Anilo and Puerto Galera

Hello to everyone who can offer advice and opinions on diving Anilo and Puerto Galera. I have purchased a plane ticket to Manila for the 12th of March and will be leaving March 20th.

My questions are:
Do you think I should spend more time in one city verses the other?
What are some reccommended diving facilities in both cities?
Is it usually better to book a room with a resort and dive with them, or should it be alright to stay with a non diving resort and find a company to dive with?
Is it better to book a room there or should I pre-book?
Should I worry too much about transfering from Anilo to Puerto Galera?
Which is better route; Anilo -> Puerto Galera or Puerto Galera -> Anilo?
Would you recommend getting an AOW there?

I appriciate any and all the imput that I can get! I'm stoked to be heading into the Philippines seeing as I've heard nothing but good things about diving there. Thanks so much!!

Hi Alm,
congrats! You're going to love the Philippines!

Anilao and PG are different. From what I've heard Anilao (I've never been, but read plenty of reports) is very quiet for nightlife. You basically stay at the resort. Whereas PG (and yes I've been to PG) has plenty of nightlife, bars, restaurants if that is your thing. So right off, there is a major difference. As far as diving goes, from what I've hear Anilao is more macro-critter (small cool critters) and muck diving oriented, whereas PG has more varied diving: Muck, macro, pelagics, wrecks, drift diving. As far as variety of diving goes, PG is considered better. But I've heard great things of Anilao and I don't think you'll be disapointed with either!

As far as certifications go. I believe PG has the advantage. There are many many dive shops there most of which give certifications. You have lots of choice. I personally don't know what the certification is like in Anilao. Hopefully someone more knwoledgeable will come along and fill you in...

In Anilao you had better book ahead with a resort (so diving and accomodations will probably be the same place). In PG you can just show up and walk around to find a place to stay and a dive operator (which don't necessarily need to be the same).

Oh, and in PG you can easily find Kimchii!!! There are several Korean run resorts there!

I personally would choose 1 and stay there because you don't have much time and there is lots of diving to do at each spot. But you can easily do both if you insist since they are not far away (20 minute jeepney and 50 minute bangka ride).

As far as operators, there are many and each person has his her favorite. Personally in PG I loved DIVE DOJO. Although not the cheapest, they are very professional and very experienced in giving certifications. But you can also walk around and check places out to make your own idea.:cool2:

OK, I hope this answered some of your questions! Hold on tight because other PPDers will be along shortly to drown you in usefull information!

You're going to love the Philippines...:cool2:

8 days only?
You won't go wrong choosing either site. Your profile say 24 dives. Puerto Galera would be a better bet for you. More dives for novice divers in Puerto Galera. Anilao has some dives for novice's but most are for Intermediate. Anilao is the better place for Macro and color addicts, but Puerto Galera also has some great macro diving, and colorful coral.
As Codman has pointed out, Puerto Galera ,Sabang Beach in particular,does have more of a night life, if you're interested,but nearby Little LaLaguna beach is quieter, and only a short walk away.
There are numerous dive shops on either beach.

Puerto Galera, Philippines. Beach Resorts, Hotels and Scuba Diving Travel Guide and Directory.

You're in for a great time.
You can't go wrong diving in the Philippines!

You definately cant go wrong diving in the Philippines!

I'll be in Anilao March 8-12th. I think the diving is better there in Anilao then PG. Much of the shallow coral around PG has been destroyed due to a typhoon couple years back (at least that is what the DM from Action Divers told me). I've had better luck seeing critters and coral around Anilao. I think both areas have plenty of dive sites for both novice and advance divers.

But, both areas have FANTASTIC diving, cant go wrong!

No doubt about it, if surface entertainment is on your itinerary then PG is for you.

As far as travel...keep in mind the actual travel route is Manila to Batangas to either PG or Anilao. If you wanted to dive in both areas i think it doesnt really matter which you did first. I think i would do PG first then Anilao only becoz i would be that much closer to Manila approaching my return date.

Enjoy!!

Thanks to everyone for the reply's!! I'm 90% sure that I'll stay in Puerto Galera only, and just opt to do Anilo some other time.

I'm not too interested in surface entertainment, possibly a few nights. Other than that, I'm there for relaxation and scuba diving. The night life isn't that much of a concern for me. I just want to find a bungalow, a beach, and a hammock. I'm taking it easy!

As far as getting my AOW, I'll be heading to Thailand (Koh Tao) later this year. I'm curious for y'alls imput on whether to get it in PG or KT.

I'm counting down the days! I'm going shark diving here in South Korea this Sunday, so it'll be a refresher for my diving in PG.

Almchenry:

Hello to everyone who can offer advice and opinions on diving Anilo and Puerto Galera. I have purchased a plane ticket to Manila for the 12th of March and will be leaving March 20th.

My questions are:
Do you think I should spend more time in one city verses the other?
What are some reccommended diving facilities in both cities?
Is it usually better to book a room with a resort and dive with them, or should it be alright to stay with a non diving resort and find a company to dive with?
Is it better to book a room there or should I pre-book?
Should I worry too much about transfering from Anilo to Puerto Galera?
Which is better route; Anilo -> Puerto Galera or Puerto Galera -> Anilo?
Would you recommend getting an AOW there?

I appriciate any and all the imput that I can get! I'm stoked to be heading into the Philippines seeing as I've heard nothing but good things about diving there. Thanks so much!!

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I can't speak for Anilo, but I can recommend PG. Great diving there, and after much faffing about, my friend and I are heading there - yet again. There is a good variety of sites, loads of good marine life, and we like the "scene" so to speak. PG has either a "vibrant" night life or is a sleezy hole - depending upon your particular mind set I suppose. Loads of bars, restaurants, small hotels and all-in-all somewhere pretty nice to kick back and relax (or in our case, dive our socks off). We have had great dives there just walking in off the beach at 5am, or night diving, or boat diving during the day.

Probably a good place to do you AOW. You can do a wreck and a night in addition to the (compulsory) Nav and deep plus one other that takes your fancy, and it will increase your options in future dives down to 30 meters, and there are some quite reasonable 20+ meter dives there that are worth it.

If you are going to do both, probably PG followed by Anilo, as, as said previously, that puts you nearer the airport for you return.

We normally take the same company for dive and accom, as it gets sorted out at one time, but thats by no means required, and while we will book in advance, thats also probably not required - we do it as it means we will be in the water within a cople of hours of arriving at PG, and not faffing around looking for hotels and dive companies. As lazy buggers (with loads of dive equipment plus cameras etc) we tend to do a package including transport from the airport - but thats the expensive way to be sure.

Much of how you organize it depends upon your own individual character. we are "pre-arranged" kinda guys, but part of the beauty of Philippines is that it works whether yu pre-arrange it or wing it.

Either way, you will have a great time.

Almchenry:

....I'm not too interested in surface entertainment, possibly a few nights. Other than that, I'm there for relaxation and scuba diving. The night life isn't that much of a concern for me. I just want to find a bungalow, a beach, and a hammock. I'm taking it easy!.....

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Based on that statement, I would recommend Anilao over PG. I've been both places and prefer Anilao. Different "vibe"... Not much in the way of "beach" at either place, although there is a more "beach" on the opposite end from Sabang towards Big La Laguna. Anilao is much more conducive to relaxation Here's a link for Club Ocellaris in Anilao. They cater to underwater photographers, but doesn't mean you wouldn't enjoy the diving. A nice quite place, I loved it

http://clubocellaris.com/site/

If you still opt for Puerto Galera, I've dived at both Dive Dojo and Asia Divers. I highly recommend Asia Divers. Here's a link for them: Asia Divers Diving in Philippines They operate out of El Galleon Resort where I stayed on my first trip to the Philippines. They're located on Small LaLaguna Beach... much quiter on that end

Any help I can give or questions I can answer feel free to PM me

josh:

We normally take the same company for dive and accom, as it gets sorted out at one time, but thats by no means required, and while we will book in advance, thats also probably not required - we do it as it means we will be in the water within a cople of hours of arriving at PG, and not faffing around looking for hotels and dive companies. As lazy buggers (with loads of dive equipment plus cameras etc) we tend to do a package including transport from the airport - but thats the expensive way to be sure.

Much of how you organize it depends upon your own individual character. we are "pre-arranged" kinda guys, but part of the beauty of Philippines is that it works whether yu pre-arrange it or wing it.

Either way, you will have a great time.

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That's exactly how I feel. I want to make sure that everything is already taken care for me whenever I get there in order to reduce more stress. The SE Asian travel modo seems to be 'just wing it', but I don't know if I can do just that.

My one concern is that I have read and spoken to people that have pre booked with hotels, and the hotel wasn't what they were expecting (which goes for every hotel). Another factor is that if you walk up with without pre booking, I've read the hotel gives you a bigger discount. Do you find this to be true in PG?

Bill, I looked into Club Ocellaris and it looks exactly like the place where I would want to pitch tent. However, I have decided that I'm going to skip Anilo and just opt for PG.

I also looked at Asia Divers and El Galleon Resort, but the rates are a bit steep for me. Good location on Small LaLaguna (where I want to stay) but on my salary, it's a little much.

Almchenry:

That's exactly how I feel. I want to make sure that everything is already taken care for me whenever I get there in order to reduce more stress. The SE Asian travel modo seems to be 'just wing it', but I don't know if I can do just that.

My one concern is that I have read and spoken to people that have pre booked with hotels, and the hotel wasn't what they were expecting (which goes for every hotel). Another factor is that if you walk up with without pre booking, I've read the hotel gives you a bigger discount. Do you find this to be true in PG?

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It CAN be true - and there again, you might end up paying more. If you are prepared to do some walking around, and checking rates and rooms, you should be able to pick up a good deal.

Have you sorted out your transfer from the airport to PG? Thats a car/boat combo, so you need to be well prepared there.

I had a look at your profile and see you are female. Hope you realize that PG can be, hmm, "raunchy" at times.

Anyway, my friend and I will be there about the same time as you (we arrive morning 13th) - drop me PM through the board if you would like to meet up for a beer - or a coffee!