Dauin 2025 Underwater Photo Competition Results & What We Learned

After our last dive in Loka on the final day of diving, we had an early lunch in a nearby carinderia and went back to Gracey Resort to finalize everything. Most of my and Ikuo's entries were already edited and finalized early morning before the dive and saved in a USB for submission—even before that last Loka dive. By 3 PM, Nino, Joan, Val, Cristy, Grethel, and Chu were already done with the final tweaks. Then we headed to Silver Reef Resort for the submission.

It was slightly drizzling when we arrived at Silver Reef, and we saw other participants also submitting their entries. The process was smooth—they just inserted our USBs into their laptops and copied both edited and raw files. Right after, we bumped into the MTD group in the corridor from Malapascua and shared quick stories.

Later that night, we went to Dumaguete Boulevard to eat BBQ—Grethel’s treat, joined by Bogart, Doms, and Sael. We asked a passerby to take a photo of us with our food, but after clicking the shot, he suddenly asked for money, claiming he had a flat tire.

We made a stop at Robinsons after to buy some liquor. Niño turned into the bartender that night, with James and Chu helping squeeze the lemonsito. While they mixed drinks, I compiled all our submitted and raw photos using Cristy’s laptop. Then came the film showing—edited and unedited entries of everyone. We were blown away by Chu’s goby shot. Perfectly lit, it looked like the silver surfer! Though he submitted it under Fish Portrait, we thought it belonged in Creative Lighting. Still, it was jaw-droppingly good. Chu even did a funny gear-demo session on how he pulled off the lighting setup, complete with salesman vibes. We laughed a lot while drinking mojitos and red wine and ended the night past 11 PM, planning to visit Valencia the next day.

June 29 – Valencia Trip, Mass, and the Awarding Ceremony

At 7 AM, we arrived at the Valencia Sunday Market, 14 kilometers away from the resort. We had burgers, pita bread, and coffee—so many delicious options from both local and international stalls. We bought dragon fruit and lanzones too. Funny enough, we saw the MTD group again, this time riding mountain bikes.

Back at the resort, we saved our hotel’s free breakfast in the room since we were still full. Ikuo and I went to the 11 AM mass at St. Nicolas Tolentino Church, and afterward, we finally ate the packed breakfast.

While waiting for the 5 PM awarding ceremony, James, Chu, Val, and I reflected on the whole experience. The ceremony venue was just a few meters away—a covered basketball court. We registered and found a table for the group. It was really hot inside since it was an open-air space. The event started late—around 6:30 PM instead of 5—and we sat through almost two hours of speeches from local politicians and government officials. Surprisingly, the food wasn’t served yet, even though some of the officials were already eating.

Eventually, we lined up for the buffet despite being told to wait. The other line was already moving, so the staff gave in. We feasted on lechon, beef steak, chop suey, fried chicken, and rice. Then the awarding began.

Despite all the excitement, only Ikuo, Cristy, and me received awards. Ikuo and I were really happy, but the others felt a bit down, especially since Val’s video entry—everyone thought it was amazing—didn’t win either. We expected all submitted entries to be flashed on screen, but it didn’t happen. The organizers seemed unprepared, only arranging the slideshow during the event itself.

Even the award handover felt rushed. Ikuo was called and told to hurry since there were many more to award. The whole awarding took less than 30 minutes—shorter than the lengthy speeches that had little connection with underwater photographers. The venue lights were also harsh and glaring.

Still, we took trophy pictures with the judges and more pictures back at the resort.

June 30 – Going Home

The next morning, while waiting for breakfast, Cristy joked that Val was snoring too loud. Val replied, "Gipagawas nako tanan sa hagok ako frustration nga wa ko kadaog," and we all burst out laughing.

We left the hotel before 8 AM and reached Sibulan Port by 8:30 for the 9 AM trip. Unfortunately, the ship was delayed and left at 9:30 AM. Nino had work at 10 AM and a meeting at 11, but his laptop was glitchy and the battery drained quickly. Add to that the unstable internet signal while moving, he and Joan decided to stay behind in Moalboal to continue working, after our stopover lunch at McDonald's in Moalboal.

There was heavy rain when we got to Minglanilla and going the City. We dropped James off at Il Corso and passed through CCLEX and arrived home by almost 5 PM.

And just like that, our Dauin journey ended—full of dives, laughter, leaks, awards, and unforgettable moments with the tribe.

P.S. Chu was still upset about the competition results and felt they were biased. Even days after the awarding, he kept bringing up in our group chat how most of us didn’t win despite having great shots.