APO REEF off Palwan

Does anyone have any info on diving Apo Reef during July ? August ?
How good is it ? is it good for Palegic Diving ?
Is it some of the best Palegic diving in the Philippines ?
Any help appreciated.
Cheers

Typhoon Season!

More known for great soft corals than pelagic's.
Lots of turtles on some dive sites.

Wow I thought the place had a reputation for big stuff. I'm not talking about Apo Island I'm talking about Apo reef off Mindoro.
Does typhoon season mean that there is no chance of going at all ?
Is there anywhere in the Phillippines to rival Komodo apart from tubaatah ?

Both Rags II and Frontier Scuba, which offer liveaboard trips to Apo Reef, only operate from October to June. Please draw your own conclusions. You are right, there are pelagics. You can always take your chances and make your way to the nearest land-based resort on Pandan Island. Typhoons hit such a narrow path for such a short period of time, it is a complete crapshoot whether your travel will be affected by one. If you can be flexible about the possibility of getting marooned, go for it.

If you are set on July-August you might send an inquiry to resorts in southern Leyte (Padre Burgos) as I believe they get pelagics as well as some great coral, wall and muck diving. It will not, however, be whale shark season at that time. Typhoons strike less often that far south in the Philippines, but 'less often' does not mean 'never.'

scubajunky17:

Wow I thought the place had a reputation for big stuff. I'm not talking about Apo Island I'm talking about Apo reef off Mindoro.
Does typhoon season mean that there is no chance of going at all ?
Is there anywhere in the Phillippines to rival Komodo apart from tubaatah ?

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It USED to have that reputation. I was there a couple of years ago and it seemed the huge schools were history. No major pelagic action, at all. And, the reefs were suffering, too (maybe the reason the pelagics were gone?). I even saw anemones that were bleaching. That is something I had not seen before.

This anemone was mostly OK, but you can see the beginning of bleaching at the tentacle bases.



Partially bleached








This one was pretty much fully bleached and may soon be dead.








Don't get me wrong....the diving is still wonderful with plenty of great photo subjects. I would go back in a heartbeat. I would, however, leave my wide angle equipment at home.

All the flights from HK to Manila were either cancelled or delayed last Wed because of Typhoon Rammasun.

oops! on my past - I was referring to Apo Island.....

have been to apo reef 3 times - most recently in april on rags II, and the time before in august 2013 with rags II as well. rags II is dry docked for regular maintenance, and coincidentally ralph j must be in germany, not because it doesn't usually go to apo in august. but it does get a little bumpy rounding mindoro through the strait. that said, last august (2013) the visibility was absolute crap, and we were told it was the worst ever seen by the crew. i can believe that, because the times before and after (february 2012 and april 2014) the visibility was near caribbean at i guesstimate 30 - 40 meters +. white tips galore, tuna, trevally, barracuda, a bull shark in 2012 and the last trip a giant manta and a couple eagle rays as well. the corals are out of this world. bleaching was the exception, big stuff is very common (sharks on 11 of 12 dives in april 2014, on every dive in 2012), as are a variety of nudis, and i am happy to say allison's experiences of a couple years ago were isolated (as was my bad viz trip in august 2013). there are some primitive liveaboards leaving from coron town - which might have trouble getting there in august because of the monsoon or riskiness of typhoon season - or from the sablayan area of mindoro, from which it is quite close and easily reached all year. check out your options from pandan island resort, which i have never been to but heard good things about.

Is there anywhere in the Phillippines to rival Komodo apart from tubaatah ?

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How would you compare Komodo to Apo Reef?

I was on a 5-day liveboard starting from Labuan Bajo in 03/2014, North Komodo - fantastic diving, mantas, sharks, strong current though. Now I am considering - to go back to Komodo for the southern part, or to Philippines for 2-3 day Apo Reef liveboard from Pandan plus a few days at Sabang.