B U T U A N
70
“M
as daghan, mas
bibo
,” chuckles
CJ de Lima as
the large group of divers I’ve
just joined bobs on the surface
of Butuan Bay. “The more, the
merrier,” he translates for the
benefit of those of us unversed
in the local lingo.
You’d be hard-pressed
to find a happier band of
seafarers than the Butuan
Bay Divers, a fairly new group
of undersea enthusiasts who
frequent (and, in some cases,
run) a shop that’s the city’s
only scuba outfitter. If the
ancient Butuan sailors and
merchants who sailed into the
ports of what’s now Butuan
Bay were drawn to the area’s
calmwaters and bustling
trade, it’s the attractions that
lie beneath that are luring a
new breed of Butuanons.
“We were looking for
something to do,” says CJ, a
founder of the group and one
of the shop’s partners. “It’s
very new here, but the sites
we’ve found are so interesting
and our group is growing.”
The turnout on this day
leaves no doubt about that.
What’s more, the crowd
testifies to the area’s potential
to become a popular dive site,
one that’s largely unexplored
but may be home to a few
historical wrecks —Butuan
was, after all, an ancient
kingdom and trading post —
but is well worth visiting for
the undersea vistas alone.
Among the champions of
Going deep
BELOVED BY SAILORS FOR CENTURIES, BUTUAN’S
CALMWATERS STILL PACK A FEW SURPRISES.
BY KRISTINE FONACIER, WITH CJ DE LIMA
From top:
bursts of color
underwater in
Butuan Bay; in a
shadowy cave, a
fish glows in the
dark; schools of
fish around coral
signal a healthy
marine life
SUMMER UNDERWATER
DOUBLE FEATURE
PHOTOS
JEFF ONG
