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I will be in PH for 1 week in April, flying into Manila on Friday evening. I found a late flight onwards to Cebu, and would like to use that area for diving, flying out of Cebu back to Europe via Manila the following week on Saturday. That gives me 1 week for diving.
My primary interest (in order): seeing whale shark, hammerhead, manta. Can I see whale shark without losing days having to fly to Donsol?
Which diving area (areas?) near Cebu would you recommend? I read about 4 different ones. North (Malapascua), West (Moalboal), East (Mactan), and South (Sumilon), and suppose I have to choose.
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Ward
Last edited by ward; January 27th, 2012 at 01:03 PM.
Ward,
I am glad you choose Cebu for your Diving Vacation, satisfying all your desires may prove difficult. But right now there are consistent Whale Shark encounters in OSLOB Cebu.. These are pretty controversial in how they are being conducted and I have refrained from going there myself(there are a couple of threads on this board concerning this) but they are there and can easily be reached from all of the places but Malapascua.
Diving can be very good in Malapascua, Moalboal even Mactan can be good depending on your experience level. I have yet to dive Sumilon as several of my friends have told me that it is not worth my time..
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Whaleshark, hammerhead and manta!!!!!!!
They are in Philippines but chances are ????
If your priority is whaleshark then Donsol would be a better choice than Oslob. At least the "circus" is better regulated. April could be a bit late for the whaleshark in Donsol so please check around first.
If I have only one week diving in the country then it has to be Malapascua. Are thrasher shark and Devil ray good enough alternative for hammerhead and Manta? BTW, manta is also around Malapascua occasionally.
If I still have time after Donsol then I would consider either Anilao or Puerto Galera.
i agree with centrals, choose malapascua. aside from those things mentioned above be sure to do at least two dives in gato island. its one of the best mixes of big stuff (white tips, turtles, sea snakes, etc) and small stuff(spider crabs, pygmy seahorses, many nudis, shrimp, squid). also do a night dive for the flambouyant and mandarin fish by the lighthouse. lapus lapus is also good for forgfish, sea moths and many more macro. as you see malapascua in not only about threshers.
do at least three nights in malapascua.
you can then do mactan for a day or two. you will get lovely coral, tons of rays and groupers, a plane wreck and good macro there. mactan is just 30minutes from the airport.
if time permits you can do the whaleshark circus on your way back to mactan from malapascua.
Malapascua is a must I understand, any accommodation and dive center advice?
A day to/from Oslob out of Cebu city seems an option, I may even start with that.
Is it possible to get to Malapascua on the same day (cebu-oslob-malapascua)?
@Rab: did you mean Oslob as well with your last remark? Because it's not on the way from Malaspascua to Mactan as far as I can see. Do you mean another place?
Dutchpickle's website has many recommendations around Cebu, including the recent whalesharks in Oslob. Cebu | Philippines
You can first go to Malapascua for thresher sharks and mantas. If you dive there more than 3 days, you will very likely see them both.
Then you can return to cebu, head south in the early morning to snorkel with whalesharks, if they are still there in April.
The visibility is much better in Oslob than Donsol. In Oslob you can see the whole shark but in donsol you can only see part of it due to poor visibility.
There are many reports about Malapasuca and Moalboal on this board. Just use the 'Search Thread' Tool.
Make your reservation early if you are coming during Easter period.
Private transfer from Cebu City/Airport to Malapascua is at least US$100.00 each way!
If the whaleshark is your main reason of coming to Philippines, perhaps you can combine Oslob with Moalboal. Diving in Moalboal is fine but not as diversed and excited as Malapascua. And now the sardines had gone.........
You can easily travel down from Malapascua to Moalboal/Oslob in half a day.
The visibility is much better in Oslob than Donsol. In Oslob you can see the whole shark but in donsol you can only see part of it due to poor visibility.
I was in Oslob this past Friday ( 2 days ago ) and the visibility was terrible.
A day to/from Oslob out of Cebu city seems an option, I may even start with that.
Is it possible to get to Malapascua on the same day (cebu-oslob-malapascua)?
Possible, but a lot of traveling.
If you leave Cebu City at 3:00 a.m. and be at Oslob and in the water by 6:00 a.m.
They close up at 1:00 p.m. in Oslob, so you can be back in Cebu City around 4:00 and head up to Malapascua for another 2 hour ride.
Of course the times are conservative, because you can expect heavy traffic in the city during rush hour.
I think it would make more sense to do Oslob and Moalboal.
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Originally Posted by divermm
