Dumaguete/Apo ?s

Thinking of Dumaguete with dives at Apo around late Oct. early Nov., because diving and viz and weather is supposed to be better than Boracy and Malascupa at that time? Also less crowded? True or False? Also thinking of Siquijor because there are also trips to Apo. Which place is more optimal to base out of Dumaguete or Siquijor? Other than Atlantis what resorts/hotels like divers?
Nightlife in Dumaguete worth checking out or forget it?
Thanks for all replies.

I dived a week at Dumaguete (Actually the town of Daun is where the dive resorts are located, about 25 mins from Dumaguete City) last November. Stayed with El Dorado resort. Dived the local sites and house reef and Apo Island. The diving is pretty good for macro at the local sites. Apo for open-water dives. Apo has strong currents so is good for fast drift dives. Visibility at Apo was often 20-30m. At ADEX this year, met the GM for a new resort in Daun called Puro Vida resort. This is a new resort and it looks quite nice. While the staff, food, and DMs at El Dorado are fine, the rooms are showing their age. For about the same price, you can probably book a brand new room at Puro Vida. Their dive operation is run by Seaexplorers and they operate a number of dive operations in various locations in the Visayan Islands (Siguiqior too). They could probably do a SCUBA safari for you including both Duan/Apo and Siguiqor.

Mr. Blues:

Thinking of Dumaguete with dives at Apo around late Oct. early Nov., because diving and viz and weather is supposed to be better than Boracy and Malascupa at that time? Also less crowded? True or False? Also thinking of Siquijor because there are also trips to Apo. Which place is more optimal to base out of Dumaguete or Siquijor? Other than Atlantis what resorts/hotels like divers?
Nightlife in Dumaguete worth checking out or forget it?
Thanks for all replies.

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Be aware that DuCoMi is now closed off and so the best and really only reason to dive in Dumaguette has been taken away. The other sites are ok muck sites but you pay more marine park fees and even camera fees for only above average muck diving.
Pura Vida is a nice resort with very new rooms. I still pick El dorado for best overall resort of the 3 big resorts. Their dive center was the best run and definitely better than Atlantis, which have problems with their big boat and scheduling dives to Apo and pick ups from Cebu. They also had safety issues with divers being left at sea for 30 minutes while in distress in plain view. Apparently they did not want to go off the mooring line with the boat to pick up the distressed divers and instead sent a kayak to pick up 2 divers. Most ridiculous thing I've heard.
Apo and Siquijor are good for coral. But the local government seems to want to tax the hell out of divers. In addition to diving charges, all sites on Apo cost P150-300 a dive plus P50 for a camera. Same in Dumaguette. And you pay more for diving around here than anywhere else in the Visayan.
In DC, Music Box is the local club.

scubashooter:

Be aware that DuCoMi is now closed off and so the best and really only reason to dive in Dumaguette has been taken away. The other sites are ok muck sites but you pay more marine park fees and even camera fees for only above average muck diving.
Pura Vida is a nice resort with very new rooms. I still pick El dorado for best overall resort of the 3 big resorts. Their dive center was the best run and definitely better than Atlantis, which have problems with their big boat and scheduling dives to Apo and pick ups from Cebu. They also had safety issues with divers being left at sea for 30 minutes while in distress in plain view. Apparently they did not want to go off the mooring line with the boat to pick up the distressed divers and instead sent a kayak to pick up 2 divers. Most ridiculous thing I've heard.
Apo and Siquijor are good for coral. But the local government seems to want to tax the hell out of divers. In addition to diving charges, all sites on Apo cost P150-300 a dive plus P50 for a camera. Same in Dumaguette. And you pay more for diving around here than anywhere else in the Visayan.
In DC, Music Box is the local club.

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Thanks for your reply....
Hmmm.....Actually I read that Apo Island was THE place for good diving and wanted to base out of Dumaguete or Siquijor, but somehow I get the feeling that while it probably won't disappoint it's not worth the distance/time/travel by itself after reading your post about local Dumaguete sites? I'm not a photographer but enjoy big and little stuff. What are your thoughts?

i've tried a couple of dives off apo basing from Bahura Resort (it was in pre-opening then so i'm not sure if they operate yet)... they're a high-end resort that's supposed to look better than atlantis (at about the same price)

i loved my apo dives... schools of jacks and stuff as well as small stuff... great currents... definitely worth the trip...

Jag

Is this a dedicated SCUBA trip to SE Asia or are you going to the Philippines for other reasons and want to get in some scuba diving? If you can chose any country in this area, I would recommend Thailand or Malaysia over the Philippines. While the Philippines does have many good sites, travel, accomodations, and even costs are many times not competitive with these other countries. Even more, overall, the sites best sites in Malaysia and Thailand beat the Philippine sites (sorry to say, the overfishing and dynamite damage to PI reefs is too much to ignore). Since you are coming so far, why not go for the best in the area.

My reccos would be something like Sipadan/Mabul in Malaysia. Geat open water on Sipadan Island and superlative macro at Mabul/Kapalai. SMART Resort and Sipadan Water Village on Mabul are both good all inclusive resorts and cost about $750 for 4 nites/5 days diving. In Thailand, in November, you could base yourself in Phuket and do all the local sites there and also Phi Phi island too. Then move on over to Lanta Island and do Hin Daeng/Muang islands (One of the best sites in Thailand). You could also do daytrips or a liveaboard to the Similian/Richlue islands. There is also much finer dining and nightlife in Phuket than you will find anywhere in the Visayan Islands.

You can also see my previous Sipadan and Phuket reports on this site in the Asia forums.

Mr. Blues:

Thinking of Dumaguete with dives at Apo around late Oct. early Nov., because diving and viz and weather is supposed to be better than Boracy and Malascupa at that time? Also less crowded? True or False? Also thinking of Siquijor because there are also trips to Apo. Which place is more optimal to base out of Dumaguete or Siquijor? Other than Atlantis what resorts/hotels like divers?
Nightlife in Dumaguete worth checking out or forget it?
Thanks for all replies.

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JonnieB:

While the Philippines does have many good sites, travel, accomodations, and even costs are many times not competitive with these other countries.

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really the dives are cheaper in those countries? How much is it per dive in dollars over at Thailand or Malaysia? Just curious for business reasons

JonnieB:

Is this a dedicated SCUBA trip to SE Asia or are you going to the Philippines for other reasons and want to get in some scuba diving? If you can chose any country in this area, I would recommend Thailand or Malaysia over the Philippines. While the Philippines does have many good sites, travel, accomodations, and even costs are many times not competitive with these other countries. Even more, overall, the sites best sites in Malaysia and Thailand beat the Philippine sites (sorry to say, the overfishing and dynamite damage to PI reefs is too much to ignore). Since you are coming so far, why not go for the best in the area.

My reccos would be something like Sipadan/Mabul in Malaysia. Geat open water on Sipadan Island and superlative macro at Mabul/Kapalai. SMART Resort and Sipadan Water Village on Mabul are both good all inclusive resorts and cost about $750 for 4 nites/5 days diving. In Thailand, in November, you could base yourself in Phuket and do all the local sites there and also Phi Phi island too. Then move on over to Lanta Island and do Hin Daeng/Muang islands (One of the best sites in Thailand). You could also do daytrips or a liveaboard to the Similian/Richlue islands. There is also much finer dining and nightlife in Phuket than you will find anywhere in the Visayan Islands.

You can also see my previous Sipadan and Phuket reports on this site in the Asia forums.

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I am just wondering if you have ever dive the Tubbataha Reefs or any of the reefs or islands in the Sulu Sea with Philippine waters?

JonnieB:

Is this a dedicated SCUBA trip to SE Asia or are you going to the Philippines for other reasons and want to get in some scuba diving? If you can chose any country in this area, I would recommend Thailand or Malaysia over the Philippines. While the Philippines does have many good sites, travel, accomodations, and even costs are many times not competitive with these other countries. Even more, overall, the sites best sites in Malaysia and Thailand beat the Philippine sites (sorry to say, the overfishing and dynamite damage to PI reefs is too much to ignore). Since you are coming so far, why not go for the best in the area.

My reccos would be something like Sipadan/Mabul in Malaysia. Geat open water on Sipadan Island and superlative macro at Mabul/Kapalai. SMART Resort and Sipadan Water Village on Mabul are both good all inclusive resorts and cost about $750 for 4 nites/5 days diving. In Thailand, in November, you could base yourself in Phuket and do all the local sites there and also Phi Phi island too. Then move on over to Lanta Island and do Hin Daeng/Muang islands (One of the best sites in Thailand). You could also do daytrips or a liveaboard to the Similian/Richlue islands. There is also much finer dining and nightlife in Phuket than you will find anywhere in the Visayan Islands.

You can also see my previous Sipadan and Phuket reports on this site in the Asia forums.

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For $750 you can do a "tubattaha" liveaboard. 15 to 20 dives in a span of 5 to 6 days.

Other dive sites here in the Philippines would cost you only around $200 to 500 for the same package you'll get in Thailand and Malaysia.

since when was $750 (i assume US$) competitive? the almighty dollar can go soooooo much further here than 4 nights/5 days of diving...

Jag