NOT JUST A SALTWATER POOL 

Though shy in the beginning, you can easily coax her closer with bait. Once she learns to trust you, she will come near enough for you to scratch her head. We do request that you play gently with her for she can easily snap at you if you're a little too zealous. Novice divers practice in the reef pool and enjoy swimming after her. 

However, Bugsy, a 12lb grouper with a grumpy attitude, is one that is best that you view from a distance. He will tolerate you chasing him for awhile but don't touch him! When he turns around and confronts you with that big gaping mouth of his... well, it's a sight to be seen. But best from a distance. When Bugsy first came to us, he was a victim of a homemade speargun. He almost ended up in the frying pan of a local fisherman. But our GM bought him from the fisherman and placed him in our pool. The scar of the wound can still be seen an inch below his back. Besides these two charcters, we have a variety of sea creatures. The residents range from angel fishes, a puffer or two, a variety of smaller colorful fishes, crabby crabs and our twin sister milkfish named lovelingly as "Bang" and "Ngus" (local humor). 

Here's an update, last October in 1996, we acquired eight blacktip baby sharks. Hearing a tip from the local fishermen that these baby sharks were stranded on the shallow reef in a nearby island, the GM and others went and captured them. They will be in our reef pool until they get too big, of course. This is a rare opportunity for our novice and advance divers as well as those brave snorkellers to come up close to "Jaws" and learn their ways. However, we do want to remind you that these are still wild animals that will be released back to the wild. So, we request that you will use common sense in regards to them and don't irritate them unless you want to get bit on the 'butt'. 

SNORKELLING 
  
You don't have to be a certified scuba diver to enjoy our coral reefs. Our coral reefs span the whole tip of the Calumpan Peninsula. Off any of our three piers alone and you are already in "snorkeling country". The only required equipment needed is a mask with an attached snorkel and fins. Though in the months of December to February, the water is cold and a wet suit may be a good idea. All of these equipment can easily be rented from our well equiped dive shop. Of course, your own gear is more ideal. You don't have to a a good swimmer, either. You may wear a life vest and float on the surface. Visibilty on a clear day can go upto 50-70ft. 

The coral reef which spans the tip of the Peninsula is naturally built on a rocky shelf that gently slopes about 100-120 feet from the shoreline then drops steeply to a depth of about 80-100ft before it hits a sand bottom. One of the favorite 'snorkelling' spot in our coral reef fronts our restaurant. It is called Canyon Land. From the pier where the dive shop is located, you can easily swim to it in about 1-2 minutes. At low tide, it got its name due to a canyon-like crevice between a number of massice rock outcrops which you are able to swim inbetween. The crevice is about 10-15ft deep. Right under one of the outcrops is a small openning running through the otherside of it. We, however, do not suggest that snorkellers attempt to swim through it for the openning only seems large enough but it does narrows in the middle. Also, the cave openning is covered with jagged corals many a times forested with numerous black long needled sea urchins. The best time to snorkel Canyon Land is during low tide when the rocky outcrops are just inches from breaking the surface. It is then when you can best enjoy the variety of sea life that makes up the canyon's community. One can spend a very long time in this spot just looking at the hundreds of fish species. 

Another note worthy snorkeling location is fronting Cemetery Beach in the island of Maricaban. It is about 20-25 minutes by slow pump boat from Eagle Point. Unlike the reef fronting the resort, this reef is on a much gentler sandy slope. This reef is rich with life. During the rainy season (June-October), at about low tide, baby sharks are driven into the protective shallows by the waves. Some snorkelers have seen them come as close as only 2 ft of water. 

INTRODUCTORY DIVE COURSE 
  
Eagle Point Dive Shop (Safety Stop Divers) offers an Introductory Dive Course for those whohave never done any diving at all. This is not a certification course. Conducted by a certified Dive Master, you are given basic instruction of the equipment used and how to comunicate underwater. Then, into the water you go. You'll start first in our reef pool, so that you can get used to breathing wth the regulator. It's an uncanny experience. For this will be your first time breathing underwater and baby sharks are swimming above your heads. Then the Dive Master will take you into the real thing! You will descend 20ft down and be mezmirised by the sight. It is an experience that changed many of our guest's lives. For they, later on, joined a diving schools and have become certified. 
 

SCUBA DIVING

BIRD FEEDING AT THE AVIARY

Visit the quaint fishing town on Maricaban Island!

 Go exploring on the hills of Maricaban 

 Go climbing on Sombrero Island 

 Tour the old Spanish town of Taal 

 Explore the sleeping Taal Volcano 

 Charter a yacht trip to Mindoro