Fred Quilala: a Shark Trapped in a Man’s Body
Dives with Fred Quilala (a.k.a. Fred Q) are always interesting – what with his laid back attitude, his penchant for offbeat humor, his quirky tales, and whatnot.
The originator of the now infamous 3P dive (infamous in most Cebu dive circles, anyway), Fred has a way of making his dive buddies fall in love – not only with the underwater experience, but with his sense of adventure as well.
Indeed, many have fallen prey to the charm of this fascinating creature, who aptly labels himself “a shark trapped in a man’s body.”
In fact, drop his name around the dinner table, and at least one person would have a hilarious anecdote to share.
To date, this dashing diver has collected numerous friends and logged 881 dives in 15 logbooks. Fifteen logbooks? How does one fill fifteen logbooks? When asked to share his most noteworthy logs, however, Fred demurred. His logbooks, he says, contain (er, uhm) personal things that are not all related to diving. Interesting reading though this may make, we have to content ourselves with a rare glimpse of the 3P dive log. more»
Welcome to a new edition of CebuDiver.com
In this issue, we combine the elements of drama (as new diver Bon Cabiles comes to terms with the uncertainties of the underwater world), tragedy (as NZ-based diver Ray Arriola confronts thoughts of his mortality), suspense (as Scotty’s dive instructor Bernil Gastardo overcomes the dangers of Pawod Cave), and adventure (as CebuDiver.com co-founder Rod Arriola conquers the island of Capitancillo).
Of course, CebuDiver.com would not be complete without its regular features. Here, we proudly introduce beloved diver Fred Q, who entertains us with his charm, wit, and priceless anecdotes about life in and out of the water. More importantly, we are proud to share the wisdom of international Marine Biologist Giovanni B. Rodriguez, who attempts to educate us about marine conservation in general and artificial reef construction in particular.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed collating all these materials from this great set of authors.
Happy diving,
Yan Redoble
The Editor
The Pawod Cave: An Exhilirating Adventure
That afternoon, we were to do the final dive for my IANTD Cave course. Doing the training with me was my tech dive buddy and employer, Scott Livingston.
The dive objective was to penetrate “Paul’s Peril”. This tunnel goes further and deeper into Pawod Cave. Running 30 meters farther from the main chamber, its maximum depth reaches 18 meters/ 60ft. Only a handful of men have previously penetrated this tight restriction. I was to be the 5th one allowed the privilege.
The Pawod Cave was discovered by Dr. Alfonso Amores. Trained in cave diving techniques in the freshwater caves of Florida, he is the first diver ever to shine his light into the cave and lay a line around the main chamber. In his childhood years, he was one of the many kids that used the cave’s main pool as a swimming hole to ward off the summer heat. more»
Artificial Reefs: The Basics
The Philippines has one of the longest coastlines in the world. As an archipelago of approximately 7,100 islands, the seas around our country continue to be the main source of cheap protein for a majority of our ever increasing population.
Over the years, unlimited human exploitation of our marine resources has pushed it to the point of irreversible damage. A good example is the classic woe of small fishermen, who now have to expend more fuel and time in pursuit of fish in distant areas. Not too long ago, a bountiful catch could be made just a few meters from the shoreline.
Fishery scientists will say that the Catch Per Unit Effort (CPU) has exceeded the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) of a particular fishery resource.
For most of us Filipinos, this simply translates to the prospect of not being able to afford to eat Tangigue or Marlin steak unless we win the lotto. As it is, many can’t afford this “luxury” anymore. more»
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Conquering Bunzie’s Cove and Capitancillo Island
I got Rudy Balbuena’s invitation to dive in Tabogon from Mike Lazaro. Tabogon is a town in Northern Cebu, bounded by Bogo in the North, San Remigio in the West, Borbon in the South and the Camotes Sea to the East. more»
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