The Philippines vs. Roatan/Utila

[altaskier]

I would also recommend the Philippines. I've not been to Roatan or Utila, but I've been to the British Virgin Islands (5x) and to Belize (1x), and I've been to the Anilao region of the Phiippines (2x, in 2010 and 2012). I enjoyed them all, but I'd clearly pick the Philippines over the Caribbean for richness and variety of marine life.

You can find areas with ripping currents in the Philippines, but you can also find lots of easy diving. Be upfront about your experience when booking a place, and also with the divemaster when you show up; they have a vested interest in not losing customers both in the sense of not putting them into uncomfortable diving situations and in the literal sense of not losing them at sea!

Also, as far as getting around goes, if you pick a dive center that arranges for a van from airport to resort you'll have a very easy time of it. Anilao is about 3 hours from the Manila airport, and it cost $75/person round trip to have a van meet us at the airport and bring us straight to the dive resort (Club Ocellaris). This is an expensive option for locals, but it made it very easy for us. We did have fun taking local trips on the very colorful local jeepneys.

I'm told that the island of Minanao is not as friendly a place for North Americans to travel to, but I don't think there are many dive resorts there anyway. My experiences were all with really friendly people, and I didn't feel that anyone was trying to rip off the foreign tourists (though I'm sure one can find bad apples). One thing to keep in mind is that some places like Puerto Galera have areas with girly bars; with a 16 year old daughter at home, I would have a hard time being in the neighborhood of that scene. I wouldn't stop from going to someplace like the Atlantis resort in Puerto Galera, but I would not want to stay in other parts of the village.

As far as where to go in the Philippines, you might turn to the Philippines sub-forum on Scubaboard. With two weeks, you could visit two different locations, or you could just go to one area and hop to two different resorts at least 15 miles apart just to get a little variety on dive sites.

I picked Club Ocellaris in Anilao for both of my visits. In each case, I had just 4 days for diving as part of a work trip, and it was during the wet season from August through October, so I didn't want to risk delays from connecting flights. Club O does an outstanding job of catering to dive photographers and marine researchers, and they found ways for us to dive even in non-ideal weather conditions (we knew in advance that we were going in typhoon season). Anilao is justly known for fantastic macro photography, and we had a great time!

If I were going for a 2 week vacation, I might consider the Dumaguete area (like Dauin) for at least one week. You can transfer to a short flight there from Manila, or there are also some international flights to Cebu. You could stay in a place that caters to foreigners one week, and then experience a less-fancy but closer-to-the-local-scene place the second week after getting familiar with the area (I actually prefer the latter type).

Go for it; try the Philippines!

 

[Damselfish]

I agree, I don't think it's necessarily bad for a new diver to go to the Philippines. Travel can be "colorful" but lots of people would consider that a reason to go, and with plenty of English spoken it does make things easier. Just do your research, and let them know your experience and what you're (un)comfortable with. Currents can clearly vary, even in the same areas we experienced mild and ripping at different times. We dove from Dauin for a week (also hitting Apo and Siquijor), and Moalboal for a week (also hitting Pescador and Oslob.)

...and I just remembered, the place we stayed in Moalboal had a large group of high school kids from Hong Kong getting certified.

 

[Moray]

I just returned from the atlantis resorts in puerto galera and dumaguete.if you're concerned about your diving experience or travel in the Philippines go with them.from the airport to the resorts you are well taken care of.the diving is great,better than roatan which I like also.the dive staff looks after your individual needs and provides consideration for your wants.although it is more advanced diving (currents) than roatan, the whole experience (food,culture,service) is more enjoyable.at least for me.

 

[Doc]

I like me some Atlantis Sabang (near Puerto Galaera)

Here are the boats you can generally expect in that region:

Caveat: At Hotel Atlantis- the guests are heavily discouraged from carrying their gear aboard- certainly they never carry a tank... this photo is of one of their neighbors.

..... I keep hearing about AKR, do you know anything about Bananarama Resort? They seem to have awesome prices and are a smaller operator (not a fan of cattle boats).

Cattle Boats have some widely varying definitions. What I call a protoytypical cattle boat was a Bob Soto boat in Cayman chartered for the daily Cruise ship diver run. You'll really know a cattle boat when you see one, and I hope you never do.

On Roatan, there is nothing even remotely in that ball park, yet.

AKR has some larger capacity dive boats, but I really can't put them in that category by any stretch of imagination. Understand the basic constraints of time as it relates to any dive operation. At AKR, you can economically and easily get that 4x a day. At CCV you're going to get 5x, but your wife will go flatline. At other local day-dive ops, this is a stretch, if not impossible.

Chose wisely.

 

[duroejc]

The service at Atlantis in either Puerto Galera or Dumaguete is exceptional. It is a bit more expensive than utila or Roatan. Some of the best food I've ever had. Do it if you can.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

If the Philippines costs around the same, go to the Philippines. No two ways about it. But if it is still a strain on your budget, there are many other Caribbean destinations a lot easier and cheaper to get to than Honduras. From Vancouver that is. Honduras is one of the most inconvenient and expensive from Vancouver. But you can easlily get to many other places like, Curacao, Grenada....

Bryan
SCUBA DESTINATION DEALS - HOME

 

[Woodiver]

As you have found out, travel to the Caribbean is a pain from the Northwest and for about the same amount of travel time, you can make it to Manila or Hong Kong. Seems like Cathay from YVR was 12-14hr into HKG and another 1/12hrs to Manila.

Diving in the Caribbean doesn't compare to the Philippines in terms of biodiversity and it can be very inexpensive if you stay away from the operations that market towards western markets like Atlantis. We have stayed at Atlantis and had a wonderful time but you can dive the same area while staying with other lodging options and operators for less money.

The Dumaguete local sites are sloping muck sites with lots of critters like Lembeh unless you transit to Apo Island for reef diving. I thought Puerto Galera had a nice mix of critters and reef sites and enjoyed it more than Dumaguete. If you go to Puerto Galera, do not miss the Verde Island trips, great sites but be prepared for currents and rough surface conditions. The advantage of Puerto Galera is it can be reached with a combination of car or bus and boat from the Manila airport.

Another option would be Lembeh/Bunanken combo or to go to Bali or Komodo, both take longer to get to but offer great diving.

Photos from the Philippines can be found here: Philippines 2008 - a set on Flickr

Photos from Bali can be found here: Bali 2010 - a set on Flickr

Photos from Komodo can be found here: Komodo 2011 - a set on Flickr

 

[mainer04270]

We have been to Roatan, Utila and just recently, the Philippines. I agree with roatanman. The only difference is, you'll see very different things in the Philippines than the Caribbean. The currents, in the Philippines can be like E ticket rides at Disneyland. If you are not strong swimmers, you go where the current wants you to go, at the speed the current wants you to go. We stayed at El Galeon Resort, on Mindoro Island. We both have 500+ ocean dives under our belts, but we prefer the diving in Roatan/Utila. As a matter of fact, we are going to Roatan, in April for the 3rd or 4th time. I would never go back to the Philippines. We were able to do 4 or 5 dives/day, one being a night dive, but the boats were crowded, we had to backward roll off the boat, which was not a real problem, but it was on command, as the person on the opposite side of boat had to roll off at the same time. I really don't feel you have enough dives to handle what you might experience in the Philippines. There are downwellings or down currents that can take you from 15 feet to 90 feet, in seconds, without you being aware of it. It happened to us, and unless you know how to handle it, you could lose your life. I would HIGHLY recommend Roatan and/or Utila. You won't regret it, I promise!

 

[BlueDevil]

We have been to Roatan, Utila and just recently, the Philippines. I agree with roatanman. The only difference is, you'll see very different things in the Philippines than the Caribbean. The currents, in the Philippines can be like E ticket rides at Disneyland. If you are not strong swimmers, you go where the current wants you to go, at the speed the current wants you to go. We stayed at El Galeon Resort, on Mindoro Island. We both have 500+ ocean dives under our belts, but we prefer the diving in Roatan/Utila. As a matter of fact, we are going to Roatan, in April for the 3rd or 4th time. I would never go back to the Philippines. We were able to do 4 or 5 dives/day, one being a night dive, but the boats were crowded, we had to backward roll off the boat, which was not a real problem, but it was on command, as the person on the opposite side of boat had to roll off at the same time. I really don't feel you have enough dives to handle what you might experience in the Philippines. There are downwellings or down currents that can take you from 15 feet to 90 feet, in seconds, without you being aware of it. It happened to us, and unless you know how to handle it, you could lose your life. I would HIGHLY recommend Roatan and/or Utila. You won't regret it, I promise!

With due respect this post is patently ridiculous. The Philippines is a a very large area and it has lots of diverse diving conditions. Just because you went to a resort that had small overcrowded boats and was subjected to strong currents does not mean that all of the Philippines is like that! To imply that is typical of the Philippines is plain wrong.

As I said previously the diving we did on the Dauin coast was amongst the easiest diving I have ever done. The seas were glassy calm and currents virtually non-existent. The boats we were on were large with heaps of space and a level of service better than any dive resort I have ever been to. I would highly recommend this area for beginner divers as it has fantastic marine life and is almost as easy as diving in a swimming pool.

For anyone going to the Philippines choose a quality resort and an area that offers diving suitable for your level of experience and you will have a fantastic experience!

 

[Krazytomdiver]

Nothing compares to the diving in the Philippines except Palau,the Disneyland of diving. Come to the Cebu Island area,dive Panglao,Alona Beach,Dumaguete,Dauin,Moal Boal,and Malapasqua. It will be the best dive & travel experience of a lifetime. Unlike the Caribbean,the Philippines is 7200 islands & so many interesting adventures to do topside. Easy to get around,safe and worth every piso.
Dive safe,Have fun!

"Living life without a hard bottom"
KT