pakman
Contributor
Edit: Oops! Title should be Bohol/ Balicasag! nothing to see in Tagbilaran!!!
OK, after dishing out bits and pieces during my trip thru my blackberry, I thought I’d better recap my post-Workshop trip to the Visayas (Bohol/ Dumaguete/ Malapascua). I decided to give the Visayas a shot since I had always dove up north in PG, Anilao, Subic, and Coron but never around Cebu. I also rolled the dice about going out their during the typhoon season. Luckily I had blue skies for most of my trip with the exception of 1 overcast day and another day with short showers.
First off… I was going to try to use Sea-Explorers who are supposedly a well established dive operation in the Cebu/ Visaya area. They have shops in Alona, Cebu, Dumaguete, and Malapascua and offer sea safaris. But I got a bit frustrated exchanging emails with them as the receptionist just couldn’t seem to answer my simple questions and create a custom itinerary for me to Bohol, Dumaguete/ Apo, and Malapascua.. In the end I let my local dive travel agent make suggestions and arrangements.
Aug 30-Sept.1 Panglao Island, Bohol
After a great time in Anilao and Puerto Galera with the fellow PPD'ers/ Mike Veitch Photo Workshop, I flew down directly to Tagbilaran on Bohol Island. PAL runs flights from Manila to Tagbilaran which is about a 40min drive to the dive resorts on Alona/ Panglao Island. I had booked by flights all on PAL as I signed up for their regional Sport Plus package which allowed me to check in 40kg total of luggage on my Hong Kong to Manila flight and on their domestic flights. With my camera gear, I needed all of that 20kg extra allowance! Tagbilaran is the main city in Southern Bohol. Flying into Tagbilaran, you can see the famous chocolate hills of Bohol. There are banks there with ATM’s connected to Cirrus/ Plus networks (although I had a slight problem with my atm card… L ). A number of ferry services also run between Tagbilaran from Cebu City and also connect to Dumaguete.
My travel agent booked a package with Bohol Beach Club (BBC). They are located about 20 min drive north of Alona Beach. The resort looks nice and has its own private beach but it’s isolated from anything else… The downside is that they aren’t really a dedicated dive resort but rather a beach resort that has a dive shop (Aquasport) next to it. I was the only diver there during my 3-4 days. The resort is pretty large and they put me in a room on the complete opposite side of where the dive shop was because there was some ASEM convention going on. There was added security due to this convention including police walking thru the resort and a Philippine Naval patrol boat parked out in front… They couldn’t get me a room closer to the dive shop so everyday I would have to walk nearly 2 football fields carrying my 10kg camera (yes I’m a lazy sob). The DM’s there were nice but they don't have Nitrox - something I would strongly recommend for diving on Balicasag to max your bottom time watching the barracudas! The other annoying things about BBC - The resort had horrible food and you would have to order your lunch and carry it from the resort restaurant to the dive shop. They do not allow tricycles or taxis into the premise, so you are captive to their expensive car service if you wanted to head down to Alona Beach where all the restaurants and bars were. On the positive, as I was the only diver there, I literally had the entire dive shop and bangka to myself with a personal DM.
On the day of arrival, we did an afternoon dive just out in front of the resort. This is supposedly one of the better dive sites on Panglao Island and better than what is in front of Alona Beach. There’s a nice a drop off to about 30-40m with some lovely coral and good fish life. Visibility was great. I had the dive entirely to myself.
Edit: just noticed that we did see a pygmy in front of BBC. Unfortunately he was shy and kept facing away! grrr...
Day 2-3, I did the day trips to Balicasag Island which is a must do if you’re in the area. All the dive shops on Alona Beach do day trips there. There is even a small basic resort on Balicasag itself. I will post some topside pics shortly. The attractions at Balicasag Island are a large school of barracudas, jacks, and some large trevally. It took us about 35-40min to get to Balicasag Island. We left early and got there well before the Alona Beach bangkas arrived. 1st two dives were great. Really beautiful little island and great underwater scenery. No other divers in sight. But we didn’t have luck seeing the schooling barracudas. After lunch we headed in the direction that the local fisherman said they saw the barracudas. We finally saw them on the 3rd dive and again on the second day. We also saw the schools of jacks. There is one lone silver or gold giant barracuda. It was pretty massive. I couldn’t get a close pic of him while he was getting cleaned. One of the dives, I had to drop down to 40m to get some good shots of the barracudas but usually you can see them around 20-25m or shallower. Since I was diving on air, I was hitting NDL’s quickly and getting into some long deco obligations by the end of the day. Fortunately, the shallows (5-7m) on Balicasag are pretty cool. Nice patches of coral with tons of life on them. Great way to do your deco or safety stops. At one point I was up to a 20min in deco obligation. But what a way to pass the time, snapping pics of frogfishes swimming between coral islands and other small critters in abundance. Sadly, in my excitement I lost my brand new mask getting back on the bangka. YES I was doing a MOF, and paid dearly for it!!!
So if anyone sees a brand new black Mares X-vision in the deep not that far off from the Balicasag resort…
On my last nite, I headed into Alona Beach to pick up a new mask and check out the scene. Really nice area. Rows of resorts, dive shops, and restaurants all along the beach. Resorts ranged from upscale family room types like Alona Palms to more budget rooms. Great variety of restaurants with al fresca seating right on the beach. Next time, I’m definitely staying on Alona Beach.
Will post Bohol/ Tagbilaran pics once I get back from work tonite.
Next: Dumaguete… (to be continued)
OK, after dishing out bits and pieces during my trip thru my blackberry, I thought I’d better recap my post-Workshop trip to the Visayas (Bohol/ Dumaguete/ Malapascua). I decided to give the Visayas a shot since I had always dove up north in PG, Anilao, Subic, and Coron but never around Cebu. I also rolled the dice about going out their during the typhoon season. Luckily I had blue skies for most of my trip with the exception of 1 overcast day and another day with short showers.
First off… I was going to try to use Sea-Explorers who are supposedly a well established dive operation in the Cebu/ Visaya area. They have shops in Alona, Cebu, Dumaguete, and Malapascua and offer sea safaris. But I got a bit frustrated exchanging emails with them as the receptionist just couldn’t seem to answer my simple questions and create a custom itinerary for me to Bohol, Dumaguete/ Apo, and Malapascua.. In the end I let my local dive travel agent make suggestions and arrangements.
Aug 30-Sept.1 Panglao Island, Bohol
After a great time in Anilao and Puerto Galera with the fellow PPD'ers/ Mike Veitch Photo Workshop, I flew down directly to Tagbilaran on Bohol Island. PAL runs flights from Manila to Tagbilaran which is about a 40min drive to the dive resorts on Alona/ Panglao Island. I had booked by flights all on PAL as I signed up for their regional Sport Plus package which allowed me to check in 40kg total of luggage on my Hong Kong to Manila flight and on their domestic flights. With my camera gear, I needed all of that 20kg extra allowance! Tagbilaran is the main city in Southern Bohol. Flying into Tagbilaran, you can see the famous chocolate hills of Bohol. There are banks there with ATM’s connected to Cirrus/ Plus networks (although I had a slight problem with my atm card… L ). A number of ferry services also run between Tagbilaran from Cebu City and also connect to Dumaguete.
My travel agent booked a package with Bohol Beach Club (BBC). They are located about 20 min drive north of Alona Beach. The resort looks nice and has its own private beach but it’s isolated from anything else… The downside is that they aren’t really a dedicated dive resort but rather a beach resort that has a dive shop (Aquasport) next to it. I was the only diver there during my 3-4 days. The resort is pretty large and they put me in a room on the complete opposite side of where the dive shop was because there was some ASEM convention going on. There was added security due to this convention including police walking thru the resort and a Philippine Naval patrol boat parked out in front… They couldn’t get me a room closer to the dive shop so everyday I would have to walk nearly 2 football fields carrying my 10kg camera (yes I’m a lazy sob). The DM’s there were nice but they don't have Nitrox - something I would strongly recommend for diving on Balicasag to max your bottom time watching the barracudas! The other annoying things about BBC - The resort had horrible food and you would have to order your lunch and carry it from the resort restaurant to the dive shop. They do not allow tricycles or taxis into the premise, so you are captive to their expensive car service if you wanted to head down to Alona Beach where all the restaurants and bars were. On the positive, as I was the only diver there, I literally had the entire dive shop and bangka to myself with a personal DM.
On the day of arrival, we did an afternoon dive just out in front of the resort. This is supposedly one of the better dive sites on Panglao Island and better than what is in front of Alona Beach. There’s a nice a drop off to about 30-40m with some lovely coral and good fish life. Visibility was great. I had the dive entirely to myself.
Edit: just noticed that we did see a pygmy in front of BBC. Unfortunately he was shy and kept facing away! grrr...
Day 2-3, I did the day trips to Balicasag Island which is a must do if you’re in the area. All the dive shops on Alona Beach do day trips there. There is even a small basic resort on Balicasag itself. I will post some topside pics shortly. The attractions at Balicasag Island are a large school of barracudas, jacks, and some large trevally. It took us about 35-40min to get to Balicasag Island. We left early and got there well before the Alona Beach bangkas arrived. 1st two dives were great. Really beautiful little island and great underwater scenery. No other divers in sight. But we didn’t have luck seeing the schooling barracudas. After lunch we headed in the direction that the local fisherman said they saw the barracudas. We finally saw them on the 3rd dive and again on the second day. We also saw the schools of jacks. There is one lone silver or gold giant barracuda. It was pretty massive. I couldn’t get a close pic of him while he was getting cleaned. One of the dives, I had to drop down to 40m to get some good shots of the barracudas but usually you can see them around 20-25m or shallower. Since I was diving on air, I was hitting NDL’s quickly and getting into some long deco obligations by the end of the day. Fortunately, the shallows (5-7m) on Balicasag are pretty cool. Nice patches of coral with tons of life on them. Great way to do your deco or safety stops. At one point I was up to a 20min in deco obligation. But what a way to pass the time, snapping pics of frogfishes swimming between coral islands and other small critters in abundance. Sadly, in my excitement I lost my brand new mask getting back on the bangka. YES I was doing a MOF, and paid dearly for it!!!
So if anyone sees a brand new black Mares X-vision in the deep not that far off from the Balicasag resort… On my last nite, I headed into Alona Beach to pick up a new mask and check out the scene. Really nice area. Rows of resorts, dive shops, and restaurants all along the beach. Resorts ranged from upscale family room types like Alona Palms to more budget rooms. Great variety of restaurants with al fresca seating right on the beach. Next time, I’m definitely staying on Alona Beach.
Will post Bohol/ Tagbilaran pics once I get back from work tonite.
Next: Dumaguete… (to be continued)
