Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site
Home · Contact Me · Sydney Reef Dive Sites · Sydney Shipwrecks · NSW Dive Sites · Australian Dive Sites · Overseas Dive Sites · Dive Accidents and Incidents · My Yachting Adventures · 4WD Trips · Weather · Search 13 October 2024 23:52
Navigation
Home

General
About Me
My Diving
FAQ
Downloads
Web Links - Dive Clubs
St George Scuba Club
Some of my Best Photos
Contact Me

Dive Sites
Sydney Reef Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwrecks
Sydney Dive Visibility, Swell and Temps
Kelly Talking on ABC Sydney about Shipwrecks
NSW Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwreck Summary
NSW Shipwreck GPS/Marks
Australian Dive Sites
Overseas Dive Sites
Aircraft I have Dived
Old Bottles
Free Shipwreck Books

Dive Related Equipment
Shearwater Predator and Heinrichs Weikamp OSTC 2N
Uwatec Aladin Dive Computers
Apollo AV1 Underwater Scooter
Bauer Compressor
DIY Oxygen Stick - Nitrox
GoPro HD Hero Video Camera
My Camera Setup
Purchase of New Dive Boat
My Dive Boat - Mak Cat
My Old Dive Boat - Le Scat
My Dive Gear
GPS and Diving
Make Your Own Car Tank Rack

Marine Life
Rarer Sydney Marine Life
Bare Island Pygmy Pipe Horses
Bare Island Sea Horses
Bare Island Nudibranchs
Bare Island Marine Life
Encounter with Southern Right Whale and Calf

Other Dive Info
How Weather Affects Diving in Sydney
Visibility and Wave Averages in Sydney
Waves and Diving
Diving Weather and Sea Conditions
Tide Tables
Dive Accidents and Incidents
Dive Book Reviews
Site Map
Noel Hitchins 1951-2005
Lloyd Bridges - Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt
My Yachting Adventures
Below is a list of links to the main pages about my yacht, Catlypso and My Yachting Adventures:
  • Purchase of Catlypso
  • Details about Catlypso
  • Cleaning/Repairing Catlypso
  • My Yachting Adventures.
  • Login
    Username

    Password



    Forgotten your password?
    Request a new one here.
    Michael's 4WD Trips
    Click here for a list of my Four Wheel Drive and Camping Trips.
    Home Brewing
    Click here for an article about Home Brewing.
    Sydney Dive Site Hints
    "Gordons Bay (Thommos) is as boring as bat shit"
    Olympic Point
    Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving - Olympic Point, Philippines

    In August 2023 I did a three week long dive trip to the Philippines with my friend John. We spent the first week at Anilao staying at Buceo Anilao Dive Resort.

    There are dozens of dive sites located within 20 minutes run from the resort.

    Unfortunately we had a Super Typhoon hit the northern Philippines when we were there, so the Coast Guard banned all boats and diving later in the week. This dive site was one we visited on the second day.

    Olympic Point is located almost six kilometres east-south-east from the resort across the passage off Maricaban Island. A GPS mark for the dive spot is 13° 40' 11.629" N 120° 51' 02.758" (using WGS84 as the datum).

    Satellite Photo
    A satellite photo from Google Earth that shows the location of the dive site marked by the red at bottom left and Buceo Anilao Resort at top right

    The dive boat anchors a short distance off the shore to teh east of the Olympic Point Resort. The bottom is only 5 metres deep here and then slopes to 9 metres before dropping a bit steepr to 30+ metres. The bottom metres and then sloping again to deeper. The bottom is sand with small rocks here and there. There are also some old coral pieces that are larger than the rocks. The bottom has sea whips, soft corals and many featherstars and some sponges.

    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    The orange hairy anglerfishone of many clownfish seen

    From the boat we drop and headed north to about 21 metres where the bottom becomes plain sand. We then headed west before eventually coming shallower and heading back towards the boat. Near the boat we saw a juvenile ribbon eel and later another one. There were plenty of nudibranchs and shrimps (on sea whips and anemones) as some crabs.

    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    A juvenile ribbon eelA moray eel

    One brilliant thing we find is an anemone with two tiny white pipefish in it. I have never seen this species before, very cute. I ended up getting a couple of photos of it which ended up reasonable. There are a few lionfish and more shrimp in anemones and a featherstar shrimp. We even see a tiny orange hairy anglerfish which kept moving and was very hard to photograph.

    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    A strange gobyOne of the two tiny white pipefish in an anemone

    We end up back at the boat and finish our dive in the shallows. There were a few more species of nudibranch seen here. In August the water temperature was 29C and the visibility was 12 to 15 metres. A very good dive site.

    MORE PHOTOGRAPHS

    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    A strange nudibranchOne of the common nudibranchs
    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    This nudibranch is also commonAn extremely colourful shrimp
    Olympic PointOlympic Point
    Glass shrimp in an anemoneFeatherstar shrimp

    Copyright © Michael McFadyen 1990 to 2024
    Non-commercial use of an article or photograph is permitted with appropriate URL reference to this site.
    Dive shops, dive operators, publications and government departments cannot use anything without first seeking and receiving approval from Michael McFadyen.
    This web site has been wholly thought up, designed, constructed and funded for almost 30 years by Michael McFadyen without any help from the Australian Dive Industry.
    Website created 1996!