Destinations near Manila - 1st time to Philippines

[Smit]

Hi folks, I'm going to be in the Philippines in January and am interested in adding another week onto my existing plans. I'd like to do some diving and hopefully experience the culture of the Philippines as well.

I am a little uncomfortable because this is my first trip to the Philippines. I'll be in Manila after the 2 week trip and would like to find a place that's relatively easy to get to while I'm trying to get the traveling and everything else sorted out.

Anilao looks to be pretty close with good diving but not much culture, from what I hear. I've heard Subic bay is relatively easy to get to by bus and has good diving, for wrecks in particular.

If anybody has other recommendations on other places to go I'd appreciate hearing them. I'm pretty open to anything while getting this figured out. Diving is a plus but if there are enough above water things to do I'd consider not diving just for the experiences above water.

This trip will hopefully be the first of many to Southeast Asia in the future.

 

[Johnboy70_99]

I have found that the easiest thing to do from Manila is take a short flight to one of the other islands. You can take a 1 hour flight for around $80usd round trip and end up in Bohol, Dumaguete, Cebu city, or Siargao. Any of them are great destinations. There are a lot of resorts and dive sites on Alona beach that is around 15 minutes via van or trike from the airport there on Panglao. Even though it requires an extra flight in my opinion it’s the easiest way to get to some really good diving in the Philippines for someone who is relatively inexperienced there.

You can also go to Puerto Galera from Manila, there is diving and nighttime entertainment there. It is accessible via bus, then ferry, but you may want to get familiar with traveling within ph first. You can get a private transfer service through some of the resorts for around 300usd round trip.

Even though I work in Manila I haven’t dived around there since 2018 when I got my ow on Puerto Galera. I spent 3 weeks on Panglao last September. Then went back in January and spent another week there and then went to Siquijor via ferry. This September I am booked to spend a week at Moalboal and then two weeks at Dauin near Dumaguete. Next January hoping to do 10 days each in Siargao and Coron. The Southern Visayas are so far my favorite place to spend time.

 

[Mango's Dive Center]

January is one of the best months to dive Subic Bay. You have heard right about ease of getting here from Manila and there is plenty of lodging and above water activities. Other then wrecks there are some pretty good reefs also.

As your plans progress, feel free to give us a shout out if you have any questions and need more information.

 

[Nedster]

I have found that the easiest thing to do from Manila is take a short flight to one of the other islands. You can take a 1 hour flight for around $80usd round trip and end up in Bohol, Dumaguete, Cebu city, or Siargao. Any of them are great destinations. There are a lot of resorts and dive sites on Alona beach that is around 15 minutes via van or trike from the airport there on Panglao. Even though it requires an extra flight in my opinion it’s the easiest way to get to some really good diving in the Philippines for someone who is relatively inexperienced there.

You can also go to Puerto Galera from Manila, there is diving and nighttime entertainment there. It is accessible via bus, then ferry, but you may want to get familiar with traveling within ph first. You can get a private transfer service through some of the resorts for around 300usd round trip.

Even though I work in Manila I haven’t dived around there since 2018 when I got my ow on Puerto Galera. I spent 3 weeks on Panglao last September. Then went back in January and spent another week there and then went to Siquijor via ferry. This September I am booked to spend a week at Moalboal and then two weeks at Dauin near Dumaguete. Next January hoping to do 10 days each in Siargao and Coron. The Southern Visayas are so far my favorite place to spend time.

Hi Smit, how are you? Just following on from what Johnboy has said. It's probably easier to fly to one of the other islands. We have a small dive shop on Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol, and are just one hour from Manila. There are loads of great dive spots here like Balicasag Island. If you also wished to check out the surrounding islands, then it's easy to get to Siquijor or Negros from here.

Just let me know if you have any more questions, and I would be more than happy to point you in the right direction.