Mantangale Melange

Stan de la Cruz · Issue 40, Jan/Feb 2008 · pp. 45–48

Products mentioned: Olympus C7070, Ikelite housing, Inon M67 WAL, Inon D2000 strobe, Fuji E900, Inon UCL 165

Alibuag is the local term for undersea freshwater spring. You read that right: spurting, ice cold, freshwater, under the briny sea. This natural phenomenon can be found in a number of dive sites accessed by the Mantangale-Alibuag Dive Resort (MADR). Looking like a column of dark oily water issuing from cracks in the seabed, diving through one of them is another world of experience. Vision gets clouded, the sound is akin to that of bubbles bursting from a bottle of soda, the feel is very cold, and the taste is definitely fresh…. Once I swim through and my vision returns, I notice the exquisite pastel hues of the scenery and realize that I am in midst of a soft coral garden. I peel my eyes off the reef scenery to take in a small school of barracuda and a shy eagle ray. But bright spots of color pull my eyes back and I see the nudibranchs huddled together, making sure that there is a next g…