Siquijor scuba diving – Kiwi Dive Resort

Kiwi Dive Siquijor

Take the ferry from Dumageute to Siquijor and you are in for some peace and quiet. Siquijor is a laid back place, nice and clean, with lots of flowers in the yards and friendly people.It would really be good to have some wheels as in a rented bike or motorcar, or even a driver with a car. The traffic is fairly light and most visitors would not have any difficulty navigating around on this island. Vendors sell gasoline in liter coke bottles from stands along the road.

One place to stay would be Kiwi Lodge on Sandugan Bay. They have a dorm room with 3 sets of bunk beds and a few cottages are available.

The best ones are down on the lower level but there are a few on the top of the bluff overlooking the sea. Problem is it is 40 steps up and down to the restaurant or beach so try not to forget suntan lotion or sunglasses etc.or you will have to pay penance walking up and down the stairs.

It is a tad bit boring for a single person to stay there but the staff is nice enough. I think they close around 8pm.

It is a great place for families with small kids that just want to hang out for a while. The staff goes crazy for the kids and are willing to help watch them.

Daisy is the brains of the operation and is really a neat person. Neal is the dive guide and has all kinds of anecdotes to keep you in stitches. Felix is a diligent boatman that plugs along with whatever equipment he has available.

Once a rather hefty client was doing a backroll. Sitting on the edge of the tiny boat was just too much for a small wave to resist and the whole thing went under water.

Neal had to swim down cut the anchor line so the skiff would float to the surface whereupon Felix solemnly bailed it out and paddled it to shore. He has endless patience.

They were using a 2400mm Smart Wave for their dive boat which is a bright yellow plastic tub with a 1600mm beam. Their regular aluminum dive boat was down for repairs.The tub worked and was kind of an experience. Probably by now the dive boat is fixed. 3-4 guys with gear is a full load but the sea conditions here are very mild. A few times though the boatman would motor out past the surf with the gear for the divers who would swim through the waves to the boat. Felix would throw the gear into the water and the divers would gear up. It was kind of a unique way to do things.

The sanctuary has some big schools of barracuda and a few turtles. It is amazing how the fish know exactly where the line is and don’t stray outside of the sanctuary. An impressive thing about this place is the large amount of brown daisy coral. It is a really heavy duty stuff and is exceptionally heavy. There was a coral that had been tipped over and I was not able to stand it upright by myself due to the weight. A group of three of us were going to right it the next day but with the bad visibility we missed it.

Most of the other dive sites are lessons in fish trap construction. You could do a study on the different sizes and shapes out there. Another interesting thing is that the lines to the traps are made from recycled truck tires cut into long strips of rubber as if cut on a lathe. That line is some durable stuff but does tear up the coral quite a bit.

We did a dive on a Japanese wreck in the Larena harbor that was pretty cool. Felix took me by boat and the others went by car. Apparently Neal had removed the ships bell after many dives and it is now in his brother in laws den in the US.

Another curiosity about this place is all the small blue soldier crabs marching along the beach like miniature armies. The minute they are frightened they dissapear under the sand. If you remain motionless they will start popping up after a minute or so.

You can rent a motorbike in town for 500 peso for 3 days or from one of the tourist places about 500 peso a day. It is a nice drive around the island and keeps you from getting the cooped up feeling you can sometimes get at a resort.

Ati Ati Han in Larena is a good place to eat. There are not a lot of internet cafes on the island yet but Kiwis lets their guests use theirs if requested.

Kiwi Dive Resort Info www.kiwidiveresort.com

Kiwi Dive – Siquijor