Dive Sarangani » Lemlunay

Dive Log 8 & 9 : Lemlunay Resort, Tinoto, Sarangani

Leonard Pe — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:22:00 +0000

I went diving yesterday with Rhonson Ng to get photos of Sarangani Province, for a feature story for PAL Mabuhay Magazine. We went to Lemlunay Dive Resort in Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province. Home of South Point Divers. We did two dives hoping to take a snapshot of the resident Napoleon Wrasse, unfortunately it seems to be hiding somewhere. The first dive was just fine, we found lots of fishes, seems to be a lot more compared to my last dive there.

Leonard Pe, the author (photo by Rhonson Ng)

We haven’t found what we were looking for on the first dive, so we decided to do a second dive. This time we went to a nearby sandbar, oh man, the current there was shall we say nasty.. strong enough to push you around if you’re not holding unto something. It was tiring but fun at the same time.. my first drift diving!

While drifting by, we found a green turtle resting. Took a few shots before going on. A few moments still, another surprise awaits us.. a school of Jacks, lots and lots of them passing barely in front of us. It was a WOW! Probably a thousand individuals swimming around.

Our search for the napoleon wrasse was cut short since the current was so strong, our tanks only lasted for half the usual time but nevertheless these two dives were one of the best dive experiences I had yet.

My thanks to Joel Sarenas, our dive master, for showing us around and Rhonson for my underwater portrait.

School of Jacks

Rhonson Ng in action

Gallery:

Dive No.8	August 30, 2009
Location	Lemlunay Dive Resort, Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province
Objective	Dive with Rhonson for PAL Mabuhay Magazine
Dive Buddy	Rhonson Ng, Joel Sarenas
Equipment	Complete Set, 3 kg weights
Lifeforms Found	grouper, bumphead, sweetlips, spadefish
DEPTH		TEMPERATURE (celsius)
Average	18 m / 60 ft	Water	22
Maximum	25 m / 84 ft	Surface	28
PRESSURE (psi)		VISIBILITY (feet)
Start	3000	< on bottom	40
Finish	500	^ on bottom	40
DIVE TIME		TOTAL TIME (hours)
IN	8:52am	Hours to Date	4.8
Out	9:40am	This Dive	0.8
At Bottom	48 mins	Total Hours	5.6

Dive No.9	August 30, 2009
Location	Lemlunay Dive Resort, Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province
Objective	Dive with Rhonson for PAL Mabuhay Magazine
Dive Buddy	Rhonson Ng, Joel Sarenas
Equipment	Complete Set, 3 kg weights
Lifeforms Found	green turtle, Jacks
DEPTH		TEMPERATURE (celsius)
Average	15 m / 50 ft	Water	22
Maximum	21 m / 70 ft	Surface	28
PRESSURE (psi)		VISIBILITY (feet)
Start	2800	< on bottom	40
Finish	250	^ on bottom	40
DIVE TIME		TOTAL TIME (hours)
IN	11:30am	Hours to Date	5.6
Out	12:06am	This Dive	0.6
At Bottom	36mins	Total Hours	6.2

Dive Log 4 : Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province

Leonard Pe — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:10:07 +0000

For my third open water training dive, we went to John’s place in Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province, just a few meters away from Lemlunay Dive Resort. The entry point is a rocky beach, it’s best to enter this area during high tide since just a few feet from the shore, corals are already visible and prone to being stepped on.

The visibility was still not that good. I managed for the first time to reach 60 feet, the water was cold. We were hoping to see a resident sea turtle around this area, also a barracuda but unfortunately they must be hiding somewhere. We stayed at that depth for about half an hour before starting to rise to about 20 feet. Near the surface we found three large sweetlips, sadly the batteries of my camera died down on me, it must be the cold environment that sucked the juice out of it.

Our dive was okay but we only did one because I felt sick and light headed. Again, it must be the cold water plus some nitrogen saturation and less oxygen intake.. I don’t know, Chris said it’s just normal for a beginner to experience that. A bummer experience if you ask me. I should use a thicker wetsuit next time or a size that really fits.

Gallery:

Dive No. 4	July 19, 2009
Location	(John’s) Tinoto Wall, Maasim, Sarangani Province
Objective	Open Water Course Dive 3
Dive Buddy	Chris Dearne, Dennis and Frannie Zuzon
Equipment	Complete Set, 3 kg weights
Lifeforms Found	sweetlips, seafan, clams
DEPTH		TEMPERATURE (celsius)
Average	15 m / 50 ft	Water	22
Maximum	20 m / 60 ft	Surface	28
PRESSURE (psi)		VISIBILITY (feet)
Start	3000	< on bottom	25
Finish	500	^ on bottom	25
DIVE TIME		TOTAL TIME (hours)
IN	9:00am	Hours to Date	2
Out	9:50am	This Dive	0.8
At Bottom	50 mins	Total Hours	2.8

Dive Log 1 : Intro Dive at Lemlunay Dive Resort

Leonard Pe — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:00:37 +0000

My first dive into the inner space. I have been snorkeling a lot but this is my first time to really dive to about 20 feet below the surface. I was just overwhelmed by the beauty of nature we seldom see.

Just in front of the Lemlunay Dive Resort is the Tinoto Wall, about 10 meters from the entry point is a deep drop to the abyss, literally speaking,all you can see when you look down below is a deep blue void.Aparently, clinging on the Tinoto wall are a variety of corals and fishes. I found several clownfishes, also known as Nemo, a croaking puffer or a toby fish and other reef fishes. I’ve been fortunate enough that Felino, a friend of mine, lend me an Olympuz c3030 with an underwater casing, a 3.0 mp camera, not a high-end gadget but fairly decent enough to capture a few good shots.

Lemlunay Gallery:

Dive No. 1	April 26, 2009
Location	Lemlunay Dive Resort – South Point Divers, Tinoto, Maasim, Sarangani Province
Objective	Intro Dive
Dive Buddy	Joel Sarenas – Dive Master
Equipment	Complete set, no weights
DEPTH (feet)		TEMPERATURE (celsius)
Average	15	Water	28
Maximum	25	Land	30
PRESSURE (psi)		VISIBILITY (feet)
Start	2000	< on bottom	30
Finish	300	^ on bottom	30
DIVE TIME		TOTAL TIME (hours)
IN	10:30am	Hours to Date	0
Out	11:00am	This Dive	0.5
At Bottom	30 mins	Total Hours	0.5