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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Sep 4, 2014
Description:
Finally some flying!
It was not a simple thing to happen. There were issues with wind and waves at our first stop (Coron Bay). Then there were electronic issues with the SeaRey (the primary flight display showed pretty lines of red, yellow, blue and black, but no useful information). There were issues with SuRi’s crane (battery for remote control pack failed). With nothing else to do, though, everything was eventually fixed. The reward was a spectacular view of the karst islands near El Nido.
Date Taken:
Sep 4, 2014
Place Taken:
Cadlao Island, Palawan, Indonesia
Owner:
Dan Nickens
File Name:
Quiet_Neighborhood.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDOS0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDOS0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZDOS0000s">
Category:
551, Yacht Tending Philippines
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Click on photo to view the original size. |
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Read what others had to say:
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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The flight permits for SeaRey and helicopter came with limitations. We were to remain within 10 nm miles of SuRi and get prior permission before going to any airports. Perfect for me, not so much for the helicopter. The helicopter did get permission to fly to the airports and pick up passengers, but the associated fees came to almost $20,000.<br /><br />When flight is so dear, there is no reason to stay on the water. Well, almost no reason. The water was a shocking blue and beaches were brightly white, with intricately carved hills of gray covered with green.<br /><br />
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Shore Resort
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Jerry Ratcliffe - Sep 05,2014
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$20,000????!!!! Holy shmoley.
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association could make Filipino airport fees the poster for not letting it happen here.
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Frank A. Carr - Sep 05,2014
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Resort?? I count one thatched-roof hut. That's it?
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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No, sir. That's just the machine shed. The resort is stage right. But, I think the prettiest part was the bridge around the hill.
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Our primary area of operation was in Bacuit Bay near the backpacker resort town of El Nido. The attraction is not the strange little town, it is the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area, the largest marine reserve in the Philippines.<br /><br />Every day the first flight is mine. I’ve told everyone it is to test the airplane systems. Really it is time to see the place for myself.<br /><br />There was an immediate problem! I quickly spotted a dugong lounging near the yacht. Just as quickly I observed the SuRi’s speedboat pulling a guest on skis. The boat was on a collision course for the dugong.<br /><br />There probably should have been some hesitation. I suppose my primary obligation was to the guest on skis. That never crossed my mind.<br /><br />Cranking the SeaRey into a radical bank and dive, I headed straight for the speedboat. A quick glance at the airspeed proved I was flying as fast as a SeaRey could (or should).<br /><br />It was fast enough for me to give a fleeting thought to what I was going to do. Ramming the boat seemed to be a bit too extreme. I mean, I like dugongs and all, but I have to stay alive to enjoy them.<br /><br />So, what to do? Of course! Startle the boat driver into swerving!<br /><br />Easier conceived than executed. I could tell the boat driver was one of the cool deck hands.<br /><br />I did have the element of surprise. I’ve always been extremely cautious flying around the yacht and its toys. A close pass would be completely out of character. Maybe that would be enough.<br /><br />It was! The boat swerved. The guest was spilled into the sparkling water, but the dugong was safe. I made a quick landing, grabbed the handheld radio and called the speedboat.<br /><br />I expected a wild scramble to get together a snorkeling crew. While the dive master was excited, no one else was. The dugong went on its way completely unmolested.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
SuRi at El Nido
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Kenneth Leonard - Sep 07,2014
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You needed a sireen in the plane to. Startle the boat, Dan. After all, we all want to see a mermaid.
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Bacuit Bay is packed full of limestone and marble islands. It wasn’t difficult for SuRi to find an uninhabited anchorage.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
SeaRey at Lagen
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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One anchorage recommended by other yacht crews was between Matinloc and Tapiutan Islands. The surrounding island peaks rise straight up to 1500’. It was said to be a protected anchorage, on the edge of the bay but protected from the South China Sea by the walls of limestone.<br /><br />Lesson learned: You can’t believe every recommendation made by duplicitous yacht crews.<br />
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Anchorage in between
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Bacuit Bay offers some nicely protected water. It can be downright glassy smooth. Or not. When it’s smooth, it is beautiful for SeaReying.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
SuRi Reflected
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Kevin D'Angelo - Sep 06,2014
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Looks definitely inviting to swim in or splash in- I would do both if had the chance
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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The islands are not all uninhabited. There are plenty of upscale resorts. All you need to have a resort is a flat spot at the edge of a cliff, some coconut palms, and a bit of beach. All the accoutrements of paradise!<br /><br />(Beware the veneer.)<br />
| | Attachments:
Beach Party
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Beaches are widely dispersed around the limestone islands. The other side of some of the best beaches are just sheer cliff.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
Backside of Beach
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Though not a resort, this is where I would want to stay if I didn’t have a crew cabin. A beautiful little beach surrounded by coconut palms is as idyllic as it gets.
| | Attachments:
Beachhouse
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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It is said that Alex Garland’s book “On the Beach” was written while he was staying at El Nido. There are plenty of hidden beaches to enjoy peaceful days writing in the shade of palm trees.
| | Attachments:
Hidden Beach
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John Robert Dunlop - Sep 04,2014
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Wow! Spectacular photos, Dan!
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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The reefs are the reason many people come to El Nido. With six species of aquatic mammals (including dolphin and dugongs), 100 species of coral, and over 800 types of fish (including whale sharks), there is plenty to see underwater. Fortunately for SeaReys, the reefs are easily visible from above.
| | Attachments:
Reef shot
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Frank A. Carr - Sep 05,2014
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Easily visible Dan, but how can you estimate the water depth/clearance?
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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That's the tricky part, isn't it. I thought it might be an inch or two deep. When we ran over it in the inflatable boat it showed 1.4 meters deep. Maybe the tide came in?
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Living here is much closer to paradise than, say, Manila.
| | Attachments:
Coconut Village
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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People have been living near El Nido since the Late Neolithic. For most of its history it was a place for Chinese sailors to collect bird eggs. Then the Spaniards invaded. Then the tourists took over.
| | Attachments:
Parking Point
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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There are caves in them there cliffs. Some say the core of the islands are rotten. Such is the typical state of limestone in a hot tropical environment.
| | Attachments:
Beachless
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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South of El Nido there is subterranean “river”. It’s actually a cave that extends from the sea back into the mountains for more than 15 miles. As it turns out a lot of the hills have a hollow core. This one had a cavern that collapsed.
| | Attachments:
Holely Hill
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Once upon a fable a great chief was pushed off the top of the cliff by an evil shaman. His greatness was such that he rose up out of the sea with a stony stare that drove the shaman crazy. The shaman headed out to sea in a storm, never to be seen again. The Chief’s head now stares steadily at the South China Sea, insuring the shaman can never return.<br /><br />I don’t know if anyone else knows this fable, but it looks plausible to me.<br />
| | Attachments:
Facing the Sea
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Frank A. Carr - Sep 05,2014
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Plausible and original?
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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It's the first I've heard of it, Frank.
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Not only was the water sparkling clear, it was deep blue. That made for some brilliant contrasts along the shorelines.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
Color Contrast
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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014
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Old sinkholes around the islands make for some intricate waterways.
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Intricate Waters
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Jerry Ratcliffe - Sep 05,2014
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when I grow up I want to be you.
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Well, then, the key is NOT to grow up, Jerry!
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Dissolving limestone has devolved into some pretty wild remnants.
| | Attachments:
Tough Sledding
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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In the absence of a beach, it would be a pretty tough place to homestead. That may be a reason the area doesn’t have more people.
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Rough Stuff
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Up close it looks like it would make for some fantastic rock climbing.
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Rough Patch
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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In places where there was a discontinuity in the uniform limestone, the rock looks out-of-place. This could be an old reef structure, but there was no place to park the SeaRey for close up inspection.
| | Attachments:
Ragged Rocks
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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The fantastic karst terrain originates from its position on the Sundra tectonic plate. The plate is itself an island of earth crust stuck between large active plates. Though seismically active, the portion of the plate at El Nido has enjoyed a gradual uplifting of the marvelously uniform limestone strata. In the tropical environment it has produced wildly eroded rocks.<br /><br />Palawan is geologically connected to Borneo and Southeast Asia, on a different tectonic plate than the rest of the Philippines. In fact, the area may have been part of the South China mainland.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
Crossing to Malapacao
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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In a bay with a lot of high mounds making islands, there was one that stood out (laid out?). Matinloc Island was an extraordinarily long island.
| | Attachments:
Long Stretch
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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In some places the long island was really stretched thin.
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Narrowest Stretch
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Philip Mendelson - Sep 05,2014
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Some GREAT PICS!!
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Some of the smaller islands were just rocks jutting up from the sea. Some had beaches. This one had a nice one, on the landward side.
| | Attachments:
Looking for Beach
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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When all the rest of the rock is washed away, only the high spots stick up.
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Three Haystacks
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Well eroded hills take on a characteristic dome shape.
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Dome Isle
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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It looks like a big boulder, but really it is just a small round hill.
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Behive Stack
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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One of the most popular tourist islands is Miniloc. It has a very ruffled shoreline with romantic hidden beaches and blue sinks.
| | Attachments:
Outlined in Blue
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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There is a lagoon on Miniloc that accessed through a really shallow canal. The lagoons are old sinkholes. The “small lagoon” looks like a great place for snorkeling. I was too chicken to try to taxi the SeaRey through the narrow channel to find out.
| | Attachments:
Tidal Trap
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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South of El Nido is the world renowned St. Pauls Undergrond River Cave. The cave is more than 15 miles long and includes a five mile underground portion of the Cayayugan River. Although not accessible by SeaRey, some of the crew went on a boat tour.<br /><br />The cave is now part of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. We went on a weekend and it was very crowded. It had been on the guests’ itinerary. The entire park had been hired for their tour to exclusion of anyone else. It was dropped on the spur of the moment in favor of other attractions offered by SuRi.<br /><br />The underground river was voted one of the “New7Wonders of Nature”. It pales, however, in comparison to the other natural wonders found around El Nido. I don’t know what that says about the selection except that the voters must not have gotten a tour by SeaRey. The SuRi’s guests knew what they were doing when they elected to stick with the yacht.<br />
| | Attachments:
Going Under
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Frank A. Carr - Sep 05,2014
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Thank you once again Dan for a fantastic voyage and exquisite photos.
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Chris Vernon-Jarvis - Sep 05,2014
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Furious with envy I can only complain of a small error.<br /><br />Garland's book is 'The Beach.'<br /><br />'On the Beach,' I think, was a book by Neville Shute, also made into a film of the same name. (I guess most of you guys are too young to remember it.)
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Dan Nickens - Sep 05,2014
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Well spotted, Chris, and a justified complaint. I've read 'On the Beach' but confess that I've missed 'The Beach'.
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Wayne Nagy - Sep 06,2014
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Every time you post pictures, Dan, I realize how much I haven't seen during my 63 years.<br />My life ,to date, has been full of adventures and when I view your posts I realize that there <br />are an infinite number of adventures waiting in the 'wings' !<br />Thank you, sir, for sharing!
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