Tough choice on where to go in April 2014

[FT]

Check out the pictures on Facebook pages for Thresher Shark Divers and Evolution Divers. Reconstruction is in progress on Malapascua. For sure you can dive, eat and sleep there. Padre Burgos was south of the worst damage, but I advise you to contact operators there for the most accurate info. It must be borne in mind that Filipinos bounce back in stunning fashion. I note from Tripadvisor that all three resorts have had visitors since the typhoon who write positive reviews.

 

[Centrals]

Padre Burgos looks pretty amazing, though it seems its a bit of a trek to get there, but there are whale sharks there as well.
Was it affected much by the storm ?

Tacloban airport is operational again and Padre Burgos(Sogod Bay) is further 3hrs by private transfer. Luckily(?) it is slightly off the beaten track otherwise it will be packed with diving resorts eg. Alona Beach in Bohol or Puerto Galera.
Anilao, Apo Island, Bohol, Dauin, Malapascua, Moalboal, Puerto Galera and Sogod Bay are all great.
But if you insist on pelagic then only Malapascua can more or less guarantee thresher shark. By the time(May) you arrive at Malapascua, you probably wouldn't notice the damage casued by the last typhoon.
May could be a bit late for the gentle giant in Sogod Bay. Unlike those in Oslob, they don't hang around for the free hand out. "Yolanda" did not come anywhere near last Nov.
Have a nice trip.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi there

i have dived Malapascua , Maolboal, Dumaguete and Alona in Bohol.

The thresher shark site in Malapascua is at 30 mts and nobody will or should take an Ow diver there....they may take you if you are signed up for AOW though. To maximize your time with the threshers you also need to be Nitrox certified or doing the course.My advice would be to wait till you have more experience.

i really liked Maolboal , pretty reefs , lots of turtles and very easy access to the whalesharks at Oslob. Many people disagree with the feeding etc but I loved it and it seems to really help the local very poor people.

I the diving in Balicasag with Sierra Madre divers and saw and swam with the massive school of jacks on several dives. There were no currents , the water was beautifully clear and the reefs and fish life were top notch. However I did not like Alona Beach . It was in my humble opinion grotty and touristy and come the weekend it seemed to be full of obese Caucasian men in the 50 plus age bracket with tiny Filipino young girls clinging to them.

I have just spent 5 nights in Dauin with Liquid Dive and just totally loved the place. Have a look at the tripadvisor reviews for more information. We managed to get to Apo Island on a 3 dive day trip and it was fabulous. Unseasonably bad weather meant that we could only do shore muck dives for the rest of the time, which are not really my thing. However by April the weather should be much better and other boat dives should be available . The instructors I met last week were all delightful.

Sorry if this has made your decision even harder !!!,

 

[mjrob]

You'll love Atmosphere...at least I do. Been twice and have been blown away by the quality of their dive staff (very cool muck diving), the food, staff overall and pricing--pretty much five star at three star rates. They run their large, comfortable boat over to Apo Island regularly. It's about a half-hour ride each way. Or, if you want only coral, try Amun Ini on Bohol. Beautiful, new resort with another excellent staff and fine food. Diving is gorgeous coral with walls right off shore. Super white sand beach as well. Very short boat rides at either place and high-quality dive boats.

For the best possible experience, do both! It's about an hour and a half high-speed ferry ride (and a half hour of driving on each end) to get from one to the other. Contact Bigs Eggert at bigs@atmosphereresorts.com and she can set you up. You'll love her and she reps for both properties. If you're doing your AOW while there, Frank at Atmosphere is a great instructor and a lot of fun. Tell him Mark says hi and to try diving in the ocean instead of the pool sometime.

Seriously, great people and fantastic facilities with wonderful diving. You can't go wrong.

Oh, I was there when the typhoon went through and neither of them suffered any damage. Amun Ini was also unaffected by the earthquake on Bohol.

 

[norinori]

thanks. If we are keen on seeing doing more coral dives is that a problem @Atmosphere ? I see on their dive list there are coral dives around dauin too. (I'm interested in muck too, but would like a mix of dives with leaning more coral than muck)

also is the trip to Apo Island dependent on enough people wanting to go or do they go regardless ?

as for Moalboal - any reccomendationss where to stay ? -- is there any place there that can compare to Atmosphere ?

 

[mjrob]

There is some pretty interesting coral at Atmosphere, in particular sites like the Pyramids where they've created structure for soft corals and it's working very well. It's just that they're better known for muck diving. They do have some coral, just nothing like Apo's World Heritage rating. There's a site there called Sahara that, at first glance, looks like a desert...but it holds thousands of huge (biggest I've ever seen) garden eels. Richard, one of their divemasters, took us there and said we were on "operation octopus." He found five of them in the sand that we'd have never seen. It's pretty cool.

As far as Apo, I don't know what their minimum is, but I doubt it's very big. I've done multiple dives with them with just two people on a boat and shore dives one-on-one. They truly bend over backward to be accommodating. Bigsy can tell you what they can do. Adam runs the dive shop and he's about as flexible and laid back as they get.

I don't know anything about Moalboal, sorry.

 

[eagerbeaver]

How recovered is Malapascua - I know that the dive shops are back open, but how is the rest of the island ? (and I know it would be good to go and help contribute to the rebuilding)

What do you mean exactly? Many of the local and/or smaller business are not yet fully rebuilt, but everyone on the island is at work and doing the same things the did before. All the best restaurants and resorts are fully operational and have been since days or only weeks after the storm. There are trees, there is sunshine. What more do you want from "the rest of the island"?

 

[gaudencio]

For me, I recommend Apo Island. you can stay at Liberty Lodge. The diving is great, there are pelagic like jacks, wahoo etc. and lots of turtles also. There are also nudies and muck diving there. Visibility is great comparing to Puerto Galera or Anilao. travel times to all the divesites are only 15 mins. So you don't have to wake up early just to go diving. I did 3-4 dives a day when I was there. The only downside to the resort is the electricity but I didn't find it a problem because I was still able to charge my camera n strobe before lights went off.The food at the resort is good and not expensive. Hope this helps.