin, who agreed to deliver the missing tanks and collect our empties. Just in time for the night dive.

Dinner was lechon manok brought by Val, Cristy, and Vanessa, and tasty bread from Doms. Perfect surface interval meal.

Night Dive: 7:39 PM

We started our night dive at 7:39 PM, max depth 12.8m, average 6.5m. High tide hit at 7:52 PM at 0.8m. The moon was at 26% waning crescent.

Upon descent, I saw a sea urchin near the stairs and checked for shrimp—found two! But no good shots; strobe failed again. Cristy then spotted a Cyerce elegans and after taking her shots, passed it to me. I tried to shoot it, but it kept hiding from my red and blue focus lights. Later, I found a red shrimp riding a beautifully textured starfish and took a few shots before passing it on to Cristy.

I saw a tiny octopus, barely 1cm, near a pipefish—perfect behavior shot if only they stayed still. I only managed to get the octopus in focus. Then came two sightings of ornate ghost pipefish—one on fire coral. I called James to shoot it since it was his first dive in a long time.

After 1 hour and 32 minutes, we ended the dive. It was cold, and the wind was blowing. We packed up and helped each other load gear into cars. Thanks James for helping carry our gear box. We went home excited to check if we got any decent shots.

Even with broken strobes and missed moments, it was a great day of diving with an even better tribe.