Making a trip to the Philippines this Sep. - Need advice

[sammyman]

My wife and I will be making a trip to the Philippines this September for two weeks. We will be scuba certified by the time we get there. I speak Tagalog, because I lived in the Philippines for two years. I would like to dive in places where Tagalog is spoken, rather than Cebuano. We don't have much money, but we would like to dive for about 1 week. Because of the money issue, we can't see many islands. I think for our 1st week we will be visiting old friends in Pampanga area, and the 2nd we are planning on going to Palawan. From what I have read, Palawan is the place to be. How much does a dive usually cost in Palawan? Are there any inexpensive rooms in Palawan? Would it be worthwhile to bring some of my own gear?

Area there any other places besides Palawan that you would recommend? I feel I can only go one place, MAYBE could afford two.

 

[iris_ice]

anilao, batangas is the place to be, then :thumbs-up i remember last year's september, there were many coastal clean-up's and parties. a few rain here and there but nothing unmanageable. expect colorful reefs and rich marine life.

hmmm... palawan. compared with anilao (all else compared with anilao, actually) is pricey.

if you're into wreck diving, coron.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126664&highlight=coron

if you want other activities aside from diving, puerto princesa.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=128791&highlight=puerto+princesa

but since you'll be newly certified (?), you'll love anilao or maybe puerto galera

 

[shugar]

hey sammy welcome to the PPD!

i'd echo iris for anilao... although palawan (coron or puerto princesa) are nice, diving can be a little bit more expensive

anilao dives are generally 10-20$ depending on the resort's system of calculating the dives (some give a standard rate regardless of # of divers in a bangka, others divide bangka and DM cost by the # of divers)

also anilao is a great place for fairly inexperienced divers to get used to the dive environment and be astounded with the # of creatures

Jag

 

[Jason Ooi]

Welcome to ppd

 

[sammyman]

Is it pretty safe there para sa mga Americano? Safer than Palawan?

 

[shugar]

Is it pretty safe there para sa mga Americano? Safer than Palawan?

safer than downtown LA most definitely...

seriously though anilao is very very safe... it's a place frequented by local divers so no NPAs or other riffraff such as that

palawan is also very safe

actually... just stay away from the muslim areas (mosque in quiapo, maharlika village in taguig and the province of jolo in mindanao) and you'll do great...

Jag

 

[boljakool]

Yes, it's safe in Anilao. Especially if you'll be diving with the PPD!

Stick around for the other members to throw in their ideas....

....and expect for the conversation to go into a lot of different directions.

You might want to drop by the "Introduce yourself" thread.

Welcome to the PPD! Have fun & dive safe.

 

[paolov]

Is it pretty safe there para sa mga Americano? Safer than Palawan?

is it safe ? hmmmm let's see HAlthron drives his red sports car brought here from elsewhere, from manila to Anilao (and he is true Americano ) and the last time (long time ago) i saw his plate number - cardboard cut out with the text written "NO PLATE AVAILABLE" hehehehehe

no it was "DIPLOMATIC PLATE" on a cardboard cut out

so is it safe? don;t know.. maybe someone stole his metal plate numbers hehehehehe....



Yes it is safe. but accidents do happen



.

 

[shugar]

is it safe ? hmmmm let's see HAlthron drives his red sports car brought here from elsewhere, from manila to Anilao (and he is true Americano ) and the last time (long time ago) i saw his plate number - cardboard cut out with the text written "NO PLATE AVAILABLE" hehehehehe

no it was "DIPLOMATIC PLATE" on a cardboard cut out

so is it safe? don;t know.. maybe someone stole his metal plate numbers hehehehehe....



Yes it is safe. but accidents do happen



.

don't scare the tourists... how many times should we tell you this?

Jag

 

[boljakool]

...now, that's what I was telling you sammyman!

will somebody take away that columbian coffee out of pao's grip?