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Philippine Paradise Divers7,107 Islands of Diving Heaven (yes, we counted). The meeting place for those interested in some of the best diving in the world - the Philippines.
We're planning a trip to the philippines in april (arriving a day before easter in cebu), and we'd like to head out to Malapascua.
After Malapascua we'd like to move on to Negros; both Bacolod and Dumaguete but we're unable to find any fast transportation.
What options do we have? We came up with the following options:
- backtrack along the coastline by bus to Cebu, and fly to either of the 2 destinations on Negros
- charter a boat to Bantayan island and take the public boat to Sagay/Cadiz and take the bus from there to Bacolod
Is it possible to rent a boat from Malapascua straight to, for example, Bacolod? Does anyone have any idea regarding cost and duration? Would other start-/endpoints (eg. charter to Cadiz and move on by bus) make this any faster or cheaper?
And, does anyone have a great idea where to go to during easter near Cebu? We'll arrive on saturday around noon after a tiresome flight and won't want to travel too far.
Is travel possible on the monday following easter?
from malapascua you can hire a van or boat to take you to either tabuelan or toledo. from there, you can take a ferry to negros then take a ceres liner bus to bacolod. from tabuelan, the ferry docks in escalante town in negros island. from toledo, the ferry will dock in san carlos city in negros.
I have no information about boat rentals from malapascua to negros.
the whole country shuts down on the friday and saturday before easter. its peak travel season so better book your hotel/resort early. if you're in cebu, my suggestion is you can stay in one of the many resorts in mactan island during the easter holidays and just stay there. transportation within the city during the holidays could be unreliable. you can start travelling on easter sunday, as some locals start travelling home on that day and transportation should almost be back to normal.
Malapascua is about an hour north of one of the main ro-ro(and foot passenger ferry) from Cebu Island to Negros[around p700 for a car, so a lot less for foot passenger - 45mins ride]. Wherever you stay in Malapascua should be able to organise transport to there for you. Then you can have the resort in Dumaguete pick you up from the ferry drop off point[about 45mins to Duma city, and rough guess p1500 in a private van]
Bacolod is on the other side of the island and would be a looooong boat ride from Malapascua. Best get to Duma and then drive the 5hrs to bacolod if you have to go there. What is your time span, and budget?
Shoot me a pm if you want to discuss things in more detail.
Our main concern is the time it takes to travel. We'll only be in the filippines for a good 3 weeks, and we dont want to spend too much time travelling (at least little or no 8-12 hour journeys).
Our main concern is the time it takes back and forth to Malapascua. We arrive in cebu city, want to go at least Malapascua, Dumaguete and Siquijor. That however, is mostly dive-oriented and we'd like to some more of the country. That's why we're looking to Negros occidental, though Panay may be a good choice as well.
We've previously visited cebu, bohol and manila.
matt: i don't quite understand your suggestion. What on earth is a ro-ro - do you mean the ferry from Tabeluan or Toledo?
Our main concern is the time it takes to travel. We'll only be in the filippines for a good 3 weeks, and we dont want to spend too much time travelling (at least little or no 8-12 hour journeys).
Our main concern is the time it takes back and forth to Malapascua. We arrive in cebu city, want to go at least Malapascua, Dumaguete and Siquijor. That however, is mostly dive-oriented and we'd like to some more of the country. That's why we're looking to Negros occidental, though Panay may be a good choice as well.
We've previously visited cebu, bohol and manila.
matt: i don't quite understand your suggestion. What on earth is a ro-ro - do you mean the ferry from Tabeluan or Toledo?
RO-RO = roll-on, roll-off
it's a ferry that handles both passengers and vehicles... there's a very solid network of ro-ro ports all around the country (particularly the visayas region where you're focusing your travels) so getting around the islands are relatively easy
another good source of info would be the city or municipal tourism offices (or basically the info booth at city/ municipal hall) although that would mean you actually having to be there to ask... but matt's great at giving you all the details
Our main concern is the time it takes to travel. We'll only be in the filippines for a good 3 weeks, and we dont want to spend too much time travelling (at least little or no 8-12 hour journeys).
Our main concern is the time it takes back and forth to Malapascua. We arrive in cebu city, want to go at least Malapascua, Dumaguete and Siquijor. That however, is mostly dive-oriented and we'd like to some more of the country. That's why we're looking to Negros occidental, though Panay may be a good choice as well.
We've previously visited cebu, bohol and manila.
matt: i don't quite understand your suggestion. What on earth is a ro-ro - do you mean the ferry from Tabeluan or Toledo?
are you looking for somethign specific in malapascua? because if not, you can do dumaguete, siquijor, bohol, and moalboal instead. they're pretty close to each other so no long trips needed. your resort can handle the transfers for you.
if you look at the map, malapascua is way up to the north of cebu island, and the places i mentioned are to the south. just a thought.
dumaguete and bohol have some touristy non-dive stuff that you can do to add variety to your trip
I'm going to have to hold my hand up and say I screwed up here. It was late last night and when I read Malapascua I thought Moalboal. So the "1 hour north of the ferry" is complete bs. Malapascua is a lot further from Dumaguete.
So, how about the new flights from Cebu to Dumaguete starting Jan 12th every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, leaving Cebu at 825am arriving Duma 905am. Cuts out some travel time at least.
Jag(nice new pic by the way mate!) has explained Ro-ro so no need to go into that anymore.
I think negros occ. is a good choice for non diving travel it is very beautiful, has decent roads, and some killer beaches in Sipalay and Hinobaan. There is also a fairly good Ceres bus service and places to stay.
So conclusion - go to Malapascua, get wherever you stay to organise transport from and to Cebu. Fly to Dumaguete, nip over to Siquijor, then set off from Duma clockwise around Negros on a road trip to Bacolod, with possible side route to Mabinay and/or San Jose. Fly back to Manila from Bacolod.
are you looking for somethign specific in malapascua? because if not, you can do dumaguete, siquijor, bohol, and moalboal instead. they're pretty close to each other so no long trips needed. your resort can handle the transfers for you.
if you look at the map, malapascua is way up to the north of cebu island, and the places i mentioned are to the south. just a thought.
dumaguete and bohol have some touristy non-dive stuff that you can do to add variety to your trip
Well we've been to bohol and I believe we've seen pretty much everything. I did very much like it though
We'd like to see tresher sharks at Malapascua, and if we're lucky some seahorses and rays. Hhammerheads if we're really lucky
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt_reed
I'm going to have to hold my hand up and say I screwed up here. It was late last night and when I read Malapascua I thought Moalboal. So the "1 hour north of the ferry" is complete bs. Malapascua is a lot further from Dumaguete.
So, how about the new flights from Cebu to Dumaguete starting Jan 12th every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, leaving Cebu at 825am arriving Duma 905am. Cuts out some travel time at least.
True, but we can't make it in time from malapascua so we'll need to travel the afternoon before, stay the night around cebu city, fly out the next morning and arrive around 10 am - if we'd go in the morning from malapascua directly to siquijor or dumaguete, we'd save a night, but it'd be a hell of a day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt_reed
Jag(nice new pic by the way mate!) has explained Ro-ro so no need to go into that anymore.
I think negros occ. is a good choice for non diving travel it is very beautiful, has decent roads, and some killer beaches in Sipalay and Hinobaan. There is also a fairly good Ceres bus service and places to stay.
I've been looking more into negros occ. and have so far found not much to do actually. Most of it requires a love for hiking (I don't mind a hike, but don't plan one either ) or very touristy spots with required guides and what have you.
That's what I liked about Bohol last time - we borrowed a motorbike and could do whatever we wanted, with little or no risk getting lost and lots to see (chocolate hills, tarsiers) and do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt_reed
So conclusion - go to Malapascua, get wherever you stay to organise transport from and to Cebu. Fly to Dumaguete, nip over to Siquijor, then set off from Duma clockwise around Negros on a road trip to Bacolod, with possible side route to Mabinay and/or San Jose. Fly back to Manila from Bacolod.
Deal? :-)
Well, yes - except we don't need to go to Manila, our flight is AMS/HK and HK/CEB.
We've now come to cebu (1n) / malapascua (4 nights) / cebu (1n) / siquijor (5n) / dumaguete (6n) / cebu (3n).
That still leaves us with 4 nights around siquijor and dumaguete (or another destination with flight from dumaguete and flight back to cebu).
I've been looking more into negros occ. and have so far found not much to do actually. Most of it requires a love for hiking (I don't mind a hike, but don't plan one either ) or very touristy spots with required guides and what have you.
True that is! So what kind of things are you looking for? Dumaguete only flies to Manila or Cebu...so the only other option would be a private plane or helicopter to somewhere like Boracay...
We'd like to be able to travel around on our own (I'm correct I don't need a driverlicense for a motorbike? worked out last time ). A naturepark, preferrably with routes to walk about on your own would be great. We're looking at Twin Lakes national park, and Mt. Kanlaon national park.
However, travelling 2x6+ hours to Mt Kanlaon seems like quite a ride for a national park. Cebu does not seem to offer anything alike, and we've seen Bohol all around.
Travelling to Leyte (Maasin) by boat from Cebu seems to be cancelled?
) or very touristy spots with required guides and what have you.
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