Donsol

Hey guys,

Back with my daily questions

For my PI trip i want to see and do a few things. One of them is Coron Island, which is pretty close to my main destination PG so this wont be a problem but i also wanna see some big fish like the whale shark, hammerhead and the manta. From what i picked up best change for this is in Donsol. A few questions about this other piece of paradise

- From PG to Donsol; what will this cost? How does it work? Is it possible to do it all by boat? including sleeping on the boat? (Maybe some fishing, bbq'ing and snorkling on the way?)

- From what i read Donsol is kinda 100% focused on the whale shark. There is not much else to do and it's really touristy (asian family tourism) which makes it a 3 day destination. True or false?

- PG, Coron, Donsol; what is missing? Looking for one location to learn a lot, one to dive to wrecks/ vulcano and wanna see some big fish..

From PG, uf there's a ferry from Calapan, Mindoro to the Bicol region, I'd probably do that for the adventure.

All convenient roads lead back to manila. I'd either fly or take the over night bus to Legazpi. From there you catch a bus to Donsol. (maybe they have direct flights to Donsol now, not sure).
Bus is way more cheaper. Flying is way more convenient.

To Coron, if you leave from Manila friday, you can take the superferry down. All other days you are flying there.

There's lots of little top side things to do in Bicol region, not neccessarily Donsol.

Sonar, near Donsol there is a dive site called manta Bowl (don,t remember exactly where, hopefully others less senile than me can fill you in) that is know for Mata ray encounters. of course it's a hit or miss type of dive whith not much else to do if no mantas show or if you miss the shoal on your way down, but it could be an occasion for you to tick Mantas off your list without travelling 1000s of km...

Hope this helps!

Hi Sonar,

I'm in Donsol at the moment and whilst there is a big emphasis on the whale shark, its by all means not all there is to do.

As Codman says, the Manta bowl is about an hour boat ride away (its a mid ocean dive and Donsol is realistically the nearest place with accomidation and factilities to dive the bowl).

The bowl is a submerged sea mount about 16-28ish meters, its a case of droping down hooking in (can have strong currents) and waiting for a manta to cruise by, wait in one spot for 10mins then move to another for another 10 mins etc etc until deco or air runs out. In three dives there i have seen four manta (3,0 and 1).

Also a small chance that a Whale shark might cruise by whilst waiting for the Manta's, I've have seen vidieo evidence of this but chances are low i guess, but there is a chance !!

There is other diving in the area also, An island called San Miguel for reef and also an undisclosed area I've also dived for the muck and Macro.

There are other land based in the area that i've not looked into yet (hot springs / waterfalls). On the river they also do firefly tours at night.

I thought 100% whale shark until i got here, to see it all you would need at least 4 days spending one day at each (whalesharks,Mantas,San Mig,Land based, but i would advise more than that to see Donsol itself as well.

Feel Free to PM or ask any questions, let me know when you come as I'm based here for a long while. Get in touch and we can share a beer or two. I can suggest some accom and dive ops for you.

Mat.

Please post a trip report and pics. would love to know what critters those muck and macro sites have.

thx again chip, codman

hey neon,

thanks for your reply; pretty much the info I need. If I make it to Donsol it will be in July most likely. Dont know if you are still around then?. If I dont forget I will PM you for info

Are you an instructor or doing your divemaster?

By the way, I read about the whaleshark dives that you dive in with an allowed max of 8 people (but in reality up to 24 people) with snorkles and swim around her for half an hour at a minimum distance of 3m (but in reality everybody who dares touches her at least ones) Is that true or does this only go up for non-divers in the touristy season-trips?

sonar, july is not the season for whalesharks in donsol. i went there once in the first week of june years ago and didnt see a single one. i dont know if their pattern has changed due to global warming.

dude like jigo said you will be lucky to see even one by july. if you still wanna do donsol during that time i suggest also trying to dive the manta bowl
btw gave you a few tips in your other posts hop they help


cheers

Neon is pretty spot on with his comments.

San Miguel, very nice soft coral garden in the shallows.

Intersting muck diving just north (?) of Donsol whaleshark area.

We lucked out on our two manta bowl dives. If the mantas are no shows, there isn't much to see there. Make sure you're comfortable with descending quickly if the currents are ripping.

Sonar, I think you mean snorkeling with whale sharks in Donsol as scuba diving with them is not allowed in that sanctuary. Yes there is a max # of people allowed on each boat and "officially" only 1 boat per whale shark at a time. I think "most" times, this rule is respected but I have personally seen 2-3 bangkas dump there snorkelers on the same whale shark.

Hi,

Yes I will hopefully be here in July, but as others point out not in the whaleshark season, chances drop off dramaticall after May, now is the best time.

I'm an instructor but not working as one here yet, helping out a friend supervising the completion of an hotel at the moment, making it diver friendly and also doing some exploration of new sites (hence the muck dive, but yes north of Donsol) to increase the diving here and hence increase the season for Donsol.

When ever you come, I'll take a few days of and come with you if you want ? A mini scubaboard outing !!

The diving I mention was helping out someone during holy week as all local DMs were busy, very busy.

Unfortunately this also applied to the whale shark, i did it on Good Friday and there were in my opinion too many boats and the rules were bent in a few areas. Not saying too much at this time, but I did complain about one certain boat as it did in my opinion not just bend the rules, but acted in a dangerous manner and hopefully it was heard and not just ignored. Need to preserve this attraction not over kill it or indeed the tourists !!

I have been assured however by local people I know and trust that this is not always the case as Pakman states and "most" of the time the rules are observed. They told me that Good Friday was a bad day to first experience this incredible experience.

Try and get here earlier than July I have lots of contacts to suit your budget.

Jigo, Trip report to follow, I havent got the photos here they were taken back to Manila by mistake (memory card) but have requested them from the owner.

Hope to see you soon Sonar. Oh and good luck with the DM course !!

Mat.