You are an Explorer

You might not know it, but if you visit us at Salaya Beach Houses and dive with us, you are an explorer. Let me explain why that is not obvious:

Warmer than Antarctica, Safer than Congo

When you contemplate “exploration” you might think of trekking through the icy planes of Antarctica; Going on an extremely strenuous march trough lands devoid of any human presence, far away from civilization. You would think of hardship, cold and a complete lack of comfort. Well, it’s not like that with us. The only thing cold at Salaya is the beer.

Or you might think of an expedition into the remote jungles of the Congo, with mysterious monkeys up in the trees, and foot-long centipedes crawling on the forest floor. Dangerous wildlife would threaten your health while you explore the unknown tropical fauna. That would be proper exploration, right? In reality you can explore without such hardships.

At Salaya you can plan your next step as an explorer while resting on a beach chair next to our pool, while sipping a mango shake brought to you by one of our friendly waitresses. Not exactly a icy planes/giant centipede situation!

You are STILL an explorer!

But once you go on a dive with us (if you don’t know how to dive, we’ll teach you), you become an explorer. No, you won’t be the first one, ever, to dive at the dive sites we take you to. Yes, if you know how to look you can see amazing wildlife which few other people have seen before. Or which possibly even no one has seen before you.

Look at the squat lobster on the top of this post – it’s a species of Galathea, but not one found in any of the marine life identification books we have. This species of crustacean is most likely undescribed – not officially known to science yet. What a thrill to encounter an animal like that.

And look at this goby: It is a specimen of Grallenia rubrilineata. It has now been officially described by scientists (Allen, G. R., and M. V. Erdmann. “Description of five new species of marine gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae) of the genus Grallenia from the tropical western Pacific Ocean.” Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 27 (2017): 20-47.), but back then, in 2014, when I took a photograph of it, it was not known to science yet – this might have been the first photograph of this goby, ever! Believe me, that was quite an elevating feeling to find a fish which no one had photographed before me! The dive site where I found it (Poblacion) is just a short boat ride away from Salaya.

That diver seeing a fish of a certain species for the first time, that could be you! Naturally, we can’t promise such discoveries, but with patience, a good eye for marine animals and a bit of luck it’s possible to see amazing things – new or very rare species, or rarely seen marine animal behavior. Mating, feeding, or symbiotic interactions between fishes and other marine animals – it’s all happening in the ocean off Dauin.