Bohol - balicasag vs Cabilao vs Anda

[eb3ha4el]

Hello

I'm a vacation diver and have a plan to visit Bohol this may.
From my research it seems Calibao, Anda, and Balicasag are regarded the best.
I don't have time to visit all these locations, and I cannot afford all my bohol holiday into diving.
do in thid regard, I'd like to know which ones are preferred purely in terms of diving, (we do snorkle, freedive, scuba mixed)
and whether going one place would be quite enough for vacation divers. so your recommendations or trip report would be valued.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Luko]

Balicasag is great for its jackfish school and generally its coral slopes, all operators from Panglao are providing day trips (when they have the permits).
Cabilao has very colorful coral walls, some Panglao operators do daytrips to Cabilao (it's a long way) but the best way to dive the place is to stay on the island.
Anda was... quite meh compared to the two others when I dived the place, only dived from local resorts.

 

[Centrals]

Both Balicasag and Cabilao are off shore island. So the selection of food and lodging is limited.
Alona Beach on Panglao has accommodation to suit ones budget and this also apply to restaurant.

No idea on free diving and snorkeling.
Questionable on Alona Beach because of sea urchin(used to have plenty, not sure now).

 

[Tippytoes12]

I have stayed in Anda and in Panglao, but not Cabilao.

I really liked Panglao, it was touristy but the bars with live music on the beach made for a very nice atmosphere at night. I loved the diving, especially Balicasag for the huge turtles, clear water and the very beautiful corals.

I also did Anda and stayed in an extremely nice property with excellent food, a very beautiful garden and a pool, as well as super-nice very visible owners. It had not been open for long and I was somewhat disappointed with the diving. But it’s a beautiful tranquil part of Bohol. And a friend of ours went to the same resort just a few years ago and they saw literally everything from blue rings to whalesharks. A lot depends on where else you are going, how long you have, if you like to chill in the resort or to go out and listen to live music.

 

[eb3ha4el]

Though i didn't make it yet, it seems the sea urchins are very common in the beach still now.

so I guess Anda is not very recommended for at least diving purposes considering the travel that far.
and it sounds balicasag is generally preferred than calibao, Thank you very much for your input!

I'll make a short dive trip report once I am return from balicasag!

 

[Johnboy70_99]

People were swimming and snorkeling on Alona beach on Panglao when I was there last month, I don’t think they had issues with sea urchins in the areas roped off for swimming. I have seen plenty of sea urchins while diving but Its not an issue for scuba as most operators dive off of boats.

I dive with Alona divers when I am there, contact Joey Jayme there, he is very responsive on his personal fb messenger account and also on their Facebook page. I have spent 4 weeks diving with them in the past year, they do boat trips to Balicasag and pamilican, and will do local dives off of their speedboats as well.

 

[Micko1974]

Though i didn't make it yet, it seems the sea urchins are very common in the beach still now.

so I guess Anda is not very recommended for at least diving purposes considering the travel that far.
and it sounds balicasag is generally preferred than calibao, Thank you very much for your input!

I'll make a short dive trip report once I am return from balicasag!

Sea urchins are not really an issue on Alona Beach. There are some in the seagrass, so may come into play at low tide, but once you are careful where you put your feet, then it should not be a problem.

If you are into freediving, as you say above, then Panglao has loads of freediving schools. It's basically in the top 2 places in the world for freediver training. Good conditions, little current, and depth. For recreational freedivers, then the reefs are shallow, so breath-hold dives are relatively easy.

 

[Mike1967]

I've only been to Panglao and loved it, Balicasag and Napaling wall were great? I dived with Piratas and they were awesome!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Anda is great if you like macro critters, but not so much for schools of fish or big coral walls in my opinion.