Diving for fun at balicasag

At 20 feet, one already gets to see needlefishes, species of butterflyfishes, the long nose butterflyfish which picks prey from its snout, orange squirrel fishes, clown fishes, lapu-lapu, damsel fishes in blue and yellow colors, some with white bands and broad stripes of either yellow or black.

A little down the inner wall and overhang are parrot fishes, surgeon fishes and moray eels that make serpentine swims through a giant rock arch as well a number of pufferfishes, those white dotted varieties that puff up or inflate to deter an enemy.

If a scuba diver is lucky enough, he gets to see a passing school of harmless barracudas or spade fishes, or spot bat fishes, who gather after dusk, as well as jacks, nudibranch, or some garden eels creeping out of holes only to withdraw instantly at the sight of an intruder.

The other fishes are fusiliers, sweetlips, sand perches, gobies and lion fishes, creatures with stockily-built body hidden by an array of awesome projectiles that are actually long, thin fins.

"It’s a different world, it’s a colorful world," says Travis Allan, dive master of the PTA.

When the climate is warm, the sea is unusually calm from morning to afternoon, thanks to the corals themselves which serve to prevent big waves from bashing the shore.

Those who like to dip on waist deep water can wait for the ebbing of the tide to pick up sea shells, wade on the shore or, when the sun is extremely hot, they can retreat to the quiet calm under the shade of coconut trees to read a book, view the vast sea expanse with nary an island on sight, or take a nap or feel the sea breeze which soothes like the touch of a gentle hand.

One can go around the island by walking under the trees or along the shoreline and all it takes is 25 to 30 minutes. One gets to see a quiet village life outside the 1.4 hectare PTA-run resort which includes a restaurant and few cottages fronting The Sanctuary.

One can spot shells, lots of blue sea stars and sea urchins even on the shallow portions bedecked with sea grass and weeds and some beautiful corals resting on clean, white sand. Here, snorkeling is as thrilling an experience for those not yet skilled in scuba diving.

A black diadema sea urchin, the toxic variety, can be found in the shallow waters and can cause irritation to the skin when it comes into contact with a bather, but humans need not worry.

Island folks insist that urine is an instant cure to rid of the toxic substance. A lady who was bitten by one asked for the young boys of the island to gather their urine and pour it on her leg to remove the pain, and she swore it worked.

Near the dive spots folks fish at night or at the break of dawn while during the day, the women, including little children as young as nine, dive for shells on the slopes up to 10 feet deep.

Over 50 years ago, the island, which covers 24.5 hectares of coconut trees and sand, was a half-ignored part of the Bohol Island until one day a ship was beached on the shore on a moonless night.

The accident prompted the government to set up a lighthouse for passing ships, but it was also later used as a reference point for fishermen at night.

When the lighthouse was erected by the Navy, fishermen who at first stayed here for the night to rest before heading for home, settled permanently. For fear many settlers might gravitate here as tourists poured in, the PTA undertook measures to prevent any more new settlers, limiting it only to the original inhabitants that came here since before the war.

PTA officials, led by Manila-based Jane Jarabe and Balicasag resident manager Jewel Noronio of the Tagbilaran office, go to the elementary schools as part of PTA’s outreach effort under GM Nixon Kua to teach children the virtues of cleanliness (don’t throw candy wrappers into the sea, put them in your pockets and throw them later into the waste basket).

They keep reminding the older folks that it is illegal to take rare shells or practice muro ami or gill fishing which traps very small fishes.

With a vigorous eco-tourism program in place, this diving resort, which the PTAtook over in 1989, could very well be the model of how the government and the community could work hand in hand to protect the environment.

Thanks to these efforts, the islanders are becoming more aware that the use of dynamite and cyanide will destroy life, theirs in particular, and their means of livelihood, and that they have a continuing responsibility to preserve the island and its seas for generations yet unborn.

For this alone, Balicasag is proud to be one of the finest the country can offer -- life in its raw form, life that is never constant underneath and always bigger than us, where one can enjoy what nature has built and nurtured for over 25,000 years.