dive op in bohol and moalboal

[lofish]

so verything is booked, we will arrive Bohol in less than 15 days..
Are there any particular dive ops that you would recommend? And do you bargain?Thanks!

[OuterReefAdventure]

I will give you my best advice::

When I am diving in Moalboal I always use Savedra, scuba diving cebu philippines (http://www.savedra.com/) I like them because they are Professional, reliable, have three scheduled boat dives a day, not to mention all the staff are real nice and make u feel at home... There are other good shops in Moalboal like Seaquest and a few others but based on my experience I always choose Savedra...

I have not been to Alona for approx 1 year and the shop I usually used there has had a management change... Again there are many really fine shops in Alona, but I usually dove with Bohol Divers out of the Bohol Divers Lodge... I also have used Sea Explorers (fine outfit) and a couple of others but I really liked Bohol Divers because I could stay in the budget rooms in the back and it was just a short walk in the morning to the dive center... If I had students with me the swimming pool was perfect for conducting OW pool sessions.

As far as discounts go: you can always ask, since there is no shame in that but most centers have a sliding scale, so the more dives you make with the center the cheaper your per dive cost. Just FYI the diving here is really a bargain to begin with....

[lofish]

Thanks for the info! Yeah.. diving in PI is very inexpensive comparing to other places.

[StanleyCup]

We are staying now at Savedra in Moalboal. 1600 for a waterfront room with A/C and wifi that actually works. But we dove today with Nelson's Dive Shop. 9:00am morning dive at Pescador Island, 2:00pm afternoon dive just south (forgot the name). Guide was Benjin for just the 2 of us - good guide, good equipment, good price (1100/dive, 800 if you have your own equip). No complaints at all.

Some of the other shops are more expensive but the difference in price is nominal so not really worth choosing one over another to save 100 pesos for 1 or 2 dives, in my opinion. However, lots of dives, the price difference can add up. I suggest that you look around and find a shop you like once you arrive. For us, Nelson's has been great.

[Gen San Chris]

I Agree with StanleyCup, Nelsons is good and Eve's Kiosk has good food and accomodation!

[lofish]

Thanks guys.

I prefer diving with smaller group. I emailed Nelson's but i sure will check around on the first day.

BTW, we are going stay at Marcosas.

[Gilligan]

I live in Alona Beach, Bohol part time and do my diving with Seaquest.

If you need a map of the Alona beach area you can download one from my website (http://jimspears.net/alona/index.htm).

[rab1412000]

try sierra madre divers also in bohol.
they have a website you can google.
good luck

[bobshreve]

lofish,
I've dived both places and found Sea Quest to be a good dive operator. Their equipment is good, their prices are reasonable, and they have DMs with good local knowledge. There are cheaper operators in both places, if that is important to you, although the Philippines is already cheaper than most other places.

Have a great time.

[misadventurous]

Hello,

Anyone has any feedback for Belleview Resort in Panglao? Also, is it better to stay in Panglao and do day trips to Balicasag than staying in Balicasag Island Resort?

Cheers!
Grace

[lofish]

We are leaving for Moalboal tomorrow. Did 24 dives with Bohol Fun Diver. The service is pretty good...the ratio of DM to diver is 1:1 for half of the dives, and 1:2 for the remaining dives. Business is definitely slow. Remember you need to tell the DMs what you want to see.

I like Arco Point the most.

[StanleyCup]

Just thought I would add ... we got from Cebu Airport to Moalboal via taxi. Took just over 2 hours on a Sunday morning (Nov 15). I believe that I paid P 2200 to a driver than knew the concierge at the Waterfront Airport Hotel. He showed up on time and had a good car, and spoke good English. FYI, his name was Lito and his cell number is 915-3837568 or 917-6168536 (add +63 before the number if calling from outside Philippines). On the way back, we just booked the taxi from Savedra. Forget the price - about the same, I think. We were considering taking the bus but couldn't be bothered to make the transfers in Moalboal town then in Cebu, as we flew to Boracay the same morning we left Moalboal.

We had originally intended to stay at Eve's Kiosk, but when we arrived, we thought we would walk down the path and see what else we can find, so we ended up at Savedra for US$34/night in an ocean view room (Link: Savedra Bungalow (http://www.savedrabeachresort.com/)). Clean basic room, incredible view and wifi worked well, cheap prices on laundry and drinks in the fridge too. No complaints. We did our diving at Nelson's, no hassle from anyone from Savedra to use their shop. We liked Nelson's Dive shop (also called Ocean Safari) - I think it was about US$20/dive including equipment and only 2 divers to the one divemaster when we went, equipment was fine and DM was attentive to pointing things out. We were happy with them, I would recommend to just go in the day before and find out what their plan is for the next day.

[satellitediver]

Thank you for the thread and info it has shared.

I (Bob) am heading for the Philippines in Jan., will be staying in Bohol for some of my time there. Please if you can, I am interested in trying to get to some other sites, what would you say are, "Must See" sites above & below?

Cheers & Happy New Year!
R.

[lofish]

the dives in Bohol are quite relaxing, and balicasag island is pretty nice. If the current is there, you can see some barracudas; and the school of jacks is always there. Arco point is my favourite. The house reef is nice for night dive as well. There is a wreck around if you are interested. I dont remember the name of site for garden eels. You can also see some thorny seahorse not to far from the beach.

I dove with Bohol Fun Divers, and stayed at Lost Horizon, had breakfasts & lunches at Trudie's (very inexpensive).

For land tour, we managed to see the tarsier monkeys, butterfly farm, chocolate hill and the giant python only. the trip only took a few hours.

have a good time there!