Photo courtesy Sea Dive Resort

Scuba Diving Coron wrecks: northern Palawan is known for dramatic limestone cliffs and thermal lakes, but it might be said that it took an act of war to turn scenic Coron on Busuanga Island, into one of the best scuba diving destinations in the World.

Early in the morning of 24th September, 1944, a wave of Hell Diver bombers burst out of a cloud bank, high above Coron Bay and commenced their rapid descent towards an unsuspecting quarry. The American fast carrier force, in the Leyte Gulf of the Philippine Sea, launched a daring long-distance aerial raid on a Japanese supply convoy hiding in Coron Bay.

Photo courtesy Philippine Hobie Challenge Foundation

The Philippine Hobie Challenge is the Philippines’ premier extreme sailing event. The 2009 event will be the 10th Philippine Hobie Challenge. Every year since 1999 the Philippine Hobie Challenge has taken a fleet of Hobie 16 catamarans on a roller-coaster ride, usually island-hopping through some of the lesser know Philippine islands and to some of the most beautiful beaches in the Philippines. The event is so extreme and so popular that the number of Hobie catamarans racing in each Hobie Challenge is limited and the competitors must demonstrate their competency, to ensure that safety at sea can be assured and sufficient support boats can be on-hand in the event of breakages or injury.

Photo courtesy Bernadette Villaluz

The Philippine International Windsurfing Open 2009 brings the World of windsurfing to Puerto Galera on 6th - 8th February.

The 2009 International Windsurfing Open event is the fourth in the series of Puerto Galera windsurfing competitions and will be held at the Sandbar Windsurfing School on Boquete Beach, Muelle Bay. The 2008 windsurfing open event saw more than 70 windsurfers compete in Puerto Galera from as far away as Japan and Hawaii. The usually strong breeze, with wind speeds in excess of 20 knots, will ensure maximum enjoyment for the competitors and fantastic photography opportunities.

Photo courtesy Martyn Willes

The Presidents Cup Regatta 2009 will be held in the waters off beautiful Boracay Island, between 18th - 21st February.

The Presidents Cup Regatta follows the Manila Boracay Race and is billed as the windiest sailing regatta in Asia. The most expensive racing yachts will be here, racing alongside entrants from all around the Philippines; Boracay Island is one of two places in Asia where good sailing breeze and blue water is virtually guaranteed (Puerto Galera is the other).

The President’s Cup Regatta is the most competitive Philippine sailing event, organized by the Manila Yacht Club.

Photo courtesy Humminbird

The Philippine Boat Show and SEA Exposition will give everyone who has any interest in the water a reason to be at the Mall Of Asia, Pasay City, on 20th - 23rd March, 2009. For example, in the world of marine electronics: satellite navigation, a Global Positioning System (GPSs) can now deliver accuracy to within a few metres without you having to take out a mortgage; and, fish finder, the dancing red dot depth gauge/fish finder of old has been replaced with fancy colour TV screens where the fish finder also shows size of fish.

The latest marine electronics systems combine GPS positioning, mapping, depth/height, fish finder and radar into a single unit where the only limit to the usefulness is the size of the screen you have to view all the information on.

Photo courtesy Dennis Shepherd

The Philippine Boat Show 2009 will bring beach resort toys for the boys and for the girls. Almost anything that floats will be on display and some will be demonstrated on the water at The Esplanade in front of the Mall Of Asia, Pasay City.

If you are a beach resort owner and want to find out how to tempt new guests to rate your beach resort as the best beach resort in the Philippines for on/in/under-water fun then you will find all the beach resort toys you need at the Philippine Boat Show, many of them manufactured by international companies in the Philippines.

How to Jump Off A Boat: I am frequently asked whether it is important to be able to swim before you choose to go sailing, my reply is always the same, "it’s not so important, the idea is to stay on the boat . . . boating is a safe sport". However, there are alternate philosophies.

And so, when I received this video from a game fishing friend of mine I was not surprised to learn that one of his shipmates had formulated such an alternate philosophy, and wanted to demonstrate it to the World. The alternate philosophy is: to jump off a boat is fun, so long as the skipper is a friend.

Photo courtesy Martyn Willes

Philippine International Cricket Sixes 2009, will be held at the Parade Ground, Clark Field, Angeles City, Pampanga, on 20th - 22nd February.

The Philippine International Cricket Sixes at Clark Field marks the second time this annual celebration of international cricket comes to the Philippines. Teams will arrive from almost all cricket playing nations to Clark Field and Angeles City, to enjoy a weekend of gentlemanly sports. The sound of leather on willow will echo around historic Fort Stotsenburg to much applause, the passion for victory between the wickets will be running high.

Photo courtesy The London Pub

The all new London Pub is now open for business on Clark Field, Pampanga, across the street from the Grill Room, just off the Parade Ground near the CDC offices.

Three years in dreaming, designing and making, the London Pub is one of the few places in Clark where you can have a civilised beer in a tropical destination with some wholesome pub grub and the chance of chatting to the occasional authentic Englishmen in Asia.

The London Pub is the latest creation of Chef Philip from the Grill Room, to answer the need for a place to congregate on-base when you don’t know who else is around, and a place for social and networking functions

From 1st February, 2009, the International Cospas-Sarsat Program will terminate satellite processing of distress signals from 121.5/243 MHz emergency beacons (EPIRBs and PLBs); only distress signals from the newer 406 MHz EPRIBs and PLBs will be processed. The bottom line is that if you are still carrying one of the 121.5/243 MHz EPIRBs or PLBs in February, and you find you are in significant distress, requiring immediate rescue assistance, don’t bother flicking the switch . . . instead you can make the last entry in your diary: that you should have given yourself a new, 406 for Xmas.