Diving the Philippines in February: Mindoro or Cebu?

[Tibo]

Hi all, and merry Xmas!

I'll be travelling in the Philippines in February 2016 and I'm planning to do some diving - I'm currently an OWD and hopefully I'll take the advanced exam there.

I'll only have a limited amount of time though (two weeks, but not all devoted to diving as I also have hiking plans) so I obviously will not have time to dive everywhere. So I'll likely stay in the same general area rather than hop from one island to the next every few days. I'm hesitating between two spots:
- Mindoro, meaning mainly Puerto Galera and possibly Apo Reef.
- Cebu / Moalboal.

I gather that both spots are suitable for divers of all levels so either should be fine on that front. However, I'm having trouble finding info about the weather and diving conditions on both sites in February. Would some of you have useful tips / recommendations / opinions / etc.?

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Centrals]

Water is relatively cold in Feb, 23C at PG a while back.
Getting to Apo Reef is time consuming and it is not really suitable for beginner.
If you like hiking then you should try Camiguin Island but that will require another flight from Cebu or ferry from Cagayan de Oro. BTW, what is your hiking plan?
Moalboal and PG are both suitable for beginner.

 

[Tibo]

Thanks for this! Cebu and around might be better then. But I then have to decide whether to go to Moalboal, Dumaguete, Malapascua, South Leyte... Countless options to chose from, though the Moalboal sardine run and South Leyte whale sharks are quite tempting. Malapascua as well, but I'm not sure how advanced I should be to dive with thresher sharks. So if some of you have opinions on all this, I'm all ears!

Hiking-wise, I was thinking of starting the trip by taking a few days to hike around the rice terraces in North Luzon, and then head down to the dive sites. But nothing is set in stone yet!

 

[Centrals]

Plenty of options but not enough time!! You have at most 10 days to spare after the hiking trip.
The thresher shark in Malapascua and the sardines in Moalboal are truly memorable. And you can combine these two places easily in a week albeit in a rush. But doable.
BTW, you do need AOW for the thresher shark dive at Monad Shoal.
Chinese New Year is on 08th Feb so some dive resorts can be very busy. So choose the resorts very carefully and advanced reservation might be required.

 

[MV Dive]

Hi Tibo,

Greetings from Marco Vincent dive resort, I can see that you are interested in going to Apo Reef in Feb 2016, we do have a trip that leaves on the 12th Feb and will finish on the 15th. If you would be interested in joining us I can provide you with all the information in a PM.

Warm Regards
Kris