DIVE DAY ONE: SEND IN THE CLOWN(FISH)

Dauin North

Once we laid eyes on the beautiful, stylish and traditional white, outrigger bangka, fitted with speedboat motors, we were thinking the sweet ride would be the vessel to ferry us to our this destination, just a six-minute jaunt north of the resort.

Instead, we got a more conventional looking speedboat. OK, so it wasn't as sweet as stylin' in a tricked-out bangka, but no one minded as we submerged into a reef of mixed corals -- mostly branching, elkhorn ones, so named for their resemblance to antelope antlers, and boulders.

All the dive sites ringing the resort are in protected marine sanctuary areas, marked by buoys. Boats aren't allowed inside the boundaries of the buoys, so divers must backroll off their boats then make short swims inside the zones. The reef to the north of the Atlantis Resort is so large, it's divided into two dive sites, Dauin North and Dauin South.

Once again, we discovered clownfish everywhere, making their homes in soft, wiry anemone, swaying in the light current, looking like a pot of overcooked, pink or purple-tipped fat pasta noodles. There were also some nice, unexpected surprises in the mostly flat terrain, such as a squadron of squid that appeared out of nowhere at about the instant we descended. There were a total of about seven, puttering like helicopters with blades whirring, in a formation. It was a flashback for me to last July, when I saw something eerily similar at a site in Dominica.

Marco Inocencio, our Dumaguete born and raised dive guide, pointed out another sight I hadn't seen in many years since a trip to Palau -- giant clams.

Inocencio told us that occasionally, even more unusual inhabitants like leaf scorpionfish and robust ghost pipefish also patrol this site.

Dive Buddies: Rick, Kathy Stratton

Dive Guide: Marco Inocencio

Max depth: 57 feet

Total bottom time: 61 minutes

Water temperature: 81 degrees Farenheit

Exposure Protection: 3mm wetsuit

Air source: Enriched Air Nitrox, 32% oxygen

Photos copyright Gil Griffin 2009. Photos, clockwise from top left: Clownfish pairs in anemone; giant clam; reef squid;