Banaue rice terrace in late July - am I crazy?

[browncd81]

Hi,

I'm in China for the summer and I'll be taking the long way home to Boston starting with a trip to the Philippines on July 24th. I've read through the boards here and also on sites all over the internet. I still have questions about the monsoon season as I'm sure you get a lot.

My plan is to land in Manila and take the overnight bus to see the rice terraces for one full day. Then I'll head back that evening and catch a flight from Manila to somewhere that's not as affected by the monsoons. I'm traveling solo and I'm mostly looking for somewhere nice and quiet. I've got a couple places in mind to do my diving:

1. Palawan
2. Davao City

My questions are:

1. Would you recommend either of these two places or another?
2. Is late July a good time to see the terraces (I searched thoroughly for this on the internet but couldn't find good info)? If not, I'll just skip the terraces and head straight to my dive spot. A little rain won't hurt me.. I'll just wear a poncho and I'll use my underwater housing to take pictures. High odds of a torrential downpour might deter me though, as I'm coming off a pretty intense semester of school and I'm looking for a nice and easy trip.

thanks

 

[waz555]

hi there are 2 routes to banawe

i suggest you to take the bontoc bus or banaue bus , it will be around 11 hours to banaue

you can try cable tours, their bus passes by banaue. i think it would be hard to go there during rainy season because most of the activities there are trekking

you can also go to sagada to view the caves and other terraces. there are more things to do at sagada rather than banaue

i think june is harvest season also for the terraces

 

[waz555]

activities for davao is pearl farm, white water rafting, zip lining , view of the phil eagle, eden gardens, maxima water slide. i think those are the main attractions for davao

 

[Rogersea]

Based on personal experience as well as what seems to be general consensus, winter to early spring is the best time to visit the rice terraces. During the rainy season(includes when your visiting), the slopes may not all be visible.

If your looking for peace and quite without spending a lot of money, I would recommend APO Island, Cabilao Island, Malapascua, and Moalboal all of which are outside of the Typhoon Belt.

Cheers
Roger

 

[jigo]

good news about davao is that there is no typhoon in davao although it will still be the rainy season. as for the dives, it will depend on what you are looking for. do you like macro or are you looking for big fish?

 

[browncd81]

I'm split between macro and big fish. Not to sound indecisive, but I actually like good macro and good pelagics pretty much the same. My big things are visibility, nice colorful corals, and great beaches... postcard diving. I dive a lot in New England, so a break from cold, dark waters is always welcome! Oh and I'm a grad student so any way to save money would be great.

My only concern about Davao City is that something gave me the impression they didn't dive year round. I doubt it's true, and I forgot where I found it, but it does have me wondering..

Thanks for the help so far and thanks in advance for any additional replies

 

[Centrals]

I have been to Davao ONCE and these are my impression ONLY:
1. Dive sites are far away.
2. Not enough divers during week days, ie. I have to charter a boat all by myself!!! Weekend is probably better.
3. Three dive operators by the entrance of Santa Anna Wharf. Do give Wind and Wave a miss.
4. Diving rate at Carabao Divers was pretty attractive if there was a group of divers going out.



Combine Davao with General Santos.
Tinoto Wall is a MUST. Hurry up as the construction of the new power station might......
The view from the South Point Diver Resort overlooking the Sarangani Bay is pretty good.

 

[neopluredon]

Based on personal experience as well as what seems to be general consensus, winter to early spring is the best time to visit the rice terraces. During the rainy season(includes when your visiting), the slopes may not all be visible.

If your looking for peace and quite without spending a lot of money, I would recommend APO Island, Cabilao Island, Malapascua, and Moalboal all of which are outside of the Typhoon Belt.

Cheers
Roger

agree more to the rice terraces, i would suggest visiting batad instead of banawe, as banawe's not that much maintained anymore. if you've got strong knees, hiking the terraces is all worth it

 

[jigo]

best to ask Bing about diving conditions in Davao. from my experience, dive sites arent so far. the wharf is right in the city and you can get there from your hotel in less than 10 minutes (compared to over two hours for manila folks to get to anilao) while the dive sites can be reached in 30 minutes or even less if you get a speed boat. you can also do shore dives from the public beaches such as paradise resort (macro), babu santa (fish school and macro) and isla reta (macro). Its the sites like Ligid that can be a bit far.

 

[browncd81]

thanks to all who responded. I heeded the advice on the rains so I'm headed to Dauin and probably diving at Mike's Resort. Can't wait. Next time I come back to the Philippines, it will be during the dry season, hopefully to get DM, and I'll take neopluredon's advice on going to Batan.