First Trip to the Philippines

[nelsondejesus]

another vote for the atlantis resorts (both dumaguete and puerto galera) and the atlantis azores in my opinion is the best liveaboard for tubbataha. I was given a tour of the azores and was pretty much impressed with its facilities. Incidentally, I was wondering how were you able to get a slot for the Azores coz the last time i checked with them, they're fully booked for the 2012 season.

 

[atmosphere_team]

Hi guys,

I agree with everything said in the below posts.

The Philippines has some awesome diving (that's why I am here!) - Malapascua (Evolution Divers are great), Pescador, Tubataha, Coron, Moalboal and Dauin etc - such a variety it's ridiculous And yes it does depend on what type of diving you are looking for.... if you love the critters, Dauin is the place to be - it is just fantastic at the moment. A good thing about Dauin though is that it is very close to Apo - which has 380+ coral species and is one of the most biodiverse reefs in Asia - don't forget the massive school of jackfish at Cogon/coconut divesites aswell!


BTW, you can easily get from Dumaguete to Donsol (flight from Dumaguete to Manila and then Manila to Legaspi - then a bus ride - half a day max.) - although diving with the whale sharks is not allowed.

Good luck with the planning! Hope you have a fantastic trip - if you need any advice about Dauin, I'm happy to help!

Emma

 

[Rogersea]

I am looking for advice of where to dive in the Philippines. My husband and I are looking to go for about 10 days in mid-April. We are moderately experienced divers (rescue cert with 200-300 dives). We have dove all over the Carribean and Mexico and enjoyed Fiji (Bligh waters) last year. Any adivice on how to best use our time there would be greatly appreciated.

Pediatron, Some of the responses have taken an uncharacteristically commercial tone.

I recommend Tubbataha,
My opinion is based on three things:
1. Time of your visit.
2. Your experience level.
3. length of your visit.

I normally only recommend Tubbataha to experienced divers traveling with a buddy. Since you are only planning a 10 day visit it will give you enough time to fly into Manila then transfer to Puerto Princessa where you can pick up your live aboard.

Connections permiting you could spend a little time exploring around Puerto Princessa and the Underground River either coming or going.

YOU NEED TO BOOK SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do some research on the internet but BOOK QUICKLY as slots fill up fast


If you decide you want to spend your time diving from resorts vice a live aboard, there are lots of choices.. I would Pick two places that are in the same general area(minimize time lost traveling) do a search on this forum for

1. Anilao, Puerto Galera and Subic
2. Bohol(Alona/Cabilao), Cebu(Mactan/Malapascua/Moalboal), Negros Oriental(Dauin/Apo Island) and Siquijor

It is relatively easy to combine two of the locations listed on each line. So for example you could do Bohol and Cebu or Bohol and Negros. There are numerous posts describing the locations and transfers between them.

HTH

Cheers,
Roger

 

[pediatron]

I think Tubbataha would have been a really nice choice IF we had thought about this sooner --- we would likely most enjoy the Azores and this is completely booked up. With that in mind, I think we have settled on the two Atlantis resorts with 6 days at each as our first Phillipines experience with plans to return another time (with even more planning) to visit Tubbataha. Thanks everyone for your great input!