Donna and Cheryl, our line assent after the wreck dive to the Alma Jane.
©Jean Janssen

We started our day with a dive out to the Alma Jane, a boat sunk in the Sabang Beach harbor.  On the way out to the dive site, the hook at my neck on my halter swimsuit decided to come undone.  Fortunately I caught the top before the entire harbor got a show.  (This was a foreshadowing of later things to come.)

The wreck dive offered a line descent.  The Alma Jane sits in about 110 feet of water.  We are all diving nitrox so we need to watch our depth and bottom time carefully.  There was a wonderful school of batfish and several scorpionfish at the wreck.  The Princesses all love wreck diving.

Swimming with a school of Bat Fish at the Alma Jane
©Jean Janssen

For our second dive of the day, we returned to Coral Cove where we had done our first dive on day one.  I got some wonderful pictures.  We once again spotted the electric clam, the yellow warty frogfish, blue spotted stingray; we   also found a zebra crab and the pygmy seahorse which had alluded us the last time we visited this dive site.

Dive Mom took this picture of me with the black frogfish

We also saw two giant black frogfish together, the biggest frogfish I have seen.

Our third dive of the day, after lunch was to the Sabang Wrecks.  These are a series of three small wrecks where the boats are in pieces.  None are as deep as the Alma Jane.  More frogfish were found, both a warted white and a large green one.  We also saw a mantis shrimp, commensal (small clear shrimp), and a flying gynard.   We crossed a sandy area full of starfish.  I like to think of it as a starfish garden.  This is where we ran across Jess who had wandered away from his group.  He joined us at the end of the dive.  He has probably made 5,000 dives and just does his own thing.

my collection of handmade woven baskets purchased in Puerto Galera and made by the nomadic mountain people of the area, the Mangyan
©Jean Janssen

After that dive, the wind had really picked up and the water was getting rough, so rather than the fourth dive, we worked on our log books with Cris and did a little shopping.  I had wanted to visit a mountain village, but hadn’t thought that one through.  You need to wait 18-24 hours after diving before you go anywhere at altitude.  Usually this means flying, but a trip to a mountain village was also not an option.  The Mangyan people make the most beautiful hand woven baskets.  I have purchased them from Dive Mom when she has brought them back from previous trips.  They are so special and beautiful that I wanted to pick up a few as gifts.  There are also beautiful natural and cultured pearls in a large variety of colors sold by the local people.  You definitely have to bargain; you should end up paying less than the asking price.

a flying gynard in the sea grass in the Sabang Harbor
©Jean Janssen

I had a wonderful risotto for dinner and then it was spa time.  Tonight I am actually getting two treatments (had to reach $100 for my 15% off).  I am getting a body scrub and a conditioning hair treatment.  Because a shower is needed, they do this treatment in one of the regular rooms near the spa.  You have to undress completely and then two therapists scrub you down.  You start by laying face down.  I knew this was going to be thorough when the salt scrub was put between my bottom cheeks.  Then I had to turn over.  Some privacy was afforded to areas on this side, but the top was fair game.  By time I had to rinse off, I thought it couldn’t get any more embarrassing.  I was wrong.

Starfish Garden in the Sabang Harbor.
©Jean Janssen

The lever to redirect the water from the downward spout to the overhead shower wouldn’t move.  I had to call one of the therapist to help.  She couldn’t get it either.  Then the second therapist tried to help.  No luck.  She went and got someone from the office to come help.  (She told me later that normally they would have called maintenance, but given my state of undress, that wasn’t an option.)  At one point, I was buck naked in the shower with three Filipino women.  Natasha lost all modesty and had a great story to tell at breakfast the next day.

P.S.  The girl from the office did get the shower fixed and after the scrub and hair conditioning, my skin felt so soft and my hair smelled fabulous.  Embarrassing, but worth it.