So far so good, Ibo our driver was on time so we made a quick getaway and after no time at all ( probably something to do with the torrent of abbuse coming my way from Ibo) we arrived at Gatwick North. No check-in queue, no queue at security so we now find ourselves tucked in at ‘spoons with a tasty beverage in hand.

Burgers now demolished, the Abbot consumed, holiday spirits are rising, to say we are in no rush might be considered by some as an understatement.Just managed to dodge the Harry Potter shop, that ‘Walletum Emptyanas’ spell ain’t gonna work on me.So what’s that thing when you see the gate announcement, go there immediately only to find that everyone else is already there? Perhaps we’re not regular enough flyers to know that this flight always goes from this gate, must try harder.After a smooth and pleasant flight we arrive in Dubai at which point we match what seems like one end of the airport to the other. We clear the transfer security checks and then proceed to walk all the way back again, and then some. Finally we arrive at C7 where we are clearly not the only passengers on the flight. The first part of the check-in involves having your hand baggage weighed, it seems to be quite a thing to take more than your allowance.
This does not speed up operation in any way, regardless, we are now sat down and waiting for boarding to commence. The airport is full of people going everywhere, fortunately they are not all going to Cebu.So, here we are on the 777 ready to go, take it away skipper and keep the beverages coming.It’s supposed to be night time and sure enough, after a could attempts to watch some really bad films, I resort to radio and sleep. The crazy thing is that before you know it, it’s light again though the airline try to maintain the illusion of night time by keeping the lights off and blinds down for at least another 6 hours. Then it’s lunch time, after which, a movie then it’s time to land and here we are. Bags collected, pickup sorted and now we have to crawl through Cebu city on a Saturday evening. I say crawl, it’s actually not that fast. Stuck on tower bridge for 10 minutes? I wish, we’ve been crossing the river for half an hour and we’ve still not made it to the other side.We finally make it to The Henry Hotel and we are greeted by PDH royalty in the form of Mr Tony Exall, now that’s extreme customer service!Moments later, cold beer and dinner at a local French restaurant are the backdrop to much talk of diving and all things related.We are awake and before long we are checked out of The Henry and on our way to Pier 3 to take the Super joy ferry to Holingos. First time at Pier 3, same as Pier 1 as it turns out, all baggage checked and now we wait for departure.What could possibly go wrong?We make our way on board and manage to get all our bags stashed in the hold (ok so they’re stacked on a palette at the rear of the vessel) and find our allocated seats (5A and 5B).The boat is nowhere near full though there are still 10 minutes to departure.

The sea is oily calm (not unlike the pictures we saw of the club dive this weekend) so all fingers are crossed for a smooth and swift passage.According to our tickets, Jo is a 42 year old male whilst I am a 44 year old male, I’m happier than Jo about this!We’ve just pushed off and can see that the dodgy in flight movie is about to be selected, what will it be now, Titanic?, The Posiden Adventure? No, it’s Sully, kind of sea drama related. Well that’s over, now we have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not seen that before, let’s see if the rumours are true.

We have arrived SBSR and it’s all good, dive gear unpacked, cool drink consumed, lunch on the way, then it’s time to see if we remember what to do.

Which, as it turned out, we did! With four divers on the boat, we headed over to Baluarte, only 1 minute by boat for a dive which ends up back at the mooring line for the boat. We slipped into our skimpy rash vest and leggings whilst the other divers got in to full wet suits. One of them even had a wooly hat, did they know something I didn’t?

We jump in to find that the water was a good 29 degrees at the surface and it only dipped down to 28 at depth, toasty!

A lovely dive, all kit worked as it should. An hour later we are back on board then it’s back to the shore for shower, log books, Red Horse and crib.

We then decide to head over to Almar and Jerries for tea. The obligortry Deep Fried Lumpia followed by Sweet and Sour Pork, Sunshine Chicken Wings and Fried Rice with accompanying beverages.

Whilst waiting for our food, a second round of crib was enjoyed, all very lovely.