Second blog from my wonderful stay at Crystal Blue Resort , Anilao, Philippines, from 1-20 to 2-7-2024 February 15, 2024

This is my second blog from my wonderful 17 days of diving at Crystal Blue Resort (divecbr.com), it was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it if you have an interest in underwater macro photography, exotic tropical marine life, Blackwater Diving, great accomodations and great food. Below I'm going to go through photographs I took of the Pipefishes and Seahorses I saw on this trip. There are at least 22 species of Pipefish and Seahorses in Anilao. First up is the Mushroom Coral Pipefish. When our wonderful guide first pointed these out to me I didn't know what to make of it, I thought it was some kind of marine worm! They are very thin, maybe 1/8 inch in diameter, two or three inches long. The Mushroom Coral Pipefish were, unsurprisingly, in Mushroom Coral. Trying to shoot them as they weave through the coral is maddenning. Below:

Next up is a pair of Robust Ghost Pipefish, a couple of inches long, below:

I'm not sure what the next pair are, possibly Roughsnout Ghost Pipefish, again, a couple of inches long, below:

The next pipefish is a fancier version of pipefish divers usually see, not sure what species it is, perhaps a Broken Band Pipefish, a few inches long, below:

Next is a very large Winged Pipefish, about eight inches long:

One of the most exotic subjects in the Philippines and Indonesia are the Ornate Ghost Pipefish, below are my shots of several:

Finally, there were plenty of beautiful Sea Horses and Pygmy Seahorses to be seen, the seahorses were 4 to 5 inches high, the pygmy seahorses around 1/4 inch. Below: Thorny Seahorse

Pygmy Seahorses are tiny and you have to know where to look for them. Jhomer, our wonderful dive guide, pointed out the red lacy fan coral and then its amazing Pygmy Seahorses, below:

So many, many, wonderful creatures for macro photography at Crystal Blue Resort, with incredible guides constantly finding you more!