Philippines for 1.5 weeks in early July?

[oraph]

I have 1.5 weeks in the beginning of July in the Philippines on the way back from a business trip (flying in to Manila)
Would like to do some diving and possibly cave exploring.

trying to figure out my route... and must dive places. Can anyone make some recommendations?

Places that sound fun from my research..
1. Puerto Galera
2. Coron
3. Malapascua

yey/ nay?
any other recommendations would be appreciated.

[jcclink]

Anilao - had some great muck dives there last month. Some sites have nice reef in shallower water & sand slope/muck in deeper water. Also dove PG (first time for both areas). Anilao was more productive for macro & critters. Haven't been to Coron or Malapascua. Anilao is about 2+ hrs from Manila, so it's easy to get to. Acacia Resort was great.

[matt_reed]

Doing all that in 1.5 weeks is a push. 4 days in PG and 4 in Coron, plus travel, leaves you about 1 day in Malapascua.

I recommend hitting PG and Coron on this trip and planning to revisit for Malapascua and the other Visayan hotspots.

In PG go for Action Divers and in Coron try Discovery Divers. Both great friendly, owner operated setups.

Enjoy,

Matt.

[oraph]

I am not stock on PG.. so if anyone can recommend other sites/ islands /etc. i'll listen.

I hear Coron has great wreck diving... are there other spots that are better? Also if i do end up going to PG... how many days is enough to see everything... 3 days ok?

[Centrals]

I am not stock on PG.. so if anyone can recommend other sites/ islands /etc. i'll listen.

I hear Coron has great wreck diving... are there other spots that are better? Also if i do end up going to PG... how many days is enough to see everything... 3 days ok?

1. If you are wreck "freak" than Coron is perfect but make sure you have allocated enough time to get/leave Coron. Try to stay close to the wrecks. Keep your eyes on weather forecast!!
2. 3 days is never enough to dive all the interesting sites around PG including Verde island.
3. PG + Anilao(no ferry crossing so less affected by weather).
4. Coron + Subic(more wrecks).

[kdsmithjr]

I am an American who learned to dive here in the Philippines. I have about 130 dives under my belt and an advanced card. If you are doing a drive-by visit and you want to squeeze some good diving in yet have choice of accommodations from budget to multistar try Davao city and its Davao gulf.
The carabao dive center (biggest in town)on the Santa Ana wharf has organized boats with dm/guides several days a week. Boat for a 6 hour, lunch stop in the middle (sometimes on board, sometimes on a coral sand beach), 2 dive gulf sojourn cost 350 pesos....about $8. If you have gear, 2 tanks of air will set you back another 400 p (about$10). So for less than $20 you have a 2 boat dive day with a guide exploring anything from muck to beautiful coral reefs- no equip at all, then total will be about 1500p...about $30.
There are also resorts on samal island in the gulf.

[clgsamson]

I have 1.5 weeks in the beginning of July in the Philippines on the way back from a business trip (flying in to Manila)
Would like to do some diving and possibly cave exploring.

trying to figure out my route... and must dive places. Can anyone make some recommendations?

Places that sound fun from my research..
1. Puerto Galera
2. Coron
3. Malapascua

yey/ nay?
any other recommendations would be appreciated.

You might want to add Bohol island, there's diving there (Balicasag and around Panglao Island) and some caves to explore too.

[rjjj111]

i have been to PI 4 times already. i have dove PG, Anilao, Apo Island and Dumaguete, Bohol Balicasag Island, Davao area, Moalboal on Cebu and subic bay. I try to hit all the top spots i can. based on your 1.5 week limit. if it were me, i would go to PG and dive some there and do Verde island and do Anilao. all of these locations are right together. so little wasted time traveling between locations. the night life in PG is great and the fish feeding in Anilao was super fun as well, Verde island is excellent. if you stay in Anilao are stay at www.eaglepointresort.com.ph for PG i like Asiadivers.com. if you really want to travel, go to Balicasag Island Bohol for diving. i swam in a huge school of jax fish and saw a 6 to 7 foot turtle all on the same dive. i have not made it to coron or Malapascua because it is a bit long travel, more difficult and i found other places i want to dive first. but coron or Malapascua will be on my list within the next trip or two

[oraph]

thanks guys.. i'll make my final plans a bit closer to July and decide then.. since this is the off season i should not have any problems making later reservations?

[dolphin38]

Hi, just returned yesterday from 11 days in PG , doing OWAdvanced and completed 20 dives in PG, Sabang, Verde Island and could not recommend it highly enough. Stayed and dived with Mermaid and found their setup, equipment and divemasters excellent. Sabang was great for wreck and deep dives, PG was beautiful with 35m+ viso and a fantastic giant clam dive in only 8m depth and then Verde Island did 3 dives at the washing machine....this was probably the most challenging dive in my life as Ive never experienced the up/down current surges before like that and went from 30m viso to zero surrounded by millions of bubbles, a la a washing machine.
Casual dives in PG are generally 3,000-3,800 pesos for 2 dives all included.

[oraph]

So I'm flying in to Manila around 8 pm... I was thinking of skipping Manila and taking a taxi strait to batangas port. Then a ferry in the morning to sabang. Can anyone recommend a cheap/ clean hotel to crash at for the night at batangas?

[Centrals]

So I'm flying in to Manila around 8 pm... I was thinking of skipping Manila and taking a taxi strait to batangas port. Then a ferry in the morning to sabang. Can anyone recommend a cheap/ clean hotel to crash at for the night at batangas?
A white taxi(outside the departure hall) from the airport to Batangas is at least P2,000.00+ and the toll fees. On top of this you have to pay for a room, transport to the pier and the ferry across.
A small but acceptable room at City State Tower Hotel is P1,690.00. White taxi to the hotel is P200.00(by meter). The direct transfer from the hotel to Sabang Beach by Si-Kat in the following morning at 08:00 is P750.00.

[gungagallunga]

oraph,

if you get to batangas you might as well take a ferry to sabang. check out campbell's resort and dive with scandi divers. ask for dive master walter. i go to cozumel a lot but sabang is better, you wont be dissapointed

[Rogersea]

Good luck on your visit, I would also suggest taking a hotel in Manila for the evening and taking a shuttle/bus to Batangas in the morning, it will help you get well rested for lots of diving.. I wish someone had given me that advice when I went there :)

[oraph]

Thanks guys. Makes sense... Im going to stay in Manila for the night.

[dolphin38]

If your staying in Manila, skip the pvte van/taxi which as someone said is 2000 plus 2x400 pesos tolls and instead go coach which was only 400pesos all up from EDSA terminal. Much cheaper and for the sake of an hour and a half, your no better off via taxi/pvte van in my mind.
Anyway Ive done both so good luck and I wisk you all the best diving.
I found Sabang and Verde a lot of fun and VERY accessible and close dives, but only wish I knew about the actual diving in Puerto Galera as the clarity around the channel dive was second to none and the giant clams a must see in PG as well. They dont tell you about this while you stay in Sabang.

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One other thing when you arrive at Batangas, avoid the "touts" who will grab your bags and "organise" your tickets, when in fact you dont need them, just walk up to the ticket office and buy your own ticket then back 20metres to pay the enviro tax/levy at the opposite counter then go into the terminal through the baggage check/scan.
The touters do it for you, and carry your bags and then want 500 pesos for 5mins of nothing.