Two Places

[rcolman]

Hello,

Hope you enjoyed the LONG discussion on my first post.

BTW, to introduce myself, I am a Southern CA diver with about 700+ dives into photography. Been to Wakatobi, Cozumel, Florida Keys, Palm Beach, North Carolina deep wrecks, Sea of Cortez, Monterey, British Columbia, etc. etc.

However, I have never been to the Ph. and have bought a ticket for March 15 - April 1. I figure that I have enough time to dive two different locations. But, it sounds like getting around in PH. can be difficult and time consuming.

I am interested in sharks, big animals and fish. I also like macro muck diving, but not quite as much. Great coral reefs are fun, but I saw PLENTY of those in Wakatobi, and want animals rather than coral vistas. ALL I do is dive, eat and sleep so I don't much care about topside activities as long as my room is A/C and there is a bar ...

I need need some help planning my trip. I was thinking maybe Puerto Galera and Malapascua, but, is that too much for two weeks?

Please offer some advice based on your experiences.

Thank you

Rick Colman
Laguna Beach, CA

 

[pyrodiver]

Sorry about the hijack on your first thread.

You can cover a lot of area if you do the transition trip of a Tubbataha live aboard. That's about 7-8 days.

Jump off from Anilao, Dive in Apo Reef, Dive in Cuyo, Dive in Tubbataha... Back to Puerto Princesa. From there you have an option to fly to Manila and head to Puerto Galera or fly from Manila to Dumagete and go to Dauin/Apo Island http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=163592(different from Apo reef) or fly from Puerto Princesa to Cebu and head to Malapascua or Bohol (Panglao)

Or this trip.... http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=140729&highlight=tubbataha

Hope the info above helps you pick locations

 

[jbb]

I am interested in sharks, big animals and fish. I also like macro muck diving, but not quite as much. Great coral reefs are fun, but I saw PLENTY of those in Wakatobi, and want animals rather than coral vistas. ALL I do is dive, eat and sleep so I don't much care about topside activities as long as my room is A/C and there is a bar ...

I need need some help planning my trip. I was thinking maybe Puerto Galera and Malapascua, but, is that too much for two weeks?

Please offer some advice based on your experiences.

There is quite a variety in the Philippines. I like the small stuff myself - for my point and shoot equipment much easier to capture as well.

I am planning my 4th trip to Malapascua. Nice variety of dives and fish. Highlights - thresher shark, manta ray, flamboyant cuttle fish, mandarin fish and pigmy sea horse. Lots of different accomodations available.

I'd would say that Apo Island (different than Apo Reef) is a great location for variety - good corals, small stuff (nudibranch) as well as big stuff (green sea turtle, jacks, barracuda and parrot fish). I stayed on the island - fan only rooms but I thought it was great to come back to Liberty Lodge after each dive. It only takes 20 minutes at most to get to the other side of the island. Of course I'm the type who doesn't mind diving the same site more than twice - it's always different.

I also dived Tubbataha last spring - much different than the above. Lots of schools of fishes. Walls of coral. We did get lucky and saw a whale shark at 100'.

Two weeks and two sites is managable as long as you don't mind not having time to relax between locations.

 

[rcolman]

TNX fof the comments.

Malapascue sounds great, **IF** there is a reasonable chance of some thresher shark action. However, it is a little hard to get to if you are flying in to Manila.

Should Puerto Galera be on my list as one of the MUST GO places? It gets a lot of press, but is the diving there good enough or can it be a little crowded and overhyped?

Right now, I am also thinking about flying into Manila, heading for the Batangas to dive for a day or two to get over my jet lag, and then move on. Does this make any sense, or am I "wasting" a couple of days that would be better spend elsewhere?

Sorry for all the questions, but, this trip is a "big deal" for me and I may not be able to do another trip to PH any time in the foreseeable future.

TNX again.

Rick.

 

[eagerbeaver]

Hey Rick,

PG is definitely not overhyped. The macro diving here rivals the best anywhere in the world - most of our visitors cannot believe that they actually saw all the cool stuff which is on our promo DVD we send out!

Try giant frogfish, miniature frogfish, leaffish, ghost pipefish, mimic octopus, loads of lionfish, scorpion fish, sea snake, seahorse, and sea moths; and that's all in one dive from the Sabang wrecks up to the seagrass in the shallows of the bay.

 

[clgsamson]

Try giant frogfish, miniature frogfish, leaffish, ghost pipefish, mimic octopus, loads of lionfish, scorpion fish, sea snake, seahorse, and sea moths; and that's all in one dive from the Sabang wrecks up to the seagrass in the shallows of the bay.

Absolutely true...

 

[manhattandiver]

PG is great for macro life, just not for big fish. Tubbataha is decent, but you have to do it on a liveaboard. Most liveaboards that visit are part of the Explorer fleet and they have a very mixed safety / service record. Malapascua is worth checking out for the Threshers, but March / April isn't the best season for spotting them. With the exception of the Threshers, the diving there isn't spectacular. If you don't mind leaving the Philippines for a bit, you can find really cheap flights to Palau from Manila. That's probably your best bet for big stuff, though for macro life, corals, etc. the Philippines can't be beat.

 

[pyrodiver]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diverslog/sets/72157594338226500/

Here's a link of a friend's photo album during her recent trip to Puerto Galera.

 

[Babydamulag]

Send me a PM. I understand the "investment" part of your trip. There are a bunch of us KANOs that live here and can steer you around if you need help.

 

[shugar]

TNX fof the comments.

Malapascue sounds great, **IF** there is a reasonable chance of some thresher shark action. However, it is a little hard to get to if you are flying in to Manila.

Should Puerto Galera be on my list as one of the MUST GO places? It gets a lot of press, but is the diving there good enough or can it be a little crowded and overhyped?

Right now, I am also thinking about flying into Manila, heading for the Batangas to dive for a day or two to get over my jet lag, and then move on. Does this make any sense, or am I "wasting" a couple of days that would be better spend elsewhere?

Sorry for all the questions, but, this trip is a "big deal" for me and I may not be able to do another trip to PH any time in the foreseeable future.

TNX again.

Rick.

PG is definitely not hype... in fact, i think it lacks soooo much more publicity...

PG is also one of 2 gateways to Verde Island - center of marine biodiversity in THE WORLD... can't top that right there...

getting around the major areas (manila, batangas, cebu, bohol, dumaguete, etc.) is not difficult - there's a wide range of options both using air and sea transfers (especially in the visayas)...

2 weeks, if as jbb (kojak) said, it's ok with you to consider flying and ferries as your only real rest periods you can cover A LOT of ground and really max out your diving desires

Jag