Tips on where to stay in coron / PG to meet other divers

[kalidou]

My brother and I have 3 weeks in the philippines starting on dec 21st. It'll be our first time diving there.

I have 3(ish) questions:

1- At the moment we've done open water classes and maybe 15-20 dives each. We're going to do our AOW classes at puerto galera at the beginning of december (or donsol if giddy's ever answers my email). Is AOW what we need to safely penetrate deeper wrecks near coron? Is that what we need in order to understand how to plan with nitrox or is there another class? We're probably going to do it anyway if they'll take our money, but is this ill adviseable for newish divers?

2- We plan on spending the bulk of our time (~2 weeks) doing coron -> el nido -> puerto princessa. Is this a time of year when we would need reservations? Can anyone recommend any places to stay where we are likely to meet other groups to dive with?

3- We are also considering finishing (or starting?) our trip at either malapascua or PG/Anilao. Leaning toward Anilao though because it's closer to our return flight to the states and we can move more easily (to PG, or even subic) if we get bored there. Seeing pelagics at malapascua sounds really awesome but it also sounds kind of hit and miss and the travel seems like a hassle. Anyone have any thoughts on that decision?

Thanks!

 

[Centrals]

1. AOW will never prepare any divers for deep or even shallow wreck penetration. Some operators will take your money regardness of your level of experience/training. I really do not believe Irako and Akisushima are suitable for AOW students. Current can be strong there.
2. Both diving at El Nido and Puerto Princesa are very very ordinary.
3. If you have 3 wks to spend in the country then I will suggest Cebu and its surrounding area. Starting at Moalboal and then Bohol, Dumaguette, Malapascua, Siquijor and Southern Leyte to consider.
Alternatively, spend the whole 3 wks at Luzon: Anilao, Donsol, PG and Subic Bay.

Make sure you had made reservation. During Christmas most places are fully booked. I certainly would never turn up at Anilao un-announced. All the resorts are scattered along the coastal road and you might be unlucky. BTW, expect to pay peak season rate!!!!

Have fun.

 

[rob1967]

The Coron wrecks are great, although the viz sometimes can be so-so. I would encourage you to check them out, but AOW and Nitrox would be highly recommended since many of the wrecks are in the 30 m range. Centrals is quite right, AOW does not allow/prepare you for penetration, but at least you will be officially certified to actually go to that depth. (The dive ops might let you do a bit of very minor penetration, but nothing major).

You can do AOW and Nitrox on site, or maybe do one or both ahead of time. I actually did my Nitrox the first time I was in Coron, as a relatively new diver, and have been back 3 more times since! Guess I liked it!

Definitely will want to make your bookings ahead of time if going during the holidays.

 

[kalidou]

Thanks for the tips. We're not going to el nido or PP for the diving. Mostly island hopping and snorkeling I figure. We're going to do AOW before the vacation. Maybe we'll start out in cebu or PG and do wreck & nitrox courses there before going to palawan.

Or would it be possible to just do nitrox in the first spot and then do a wreck diving course once we got to coron?

If you could go to just 1 place in cebu (malapascua?), or go to both anilao and PG, which would you pick? Somewhere else?

 

[Centrals]

Nitrox is very useful and is a MUST for any aspiring divers!
Recreational wreck course is a good introduction to wreck diving but it does not really prepare you for penetration. It is something else ie technical dive.

If I have to make ONE choice around Cebu(Visayas) then it has to be Malapascua. But I also like Moalboal and Southern Leyte.
Anilao is very good for critters and most of the sites are not that demanding. But you are stuck to dive, eat and sleep from the same place.
PG offers a lot more flexibility in terms of everything. A night owl would prefer this place than others except probably Subic Bay.
Plenty of very useful informations on all those places.
Make your reservation early if around Christmas.

 

[sonar]

you need advanced for coron wrecks.. you want to be nitroxed certified too. Baracuda lake is also nice to do; it's a heated volcano crater lake. Cool experience

You can make a lot of dives in PG with AOW; don't miss the canyons; awesome awesome site

Book your hotel and course in advance due the holiday season. It's very busy in PG then. I recommend Capt gregg's and dive with Ethei

After holiday season it will be easier to book on location but it's still top dollar..

 

[rob1967]

I haven't been everywhere in Cebu, so I can't say which is best. Bohol/ Cabilao was very good, but PG and Coron are as good or better, depending on what you like. If you like shipwrecks, definitely try to get to Coron. I was going to say, if you are going to be in El Nido anyways, you can grab the flight that goes El Nido to Busuanga. However, a quick check on the internet (i.e., TravelCenter) seems that ITI does not go from El Nido to Busuanga anymore. There is also an 8 hour banka, but it could be rough/ big waves.

It's all good in the Phils. I would suggest don't move around too much in an effort to see as many places as possible, otherwise you spend too much time in transfer. Give each place at least 4-5 days maybe.

 

[chinacat46]

Nitrox doesn't require any dives and since it's book work do it before your trip.

 

[kalidou]

Yeah we're going to fly into coron from manila and then do the banca. We're leaving a couple of days in el nido so we can be flexible on that in case of bad weather.

 

[ocdiver1]

El Nido is a beautiful area and you will enjoy it, and I didn't think the diving there was "ordinary" or however another commenter put it, can't speak for diving around PP, but the subterranean caves are a very worthwhile trip. Another place to think about around Busuanga is Dimayka Island, where there's a good chance at seeing a dugong (although I didn't get lucky). Regarding Malapascua as a maybe...I'd definitely go, and I wouldn't categorize the pelagic encounters as hit or miss...you go out to Monad several times and you really should see threshers, and you should definitely get reef sharks at beautiful Gato Island. The travel time from Cebu to Malapascua is no longer or more difficult that what you would be considering going Manila to PG. Malapascua is by far my fav destination in the Philippines for its combination of both macro and big stuff