Panglao notes ... GREAT trip

[currier]

I've just returned from a week spent on Panglao, Bohol. This was my first experience in the Philippines, and I'm pleased to share it with you in my first SB trip report :crafty:

Having just completed my semester, I packed and headed to the airport with my gf. We had to wait until 1:25am for our flight from Taipei to Manila, but the excitement of the voyage exceeded the dread of such a late evening flight. Our landing in the Philippines only commenced a 5 hour layover in the capital ...

To cut things short, we finally arrived at 9:40am at Tagbilaran, and we were met immediately by a car from the first of our reserved resorts - Isis on Alona Beach. We were both quite tired by his point, yet we were able to keep our eyes open as we enjoyed the ride from town to the beach.

We were impressed with our lodgings and the food we ordered at Isis. They'll serve standard western fare, as well as tasty local dishes. For those of you who enjoy Thai, well they do that, too ... and do it well. Breaky is good, try the Spanish omelette for P120.

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After speaking to a few shops around the beach (there's enough of a selection), I decided to go out to Balicasag with Alona Divers. We met at the shop at about 8:45am for a 9:30 departure. I was happy with the size of the boat, but would likely have been concerned should we have had many more than 12 divers on board.

(DAY THREE) Dive 1 - Black Forest

25m vis., 28m depth, 5 sea turtles, rainbow triggers, lengthy dive time, slight current to assist you along your way.

Dive 2 - Sanctuary

25m vis., 31m depth, another lengthy dive, one ENORMOUS turtle, and a phenomenal variety of sea life all along the wall.

Our dive guide Zaldy decided to take the more experienced divers, while the OW divers went with another guide. It's been a while since I was the LEAST experienced diver in the group, having been joined by an instructor from HK and a French guy who appeared to have his stuff together while taking pictures for himself ... perfect group ... :cool2:

(DAY FOUR) Dive 3 - Rudy's Rock

25m vis., 34m depth, lots to see along another wall.

Dive 4 - The Wall

25m vis., 27m depth, frog fish, lots of other magnificent things underwater ...

Zaldy went with an OW diver while I buddied up with the instructor form HK ... we remained within sight of the entire group. The only bad thing about ANY of these Balicasag dive was hitting a tidy little patch of jelly fish on our ascent after The Wall ... I wore a shorty suit, and received the majority of injury ... :shakehead:

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My gf and I hired a car to take us on a tour of Bohol ... well, the tourist stuff, at least. We enjoyed the butterfly conservatory, the chocolate hills, and of course, the tarsiers! Upon our return to Panglao, we checked in at our second accomodations, the Bohol Sea Resort in Danao. Great food, wonderful service, nice pool, and their own dive shop.

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(DAY SIX) Dive 5 - PPB

10m vis., 26m depth, intersting poking around in the sands, fine variety of colorful reef fish, frog fish, 1 1/4 hr. dive.

Dive 6 - Kalipayan

8m vis., 26m depth, wonderful wall on which we spotted grouper, nudi, old wreck, weird clawless lobster (those boys are fast when you're intent on catching them ...), 1:21 dive.

Dive 7 - Haward End

8m vis., 25m depth, weird little white worms in anemone, little little translucent boxer shrimp?, more lobster, bat fish, GREAT wall and a slope to (seemingly) nowhere at all.

These dives were conducted with Hanshi, a spectacular guide, all alone ... VIP dives, as he liked to call them ... we dove until my tank was at 50 bar, and I kept a close eye on my NDL the whole time, since my Gekko is about as conservative as they come ... super dives, phenomenal sites, fantastic service on boat and afterward, definitely a shop I'll dive with in the future.
:snorkel2:

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To those who live in (or frequent) PI, I'm envious of your dive destinations. Since I live so close, I'll be back soon!

Those who have never visited, this destination is worth the travel. Maybe not as picturesque as other places in the Philippines, and maybe not your #1 choice for challenging dives, but a relaxing place with lots to see and do (snorkelling, dolphin watching, island tours, etc.).

Let the crowds go to those other beaches!

BTW my gf is not a diver, and she enoyed the vacation - we'll likely return at some point in the future.
:D

[Centrals]

Is Hanshi originated from Saxon in the old East Germany?

[Wantonmien]

Currier,

You beat me to Bohol and Pangloa :) - sounded good, thanks for posting and glad you enjoyed.

The Jellyfish stings looked rather 'gruesome' -- ouch !! There are a few 'over the counter' meds to take the sting out of them, so hope you had some in your bag !! I'm guessing you didn't have a dive camera with you, but if you did how's about posting some pics ?

About time you got that GF of yours in the water !!

Cheers

[currier]

Is Hanshi originated from Saxon in the old East Germany?

Hehehe, yup ;) That would be him!

I enjoyed his stories of Koh Tao from back in the day ... '92 or something, I don't recall ... maybe it was '96 ...

[currier]

The Jellyfish stings looked rather 'gruesome' -- ouch !! There are a few 'over the counter' meds to take the sting out of them, so hope you had some in your bag !!

I ran into fire coral on Green Island about 9 months ago, so yeah, I carry some over the counter cortisone creams in my first aid kit ... since returning home, I've picked up the more aggressive type from the skin docs here in TPE.


About time you got that GF of yours in the water !!

She enjoyed snorkelling at Balicasag ... probably the best stuff she's ever seen underwater! She was wearing a life jacket, and I gave her my own mask snorkel, cause the one that we got there was just ridiculous (there might as well have been little a Mickey or Sponge Bob along the strap ...)

But this is a good point - some places are better than others when travelling with a non-diver gf / wife / mate ... would she enjoy herself out at Mabul / Sipadan?

Hmmm :confused: .... I sure hope so, otherwise I won't be allowed to go!

[passionatediver]

im envious of you... im just here in the philippines and yet i havent been to panglao. but will probably do once i get my resources. PI is a wonderful country just the opposite of how majority of the people describe it...

[Wantonmien]

im envious of you... im just here in the philippines and yet i havent been to panglao. but will probably do once i get my resources. PI is a wonderful country just the opposite of how majority of the people describe it...

passionatediver - Where do you normally head to dive from Manila ? Are there maybe some 'close' dive locations you get to that maybe you guys keep as secret :D Maybe you can offer some words of advise to frequent visitors like myself (and currier) who take advantage of the short flight from Taipei to land before dawn.

PS: agree with you on the PI, great place, wish I worked there and not here !!

cheers

[currier]

im envious of you... im just here in the philippines and yet i havent been to panglao. but will probably do once i get my resources.

I strongly encourage you to do so. I met some wonderful people while there, stayed in quality resorts, enjoyed local cuisine that wasn't too familiar to me (OK, so I guess you have little need to indulge there ...), and partook of remarkable diving experiences that I'll talk about for years! Those walls at Balicasag are superb for divers of all levels, there's so much to see, and from what I understand, even high-season isn't too crowded ... yet ...

Travel is [uh hum red eye relatively] easy for divers coming from Taiwan, but for the PI local population, it must just be a piece of cake!


PI is a wonderful country just the opposite of how majority of the people describe it...

Couldn't agree more, passionatediver! I don't mean to speak ill of others, but some travellers / tourists are incapable of adapting their preconceptions enough to appreciate the time they spend in a number of foreign countries.


Are there maybe some 'close' dive locations you get to that maybe you guys keep as secret :D Maybe you can offer some words of advise to frequent visitors like myself (and currier) who take advantage of the short flight from Taipei to land before dawn.

Wantonmien - I take it you are going to make the Anilao trip in a few short weeks then? Wish I could join you guys :depressed:

[passionatediver]

passionatediver - Where do you normally head to dive from Manila ? Are there maybe some 'close' dive locations you get to that maybe you guys keep as secret :D Maybe you can offer some words of advise to frequent visitors like myself (and currier) who take advantage of the short flight from Taipei to land before dawn.

PS: agree with you on the PI, great place, wish I worked there and not here !!

cheers

I usually dive Anilao or when in tight budget we dive in Bauan Batangas. We are spending the weekend in Anilao in Outrigger Resort. The cost is PHP3950 for an overnight stay (well that's PHP1550 for the accomodation and PHP2300 for 3 boat dives and PHP100 for the conservation fee).

Anilao has a lot of dive sites I've only been to a few and so far my favorite would be Sepoc Wall and Batok (very colorful corals).

Bauan is okay not much colorful as Anilao but I had fun playing with the Giant Clams and we often dive in this site where we always see these turtles. One time, you can see them right when you descend and I was able to play and swim with it. It was super amazing! There's also this site in Bauan where we visit the white tip reef sharks about 5 feet long and there are 4. I was able to concquer my fear of sharks after seeing them for the first time. We could come close as 1 foot from them and they look very shy and kind... They were really cute!!!

Well I haven't gone to a lot of places here in the Philippines to dive but at least I make it sure to dive every month to enhance my skills and prepare me for more challenging dives in the future. Let me know when you visit the Philippines so I can join your dives :)

[passionatediver]

passionatediver - Where do you normally head to dive from Manila ? Are there maybe some 'close' dive locations you get to that maybe you guys keep as secret :D Maybe you can offer some words of advise to frequent visitors like myself (and currier) who take advantage of the short flight from Taipei to land before dawn.

PS: agree with you on the PI, great place, wish I worked there and not here !!

cheers

Currier, if you only know how much I've been wanting to dive!!! :( I want to dive in Pescador and Malapascua and experience this sardine run. Funny, a day won't pass without me talking about diving... The high is still there though its been months since I've got certified. HONESTLY, all my savings goes to diving - I have given up going to salons for hair treatment and going to my DERMA to have face peeling... really! I havent bought shoes or clothes since I started diving because all money is saved for buying my dream BCD, reg, and dive watch. No more Saturday late night bar hoppings!

I plan to get certified as an advanced open water diver this coming decemeber when I get my 13th month :P not very easy for me to splurge my money on diving since I just graduated from college last year and literally just starting. Discovering diving is really the most wonderful thing that has happened to me so far! Oooops. I guess I got carried away...

When you come and visit, I will be happy to join you guys. :) Give me a heads up though so I can already start saving :D

[DonCebu]

The only bad thing about ANY of these Balicasag dive was hitting a tidy little patch of jelly fish on our ascent after The Wall ... I wore a shorty suit, and received the majority of injury ... :shakehead:

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I always seem to get hit with jelly fish stings also.




The Jellyfish stings looked rather 'gruesome' -- ouch !! There are a few 'over the counter' meds to take the sting out of them,


What are the 'over the counter' meds to take ?


I ran into fire coral on Green Island about 9 months ago, so yeah, I carry some over the counter cortisone creams in my first aid kit ... since returning home, I've picked up the more aggressive type from the skin docs here in TPE.


What are the more aggressive types of medications for Jelly fish stings ?

Sounds like you had a great time. Congrats and Nice report.

Thanks

[rab1412000]

Great FR.
I've been to Bohol 8 times and it's one of my most favorite places to visit around the world.
Like you mentioned, there is great diving and many other stuff to do for the common tourist.
Also, traveling to Bohol seems a bit easier than some other provinces since things and information are more organized and readily available.

Sent from my samsung galaxy s2 using tapatalk

[Wantonmien]

I always seem to get hit with jelly fish stings also.

What are the 'over the counter' meds to take ? What are the more aggressive types of medications for Jelly fish stings ?



Don, to be honest I haven't a clue - I've simply gone into a traditional Taiwan chemist, showed the (non English speaking) staff "fire coral", "jellyfish" and "unknown" stings aquired in dives, and they've given me a couple of types of cream that take the sting away after one or two applications - labelling/packaging is all in Chinese writing, translator friend uumed and aahed and said "it's for insect stings" (yes I'd worked that out) :dontknow: - but I'm assuming they are some type of strong cortisones, or steroid based anti inflamatories ? I've found "Tiger Balm" is also pretty effective for some 'unknown' stings also.



Great FR.
I've been to Bohol 8 times and it's one of my most favorite places to visit around the world.
Like you mentioned, there is great diving and many other stuff to do for the common tourist.
Also, traveling to Bohol seems a bit easier than some other provinces since things and information are more organized and readily available.


rab, it's been on my list for a while, only thing putting me off is connecting domestic flight times to and from Manila, as when I've looked the domestic flights mean a lot of waiting around in Manila for a flight to Bohol (Tagbilaran) - and even more waiting around or travel time (if via Cebu or direct to Manila) to get Int flight used to get back to Taipei (23:30) :depressed: travel times a pain in the butt when trying to jam dive trips into 3 or 4 night little holidays as I manage to do.

cheers

[currier]

What are the 'over the counter' meds to take ?

The products I've used in the past from pharmacists include prednisolone acetate or hydrocortisone valerate, along with other anti-inflammatory and/or antihistamines ... the 'aggressive' prescription stuff, well I don't know what's in that, it comes from a chemist, and like Wantonmien says, Chinese labelling ...

My greatest concern with my recent injury was the risk of infection. Coral stings I've had in the past resulted in infection, and this only caused the blisters /sores to stay longer (close to 2 months). I've been taking prescribed oral antibiotics to ensure against infection this time ...

[currier]

Funny, a day won't pass without me talking about diving... The high is still there though its been months since I've got certified. HONESTLY, all my savings goes to diving

Welcome to the greatest and one of the priciest sports on the planet! I know exactly how you feel, passionatediver!


I havent bought shoes or clothes since I started diving because all money is saved for buying my dream BCD, reg, and dive watch.

Sounds so familiar (except the shoes and hair ...). I've only just now purchased my first BCD, and haven't picked up my own regs yet! I continue to say the same thing, but I know others will disagree - I'll dive before I spent $$ on gear. If a have a choice between a dive trip or spending the same amount on my own equipment, I'll go on the trip and continue to use rental gear!!

[passionatediver]

Welcome to the greatest and one of the priciest sports on the planet! I know exactly how you feel, passionatediver!



Sounds so familiar (except the shoes and hair ...). I've only just now purchased my first BCD, and haven't picked up my own regs yet! I continue to say the same thing, but I know others will disagree - I'll dive before I spent $$ on gear. If a have a choice between a dive trip or spending the same amount on my own equipment, I'll go on the trip and continue to use rental gear!!

im relieved to know that im not the only one who feels this way. but i have to agree that i'd rather spend for a dive trip than and continue to rent gears until such time that buying my own BC and reg wont be that painful. im excited to dive with you guys (given a chance) because I want to learn more from experienced divers so I hope that when you get to visit the Philippines, please let me know. :)

[currier]

im excited to dive with you guys (given a chance) because I want to learn more from experienced divers so I hope that when you get to visit the Philippines, please let me know. :)

I'll certainly let you know the next time I'm coming down into the PI ... just not too sure when that will be. I've been looking at all kinds of different locations and types of diving in the Philippines over the past few months, and I'd love to get down there again soon.

Some stuff really gets me excited (Anilao/Subic, Malapascua, Moalboal ... maybe PG), and there's a certain instructor down there that I'd like to meet to discuss some tec training ... eventually ...

[samtihen]

Wow, sounds like I'm definitely going to need to hit Bohol!

[Krazytomdiver]

I have been diving the Cebu area now for (3) months,Malapascua,Moalboal,Dauin/Dumaguete,and now for (3) weeks, Alona beach,Bohol. I would say IMHO, Moalboal is my first choice then Tawala,Panglao second. Taking in consideration of not only diving but accommodations,entertainment,& food, these two are most the affordable. Hope to be inTexas by Christmas if they have not burned it to the ground.

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT

[currier]

I would say IMHO, Moalboal is my first choice then Tawala,Panglao second.

I first contemplated Moalboal before deciding on Panglao, but have recently read more about the area (possible threshers, sardine run, etc.), so I really look forward to getting there in the near future.

Having spent so much time there recently, Krazytomdiver, how would you rate Cebu compared to other Asian destinations? North (Central?) American?

[Krazytomdiver]

@currier Palau is by far my #1 dive destination after dive guiding there for several months. Bay Islands,Belize,Yucatan Mexico,Corn Islands,YAP,and rest of Mexico would be my last. I really enjoy the Cebu area because you can be in another great dive location in a matter of hours. I have only been disappointed on a few dives;not the dive site but insta-buddies for hell and deco plus five dive plans.

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT

[Mike_P]

currier
I plan to dive this same area this December between Christmas and New Years. I look forward to our diving as I enjoyed my recent experience diving Malapascua and the Philippines in general. While in Malapascua, my friend and I met a group that just transfered from Panglao and highly recommended this location. This particular group of divers mentioned that some of the dive locations near Panglao offered a wide variety of soft corals that were greater than what we observed in Malapascua. What is your take on the types of soft corals and muck diving in Panglao?

During my time in Panglao, I was considering taking a short trip over to Dumaguete. While you were on did you ever hear of any speed ferries traveling to Dumaguete? Any suggestions regarding this commute?

passionatediver

After my trip to Bohol, I will return to Manilla for a few days prior to my return home. During this time I would like to make a short trip to Anilao to exeperience this location as well. Do you have any recommended dive locations, dive companies, and resorts within this area?

[currier]

What is your take on the types of soft corals and muck diving in Panglao?
I favored the walls, Mike, only because dives without a bottom were a new experience for me! I was satisfied with the amount of soft coral I saw there, but not incredibly impressed - the hard coral along the great drops was fine, and there always seemed to be soft garden-like patches wherever one finds a plateau of sorts ...

Mucking? Can't comment ... maybe more right offshore, but I spent most of my time out at Balicasag. If you're trigger happy, lots of macro - but again, little comment since I'm not a photographer myself.


During my time in Panglao, I was considering taking a short trip over to Dumaguete. While you were on did you ever hear of any speed ferries traveling to Dumaguete? Any suggestions regarding this commute?

I sure hope someone else jumps in on this, 'cause I'll prove to be of little assistance regarding my personal experience ... however, I found some quick info with a search ...

Ocean Jet 650PHP


1
Daily
Dumaguete
07:30
Tagbilaran
09:10


2
Daily
Dumaguete
14:20
Tagbilaran
16:00





Weesam Express


1
Daily
Dumaguete
14:00
Tagbilaran
16:20





Best of luck, Mike! I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I did ...

[paolov]

to avoid stings next time instead of shorties or full wetsuits, use long sleeves rash guards (two to three layers of rash guards) and some long pants (ORCA (http://www.orca.com/) pants is what i use) and a thin material hood and gloves

the only exposed skin would be the skin around the lips :baby:

[clgsamson]

to avoid stings next time instead of shorties or full wetsuits, use long sleeves rash guards (two to three layers of rash guards) and some long pants (ORCA (http://www.orca.com/) pants is what i use) and a thin material hood and gloves

the only exposed skin would be the skin around the lips :baby:

:rofl3:

[trueobelisk]

the only exposed skin would be the skin around the lips :baby: lol. maybe i should take your word for it. i wear a shortie too. haven't been stinged by anything yet though so maybe i'll learn my lesson when that time comes. hehe.

currier - glad to hear you had a great time in bohol. i'm planning on going there this december with my friend. i went to moalboal last october and i recommend you go there too. saw 51 turtles, a gazillion sardines and a whole lot of things i don't even know what to call! lol