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Log This Dive

Bulakan

Bulakan is one of those sites we always come back to, tucked away from the usual Tulamben crowd. Forget the big stuff here, this is a place for slowing down and really looking. We're talking serious macro, the kind that makes you want to install a permanent magnifying glass on your mask. Our favourite find here has to be the Rosy Frogfish, usually perched patiently on a sponge, camouflaged perfectly. But you'll also spot numerous pygmy gobies, like Shimada's and Stobbs', darting in and out of the sand. Keep an eye out for the Eye-spotted Eubranchus, a tiny splash of colour against the coral. The False Brown Moray often peeks out from its rocky crevices, and the Gelatinous Cardinalfish hovers in small groups. The corals, mostly staghorn and table varieties, provide plenty of nooks for small critters, and we've even seen the elusive Slender Snake Eel here. Dive it early, before any surface chop picks up, as the visibility can be sensitive to surge. We’d suggest a long bottom time, perhaps two tanks, to really explore the sandy patches and the scattered coral bommies. Bulakan is for the patient diver, the one who loves searching for the small, the rare, and the truly unique. It’s a site that rewards those with a good eye and a calm fin kick.