Advice on where to go for first Philippines trip

Hi,
Been scouring the board and I'm trying to make a final decision on a good spot for my first trip to the Philippines. I'm flying in and out of Manila and will be there for 9 days (not counting arrival and departure since I get in late and leave early). I've really been leaning towards spending the entire time on Malapascua but figured I would pose the question here as well. Doalityes it make sense to split my limited time between two places? I don't think I'm interested in the idea of Boracay, quality of diving is a factor and I've read there are better spots for diving. I'm ok with quiet and smaller.

As far as diving, I have my AOW and like to get a mix of macro and fish/pelagics. The idea of trying to spot the thresher sharks is intriguing, which is driving the idea of Malapascua. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

If I were you:
1. Malapascua is THE place.
2. Depending on your time of arrival in Manila, I am inclined to catch the first available flight(frequent) out from Manila to Cebu. Change the money at the airport in Manila but never in Cebu.
3. Use either public or private transport to Malapascua. Enough information here if you don't mind to search.
4. If you get bore at Malapascua then either Moalboal or Alona Beach aren't that far away(6-7hrs).
5. Have a nice trip.

If I had to fly in/out of Manila then go down to Puerta Galera and save on some travel time- you certainly don't need to visit the bars all night.... or change your route to fly in/out Cebu which opens up the whole of the Visaya region (and Malapascua). That's just me though- I try to limit my travel inside a country.

You can sometimes catch some deals flying Manila-Cebu but otherwise you're looking at a $200+return ticket, then a bus ride, then a boat ride. However Malapascua is a jewel.

I agree with supergaijin, in particular if it is your first visit to the Philippines, Puerto Gallera or Anilao

I normally stay overnight in Manila then have the dive resort pick me up the following morning and I am diving later that afternoon.

Subsequently on return, another overnight in Manila before flying out again.

Travel by road to Batangas / Mabini / Anilao is around two hours and add another hour for the boat trip to Puerto Galera.

I haven't been to enough places in the Philippines (Tubbataha, Subic Bay, Malapascua, Puerto Galera and Coron) so I don't know it all . . . but I would agree with those who say Malapascua should be your first choice. I say that simply because Malapascua has so much diversity to offer, whereas other places tend to offer lots of one type of great diving (walls sharks and loads of fishes at Tubbataha, wrecks at Subic, macro at Dumaguete, etc.), but not much else.

I really enjoyed my dives at Puerto Galera and I plan to go back, and I also want to see nearby Anilao, but Malapascua is unique within the Philippines because it has a little bit of almost everything for a diver:

• It has big animals: thresher sharks (and occasional devil rays and manta rays) at Monad Shoal, and also white-tip reef sharks at Gato Island;

• It has all sorts of macro critters at many sites (I saw lots of frogfish, various nudibranchs, a number of ornate ghost pipefish, other pipefish, pygmy seahorses, other seahorses, dragonets, snake eels, sea moths, etc. etc.)

• It has wrecks (the Dona Marilyn ferry is a good dive, and there are one or two very broken-up wrecks in shallow water, and the Japanese World War II wreck of the Mogami Maru - a/k/a Pioneer - is a very nice tec dive at 50 meters)

• It has a lot of the other interesting animals divers enjoy encountering, such as cuttlefish, octopuses, mating mandarin fish on a night dive, etc. Now that I think of it, I only recall seeing one turtle, but I can forgive that in light of all the sharks, etc.

It doesn't have amazing walls (other than Monad Shoal, which most divers never see as a wall dive) nor does it have the sorts of sloping reefs which make for amazing panaoramic vistas. But overall, it has more than enough great dives to keep you happily occupied for a week.

Puerto Galera and Anilao are much closer to Manila (as is Subic Bay, if all you want is wrecks) but they don't offer the diversity of attractions that Malapascua does. I was there for almost 2 weeks and never got bored.

Hi there

Nine days is a considerable length of time...I would definitely spend it all in Malapascua...the island is stunning and the thresher sharks unique that most people have no problem fill in nine days there.

Best fishes x

Thanks everyone! With that kind of timeline, I'm guessing splitting time between Malapascua and somewhere else is a stretch due to the travel time. I had heard that the diving in Puerta Galera has gone downhill. I'm hoping to see some colorful reef as this will be a switch from my primarily Caribbean diving. Anilao doesn't appeal to me since it's primarily macro. Thanks!

Well Malapascua is my favorite place to go as well. Glad to see you have your AOW cert. but if you have decent (us less air) air consumption it is advisable to get your Nitrox certification especially for the thresher dive. the bottom is between 65-75 feet and there is nothing but the buoy anchor line between that and the surface. You will also usually dive with a smaller group of divers.

DivingNole:

Thanks everyone! With that kind of timeline, I'm guessing splitting time between Malapascua and somewhere else is a stretch due to the travel time. I had heard that the diving in Puerta Galera has gone downhill. I'm hoping to see some colorful reef as this will be a switch from my primarily Caribbean diving. Anilao doesn't appeal to me since it's primarily macro. Thanks!

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The reef in PG is actually better than Malapascua and is much closer as well. But the viz in PG has gone down significantly over last several yrs.

Nothing can beat the thresher shark!

Malapascua's marine life has been well represented by other posters here. What I would chip in with is that Malapascua is a quintessential tropical island - its what this archipelago is all about and couldn't be more different from what you are used to. So as well as great diving you get to head deep into the Provinces and see what this country is all about - beautiful beach, friendly locals and crystal waters. Its developed enough to be very comfortable but not enough to feel synthetic in anyway.

If you need any help with planning feel free to contact me.

DISCLAIMER - I've been living on Malapascua for 4 years!