Located in Mabini, Batangas, Philippines, we stayed at the well-known photo hub, Club Ocellaris, overlooking spectacular Balayan Bay. This was our first trip to Anilao, and Kevin’s fourth.

Club-O is named for the false anemonefish, Amphiprion ocellaris

Joy is the gracious manager and sous-chef at Club-O. What a doll. Everything runs smoothly because of Joy and her staff, and the food is out of this world.

Boatman Jeremy waits for the dive party while Phil lounges.

Paris resident and phenomenal diver, Zung made 4 dives every day for 2 weeks. Plus, Zung’s dives were always longer than ours by 15 - 20 min. We still can’t figure out how she did it.

Brothers Bohdi and Jeremy, expert boatmen. In a word, they’re terrific young men.

Kevin has peculiar, er…particular gear requirements.

The boatmen’s vast experience and attention to detail was key to the ease of diving there. Dive gear and cameras were always managed like we would have done it ourselves. We were never rushed, and dive times were only limited by how much air we had.

Boatmen Obet and Jeremy with Dr. Elias Amador and Kevin. Rumor has it that Dr. Eli is fond of termites...or is that Zung?

These men were checking our paid permit to dive in a Marine Park Sanctuary.

Bohdi kindly serving hot tea between dives. A most welcome and appreciated treat.

Mangosteen snack - Kevin’s fave.

The diversity of marine life in this area is truly staggering. Each of the 18 sites we dove offered something different. It would take weeks of photography and many trips to Anilao to capture the essence of each habitat and the array of animals. (But we would volunteer to do it.)

This is the most unusual jelly I saw, but can’t find the ID.

Wire coral crab, Xenocarcinus tuberculatus

Bobtail squid, Euprymna berryi

Bispira

Spirobranchus giganteus

Sabellastarte

Gorlock mantis shrimp, Lysiosquillina lisa

Squat anemone shrimp, Thor amboinensis

Sea pen, Veretillum

These are the juvenile and adult forms of sea cucumber, Bohadschia graeffei. The juvenile form mimics a Phyllidia nudibranch, affording it protection during until it reaches a larger size.

Feather mouth sea cucumber, Synapta maculata

Here are a few of the many urchin species:

Asthenosoma varium

Asthenosoma ijimai

Diadema setosum

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