Philippine Island Divers Dive Safari

[rcolman]

Has anyone ever done one of these 4/5 dive safaries out of Alona Beach? Not many dives, but it seems like you get to visit many areas without the hassles of land-based transportationa and ferries.

Any comments appreciated.

Rick Colman
(4 weeks to go !!)

 

[iris_ice]

here's clgsamson's trip report long, long ago...

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1337292&postcount=8

but the pictures seem to have vanished...

and mike p's thread not so long ago:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=158039

and the countdown to PI continues

 

[F UNit]

Last year I went on one of these trips with P.I.D. - had a blast.

Really takes the hassle out of travelling around, you get to see alot of different areas and the team they have at P.I.D. are great - and they're able to tailor the trip to what you want to do.

 

[pakman]

F-Unit, is there a min # of divers required to have PID arrange a dive safari? I remember running into a couple from Japan in Dumaguete. They were staying in Atlantis, but I think I vaguely remember them telling me they were doing a dive safari with PID and they were getting picked by Bangka in Dauin to head out to Bohol.

 

[F UNit]

I dunno if theres a minimum - I would doubt it tho - they're happy to accomodate pretty much anything you want. When we went there was 4 of us, and we had a good sized bangka to ourselves - I figure fewer people just means you'll pay a premium to cover costs?

We only had enough time for a short 3 or 4 day itinerary, but it was easy as pie - picked up from Mactan airport straight to our bangka.

We left Mactan for Cabilao, got in a couple dives off of (I think a site called Hilotungan on the way), then from Cabilao we went down to Alona, making a couple dives on the way, over to Balicasag and back to Alona.

Really was an awesome relaxed easy way to get around, would totally reccommend it if you've got a bit of time to travel the more easygoing bangka route rather than sitting on highspeed ferries.

 

[pakman]

thanks F Unit... yeah you're right... according to the PIC website...

DIVE SAFARIS (Brief Introduction) [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

The ultimate adventures in diving are safaris, the highlights in scuba diving. Starting at Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol we will bring you to the most incredible dive sites in the Visayas region. Safaris will end either in Bohol or Mactan Island.

We offer 4 or 8 days safaris. For every safari there must be a minimum of 4 participants. A comfortable Filipino style outrigger banca [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]brings us to Dive Sites like Balicasag Island (4 dive spots), Apo Island (12 dive spots), Malapascua Island (Cebu, 11 dive spots) and Moalboal.

We stay overnight at selected resorts with changing ambient from island to island. This is a perfect way of exploring the Philippine archipelago.
There is always enough time to relax on board or at the resorts. Included in the package are: Full board, accommodations, diving, tanks and weight, boat, diesel, crew, guide, snacks and mineral water on board. [/FONT]

 

[F UNit]

ahhhhhh thats a bit of a bummer if you can't scrape together 4 - but it is a kickass trip - sounds like a fun way to get out over to Apo Island I bet it'd be a nice chug down with good scenery and that.

 

[Narcd_dvr]

There are dive shops in Cebu that offers personalized safaris, but its gonna cost you...