Last Minute in the Philippines - Dec 1-7, 2018... Advice?

[Tim McCracken]

I just made plans for a work trip to Singapore, which will wrap up on Nov 30th. I decided to tack on some diving, so I arranged for my return flight from Singapore to home on Dec 7 (afternoon).

I am travelling alone, and would love to find a diving-intense resort or liveaboard. Ideally where people gather for post-dive interaction instead of hiding in their rooms. Not looking for a party place. I can pay for a good experience, but I am not looking for elite luxury experience. At 50 dives, I am comfortable in the water, but have only dived a few places (California, Roatan, DR), so still figuring out what I like. I would like to experience some muck diving, but don't want to commit the whole week to it. I don't want to be in places with 100 other divers shoving cameras in front of each other. I DO want to maximize dives and minimize travel time.

I've spent hours surfing SB, and my head is spinning with the options. I am focusing in on the Philippine's, and more specifically Cebu area.

The Discovery Palawan liveaboard has space departing on Dec 1st, back on the 7th (7days, 6 nights, 15 dives). I would need to extend my return flight by a day, which may be possible. I do have some questions/thoughts about that, though...

• It appears to have ~2/3 of its cabins still available, so I am a little concerned that it might cancel.
• I don't see anything on their site about being able to come as an individual but share a room. Single supplement appears to be 900-1000 USD over the base 1800-2200 USD price.
• The itinerary hits several spots that are recommended here on SB, but I dont find reviews of this boat on this route, so it might be new to them? Concern? Here is the itinerary (and a link to the trip their site): Discovery Fleet Liveaboard Philippines

• Cebu - Malapascua - Visayas 7D6N (15 dives)
• Day 01 - Embarkation in Cebu Yacht Club between 2 - 4pm
• Day 02 - Kalanggaman
• Day 03 - Monad Shoal / Malapascua / Gato
• Day 04 - Pescador Island & Moal Boal
• Day 05 - Oslob & Sumilon
• Day 06 - Cabilao Island
• Day 07 - Disembarkation in Cebu Yacht Club between 8 - 10am

I have sent the Discovery folks the same questions, but would love your un-biased feedback.​

Since that has some risks to it, I am looking for other options around Cebu, in-case the above does not work.
South Leyte looks promising (Peter's Dive Resort, Sogod Bay DR, Southe Leyte DR).

What do the great minds on ScubaBoard think I should do?

 

[DangerousDan64]

I wish for your sake that that you could add another three days and go to Sangat Island in Coron area. It’s a great resort BUT the real reason one goes there is to dive the six LARGE Japanese shipwrecks from WWII. I’ve been diving for more than 40 years now and that was some of the most memorable diving I have done. With a guide, you can tour almost every ghostly space on those ships. As a single diver (I too extended a business trip in Asia to dive), I had a dive guide to myself for these excursions ( they assign one dive guide per buddy or small group). I was there for a whole week and as we dove two wrecks and one reef per day, I ended up repeating several of the wrecks. Normally, I hate being taken to the same spots twice on a weeklong trip but I had NO complaints this time! If I were to do it again, I would go to Sangat long enough to dive the Big Six (three diving days) and then move to another location with better visibility.

 

[Jonathan Venn]

You could check out Anilao, we've got a newly renovated resort, relaxed friendly atmosphere, and social area, yet here is a bit more focused on diving that partying.

Hope you don't mind the plant but I think it could be what you are looking for after reading your post.

www.blueribbondivers.com

 

[xrcjdx]

i'm sure you will have fun whatever you do and wherever you go, but here's an abbreviated review of south leyte: generally easy walls, slopes, muck, great night dives and resorts are already running whale shark trips. you can get 4 dives a day if you are so inclined. 6 am departures from cebu to maasin (diving that same afternoon), 9:30 am departure back to cebu 5 days a week - m, w, f, s, and sunday. you will have plenty of like minded people to socialize with but if you are looking for real night life look somewhere else. for any number of reasons my preference is peter's, but each resort has its advocates.

 

[rongoodman]

It's odd that the liveaboard you mention has so few dives over five days. I would expect to see at least 20 offered.

 

[Tim McCracken]

Thanks folks.

@rongoodman - This would be my first live-aboard experience, so not sure how many dive/day is normal. 3 seems reasonable. 4 would be great, but again, not sure what to expect. I got word back from the operator - the week before will be their first week running this route. Only 16 people booked on it at this point, which sounds nice...

@xrcjdx - I was just checking the Cebu-Maasin Weesum Express schedule - It doesn't show a ferry going that direction until Monday the 3rd. (nothing Sat/Sun). Does that make sense? Sure looks like good diving in your neighborhood!

 

[annasea]

I stayed at Sogod Bay DR a few years ago and quite loved it. I don't recall much socializing going on in their restaurant as they're quite small, but the town is within walking distance, IIRC. The ferry was a drag, but I believe the service has improved and/or there are flights to the town/city just north of Maasin (sp?).

Anilao has great diving, but you wanted more than muck, yes? I spent a week there and was never bothered by the lack of wall diving, for example. Lots of people with cameras, though, so choose your dive sites wisely. The nice thing about this area is it's accessible by car/bus from Manila, so no baggage allowance on flights to worry about. I stayed at the resort the entire time, as I don't recall the town being all that close, though.

Regardless, great diving and lovely people, so it's unlikely you'll have a bad time wherever you wind up.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We stayed in Southern Leyte Divers and there was lots of socializing during the dives and in the evenings. It’s esaily accessible from Cebu by fast ferry and the diving is superb. There are whalesharks there already , we saw two in December. Another option is Malapascua which is also very friendly and has thresher sharks and white tips, as well as excellent macro.

Using Cebu is a good idea , way easier than Manila. Personally I don’t think you need a LOB to see the best of the Philippines.

 

[Jay]

I wish for your sake that that you could add another three days and go to Sangat Island in Coron area. It’s a great resort BUT the real reason one goes there is to dive the six LARGE Japanese shipwrecks from WWII. I’ve been diving for more than 40 years now and that was some of the most memorable diving I have done. With a guide, you can tour almost every ghostly space on those ships. As a single diver (I too extended a business trip in Asia to dive), I had a dive guide to myself for these excursions ( they assign one dive guide per buddy or small group). I was there for a whole week and as we dove two wrecks and one reef per day, I ended up repeating several of the wrecks. Normally, I hate being taken to the same spots twice on a weeklong trip but I had NO complaints this time! If I were to do it again, I would go to Sangat long enough to dive the Big Six (three diving days) and then move to another location with better visibility.

If you're into wrecks (literally too) it's an excellent experience. I went with Corto Divers in Coron ... more in this post here: Shipwrecks of Coron, Corto Divers and Corto del Mar.

 

[All Star Liveaboards]

I just made plans for a work trip to Singapore, which will wrap up on Nov 30th. I decided to tack on some diving, so I arranged for my return flight from Singapore to home on Dec 7 (afternoon).

I am travelling alone, and would love to find a diving-intense resort or liveaboard. Ideally where people gather for post-dive interaction instead of hiding in their rooms. Not looking for a party place. I can pay for a good experience, but I am not looking for elite luxury experience. At 50 dives, I am comfortable in the water, but have only dived a few places (California, Roatan, DR), so still figuring out what I like. I would like to experience some muck diving, but don't want to commit the whole week to it. I don't want to be in places with 100 other divers shoving cameras in front of each other. I DO want to maximize dives and minimize travel time.

I've spent hours surfing SB, and my head is spinning with the options. I am focusing in on the Philippine's, and more specifically Cebu area.

The Discovery Palawan liveaboard has space departing on Dec 1st, back on the 7th (7days, 6 nights, 15 dives). I would need to extend my return flight by a day, which may be possible. I do have some questions/thoughts about that, though...

• It appears to have ~2/3 of its cabins still available, so I am a little concerned that it might cancel.
• I don't see anything on their site about being able to come as an individual but share a room. Single supplement appears to be 900-1000 USD over the base 1800-2200 USD price.
• The itinerary hits several spots that are recommended here on SB, but I dont find reviews of this boat on this route, so it might be new to them? Concern? Here is the itinerary (and a link to the trip their site): Discovery Fleet Liveaboard Philippines

• Cebu - Malapascua - Visayas 7D6N (15 dives)
• Day 01 - Embarkation in Cebu Yacht Club between 2 - 4pm
• Day 02 - Kalanggaman
• Day 03 - Monad Shoal / Malapascua / Gato
• Day 04 - Pescador Island & Moal Boal
• Day 05 - Oslob & Sumilon
• Day 06 - Cabilao Island
• Day 07 - Disembarkation in Cebu Yacht Club between 8 - 10am

I have sent the Discovery folks the same questions, but would love your un-biased feedback.​

Since that has some risks to it, I am looking for other options around Cebu, in-case the above does not work.
South Leyte looks promising (Peter's Dive Resort, Sogod Bay DR, Southe Leyte DR).

What do the great minds on ScubaBoard think I should do?

All Star Philippines has a trip departing Anilao December 1-8 on our Mindoro Strait itinerary. This includes Apo Reef, Puerto Galera and Verde Island. This is a confirmed charter with cabins starting from $1930.

Liveaboard Dive Trips Aboard All Star Philippines