23 years ago Bill traveled to Cebu in the Philippines to dive. It was remote, pristine and quiet – as advertised in the back of an airlines magazine. The warm, clear water and humongous fan coral left a lasting impression. Something that had to be shared.

Today, it’s a diving Mecca. With hundreds of daily divers mostly from Korea and Japan.

The muddied potholed entrance to the Kon Tiki Marina reminded us that it’s the first week of the monsoon season and like dive towns around the world the trash, rusty rebar ridden buildings and worn out scuba gear told us we were in the right place.

Bill met Simon via the internet. A Brit who opened a dive shop here 17 years ago. One of too many to count.

We hired a dual outrigger boat to Olango Island to dive Barring and Talima.

The cloudy day didn’t affect the clear 85 degree water. Spoiled, I had my own dive master who offered an interactive dive where I was able to cautiously touch the sea life and to see what impressed Bill 23 years ago.