MY. Infiniti, Tubbataha, the Philippines: Undercurrent 08/2024

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Dear Fellow Diver,

Tubbataha National Marine Park is a 374-square-mile UNESCO World Heritage site in the Philippines' Sulu Sea. In good weather, the journey aboard the Infiniti takes 10 or 11 hours. As we departed the wharf at 2:00 p.m., a crew member exclaimed, "It's going to be rough out there," as he pointed at the distant whitecaps. It was, unfortunately, 17 hours on rough seas. Nic, our cheery guide, offered Bonine to prevent seasickness and to help passengers sleep.

MV. Infiniti After dinner, we hit a vicious swell; cabinet doors popped open, boxes of cookies and cans of beer and soda flew out, as bottles of wine rolled around the floor. The crew tied down the refrigerator doors and secured liquor bottles set out for after-dinner drinks.

Bonine got me through the rolling, bumpy night, but several divers were up all night praying to the porcelain god. Some tried sleeping on the open decks to avoid the confines of their cabins. Everyone still managed to complete the 8:00 a.m. checkout dive the next morning. The second night, the Infiniti, too large for the moorings, constantly ran its engine, nosing into the swells. Some passengers still had trouble sleeping, and some wished they knew the boat didn't moor at night before booking. On the third night, the seas calmed some, and most passengers slept well. By the fourth night, Infiniti's engines were finally silenced, and the ship drifted, leaving only the hum of a generator and the soft lapping of the sea against the hull.

The remote marine park comprises fringing reefs; the south atoll has a lighthouse; the north atoll has a ranger station on stilts and a helicopter pad; and the Jessie Beazley Reef, a small sandbar visible at low tide. There is nowhere to hide from foul weather, so liveaboards make the 100-mile-plus trip from March through May when sea conditions are likely the best. I traveled in mid-March; I should have booked later.

Regardless, I felt quite safe aboard the 128-foot Infiniti, an unrestricted navigation vessel with water-tight doors and extra-thick glass, built for scuba diving by a scuba diver. The outside entry to my berth had an additional water-tight door.

Our cruise director, Nic, who briefed us the first night, said, with his dry humor, "If there is an emergency, wake me. If your toilet is overflowing, wake me. If the internet is out and you miss your mommy, don't wake me." An approachable guy, he encouraged us to raise any issues. The 22 guests were introduced to the 19 crew members, and one diver asked if there were night dives. "We don't night dive," Nic said. "There are a lot of big predators. We want your dives to end with a big smile and all your body parts."...

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