Wantonmien
Contributor
BOHOL
Seems like ages since I wrote a words and pics dive trip report to bore the socks off people who would rather be diving, but are away from the water like me right now - and if I dont put something down soon the trip I made at end of February to Bohol, will disappear into the memory banks for ever more so here we go
Last big dive trip for me was October 2011 to the Ozzie Great Barrier Reef, where the fish were huge and plentiful, the corals great, trip report here - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/au...ef-cairns-oct-10-13-2011-some-words-pics.html
For sure I would head to the Ozzie GBR again tomorrow, but Philippines for me is easier and cheaper to get to, and every visit I think wow what a laid back perfect place, with so many endless islands, beaches and friendly people.
Last Philippine trip for me was Anilao last year September, time flies !! well read trip report here, http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...270-anilao-trip-sep-9-13-some-words-pics.html And so, with flights booked at Christmas, countdown began to visit BOHOL and Panglao (for 5 days/4 nights) for the first time.
Feb 23 Cebu Pacific 01.30 from Taipei twiddle thumbs in Manila airport a few hours until first flight to Tagbilaran (with Zest airlines), picked up at the airport and in the resort by 10.30. If you are reading this and work for Cebu Pacific, check last paragraph, some of your ground staff in Manila are doing nothing to encourage people to visit and use your airline !
Anyway
Resort:
As normal when heading somewhere new, for a dive trip, we ask mates and contacts where to stay and who to dive with, and having had Oasis resort described to me (thanks Gilligan & Currier) as the perfect set up we booked in advance to stay there and not disappointed one bit. Great resort, great staff, great pool, laid back, great food and drink, run by a pro, ideally located, just off the beach, perfect if we go again, its where well stay Oasis Resort in Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines .
Dive Centre:
A massive 2 minutes walk from our room to the beach Seaquest Dive Centre, SeaQuest - Scuba Diving Centers in Philippines | Dive Sites in Cebu and Bohol Our first time with Seaquest, and it wont be our last. Easy arrangements, next days dive plans go on a board, numbers on boats small, no factory feeling, two or three boats, ground staff in the dive centre accommodating, listening where you want to go next dive, trying to sort out trip, boats leaving on time, gear and tanks on boat, nitrox checked on boat or on shore, and boat and dive guides (Nelson for us) all spot on. Not a bad word. Overall costs of resort + dives booked as a package also not too bad at all.
Diving:
In last couple of years weve made short trips to Boracay, Puerto Galera, Dumaguette, Sigijour, Apo island, Moalboal, Mactan, Malapascua, Anilao (and maybe one or two others I forgot), so we werent expecting many surprises in Bohol, and didnt really get any, but overall some great varied diving, from drift dives to macro, walls, reef, shallows, thick shoals of fish, turtles as tame as can be, and all around, the holiday, dives, and trip came and went too fast. We were a bit disappointed with the viz on quite a few of the dives, but I suppose you cant have everything.
Sites:
We dived on -
- Eel Garden
- Balicasag island
- Tawala sanctuary
- Kalipayan
- Danao Beach
- Pamilacan Island
The best site for us, difficult but Balicasag island first in a swirling shoal of hundreds of Jacks and then coming across a turtle who swum around and around with us before resting for some face to face poses a perfect dive. 2012 02 Bohol and the turtle ! - YouTube
Also on route to Pamilacan island, a dive onto the edge of a drop off, into a drift over abundant live soft and hard corals, with shoal after shoal of varying fish, hundreds of Moorish idols, numerous large sea snakes and a never ending assortment of life to grab a pic of. Up in the shallows at Pamilacan island also great, many cardinal fish, turtles lazing around, morays keen to smile, nudis of all variations.
All around, no whales sharks or pelagic visitors, but a good cross section of diving, and on trying to decide our next little trip my buddy has but one destination in mind back to the same place, same resort !
After dives:
SeaQuest dive centre, handily on the beach, so after a quick wash of the gear in the ample space available, beer oclock started 20 mins after reaching shore from the last dive (which meant no night dives for me this time !), with a range of restaurants along the beach front, so a good choice of food, a great ambiance, not too dissimilar to Boracay but on a smaller scale. Perfect.
Not diving -
We rented a scooter and made a trip out to the chocolate hills, and to see the famous Tarsier, cant say the distance on a scooter is ideal unless you want a numb butt from the scooter ride, but its a great little day out into the less touristy areas of Bohol, and well worth the trip, though try to choose a day that it is not so hot as the one we went on !
And thats it Bohol, Panglao, Oasis and Sequest a great combination, which we will head back to in the not too distant future I hope.
Exit
Cebu Pacific Air, prices have gone up on the Taipei to Manila returns, baggage is now prepaid, but still reasonable value. However on route back, I got into a heated exchange with the NAIA Cebu Pacific security ground staff, who seem to lurk around the immigration exit point, with intent seemingly to piss off visitors just before they leave the country. For me the reason, my little carry on bag with camera, housing and strobe in it weighs 11kg, and they insisted the limit was 7kg thus I would have to take out some stuff and put it into my buddies 2 kg hand carried bag, albeit the total of our hand carried remained only 13kg. (as against 14 kg limit)
Asking how they thought splitting our gear into the two bags made sense as we would be sitting together and it would still weigh 13kg combined, I got arrogant full of self importance remarks from the Cebu Pacific staff, told if I didnt split the gear they would make me check the fragile camera bag in, and so it went on . I asked the Cebu Pacific staff if it was Cebu Pacific policy to piss off visitors, or if Cebu Pacific just recruited grossly stupid people on purpose and all round, that little event just as I was leaving the Philippines soured the whole trip mutter mutter ! :chairfight:
If by chance a Cebu Pacific employee reads this, drop me a pm, and Ill add more to the event, as it is pric*s such as the Cebu Pacific airport ground staff that you should get rid of, as its guys like me who arrive, stay in hotels, use local dive centers, tip the staff and make regular visits that should be welcomed in Philippines, and not be made to leave thinking next time I will go elsewhere !
Some pictures G12, Canon Housing, single strobe, shot in Raw with AV settings -
More in here - Bohol Feb 2012 - - ScubaBoard Gallery
Seems like ages since I wrote a words and pics dive trip report to bore the socks off people who would rather be diving, but are away from the water like me right now - and if I dont put something down soon the trip I made at end of February to Bohol, will disappear into the memory banks for ever more so here we go
Last big dive trip for me was October 2011 to the Ozzie Great Barrier Reef, where the fish were huge and plentiful, the corals great, trip report here - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/au...ef-cairns-oct-10-13-2011-some-words-pics.html
For sure I would head to the Ozzie GBR again tomorrow, but Philippines for me is easier and cheaper to get to, and every visit I think wow what a laid back perfect place, with so many endless islands, beaches and friendly people.
Last Philippine trip for me was Anilao last year September, time flies !! well read trip report here, http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ph...270-anilao-trip-sep-9-13-some-words-pics.html And so, with flights booked at Christmas, countdown began to visit BOHOL and Panglao (for 5 days/4 nights) for the first time.
Feb 23 Cebu Pacific 01.30 from Taipei twiddle thumbs in Manila airport a few hours until first flight to Tagbilaran (with Zest airlines), picked up at the airport and in the resort by 10.30. If you are reading this and work for Cebu Pacific, check last paragraph, some of your ground staff in Manila are doing nothing to encourage people to visit and use your airline !
Anyway
Resort:
As normal when heading somewhere new, for a dive trip, we ask mates and contacts where to stay and who to dive with, and having had Oasis resort described to me (thanks Gilligan & Currier) as the perfect set up we booked in advance to stay there and not disappointed one bit. Great resort, great staff, great pool, laid back, great food and drink, run by a pro, ideally located, just off the beach, perfect if we go again, its where well stay Oasis Resort in Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines .
Dive Centre:
A massive 2 minutes walk from our room to the beach Seaquest Dive Centre, SeaQuest - Scuba Diving Centers in Philippines | Dive Sites in Cebu and Bohol Our first time with Seaquest, and it wont be our last. Easy arrangements, next days dive plans go on a board, numbers on boats small, no factory feeling, two or three boats, ground staff in the dive centre accommodating, listening where you want to go next dive, trying to sort out trip, boats leaving on time, gear and tanks on boat, nitrox checked on boat or on shore, and boat and dive guides (Nelson for us) all spot on. Not a bad word. Overall costs of resort + dives booked as a package also not too bad at all.
Diving:
In last couple of years weve made short trips to Boracay, Puerto Galera, Dumaguette, Sigijour, Apo island, Moalboal, Mactan, Malapascua, Anilao (and maybe one or two others I forgot), so we werent expecting many surprises in Bohol, and didnt really get any, but overall some great varied diving, from drift dives to macro, walls, reef, shallows, thick shoals of fish, turtles as tame as can be, and all around, the holiday, dives, and trip came and went too fast. We were a bit disappointed with the viz on quite a few of the dives, but I suppose you cant have everything.
Sites:
We dived on -
- Eel Garden
- Balicasag island
- Tawala sanctuary
- Kalipayan
- Danao Beach
- Pamilacan Island
The best site for us, difficult but Balicasag island first in a swirling shoal of hundreds of Jacks and then coming across a turtle who swum around and around with us before resting for some face to face poses a perfect dive. 2012 02 Bohol and the turtle ! - YouTube
Also on route to Pamilacan island, a dive onto the edge of a drop off, into a drift over abundant live soft and hard corals, with shoal after shoal of varying fish, hundreds of Moorish idols, numerous large sea snakes and a never ending assortment of life to grab a pic of. Up in the shallows at Pamilacan island also great, many cardinal fish, turtles lazing around, morays keen to smile, nudis of all variations.
All around, no whales sharks or pelagic visitors, but a good cross section of diving, and on trying to decide our next little trip my buddy has but one destination in mind back to the same place, same resort !
After dives:
SeaQuest dive centre, handily on the beach, so after a quick wash of the gear in the ample space available, beer oclock started 20 mins after reaching shore from the last dive (which meant no night dives for me this time !), with a range of restaurants along the beach front, so a good choice of food, a great ambiance, not too dissimilar to Boracay but on a smaller scale. Perfect.
Not diving -
We rented a scooter and made a trip out to the chocolate hills, and to see the famous Tarsier, cant say the distance on a scooter is ideal unless you want a numb butt from the scooter ride, but its a great little day out into the less touristy areas of Bohol, and well worth the trip, though try to choose a day that it is not so hot as the one we went on !
And thats it Bohol, Panglao, Oasis and Sequest a great combination, which we will head back to in the not too distant future I hope.
Exit
Cebu Pacific Air, prices have gone up on the Taipei to Manila returns, baggage is now prepaid, but still reasonable value. However on route back, I got into a heated exchange with the NAIA Cebu Pacific security ground staff, who seem to lurk around the immigration exit point, with intent seemingly to piss off visitors just before they leave the country. For me the reason, my little carry on bag with camera, housing and strobe in it weighs 11kg, and they insisted the limit was 7kg thus I would have to take out some stuff and put it into my buddies 2 kg hand carried bag, albeit the total of our hand carried remained only 13kg. (as against 14 kg limit)
Asking how they thought splitting our gear into the two bags made sense as we would be sitting together and it would still weigh 13kg combined, I got arrogant full of self importance remarks from the Cebu Pacific staff, told if I didnt split the gear they would make me check the fragile camera bag in, and so it went on . I asked the Cebu Pacific staff if it was Cebu Pacific policy to piss off visitors, or if Cebu Pacific just recruited grossly stupid people on purpose and all round, that little event just as I was leaving the Philippines soured the whole trip mutter mutter ! :chairfight:
If by chance a Cebu Pacific employee reads this, drop me a pm, and Ill add more to the event, as it is pric*s such as the Cebu Pacific airport ground staff that you should get rid of, as its guys like me who arrive, stay in hotels, use local dive centers, tip the staff and make regular visits that should be welcomed in Philippines, and not be made to leave thinking next time I will go elsewhere !
Some pictures G12, Canon Housing, single strobe, shot in Raw with AV settings -
More in here - Bohol Feb 2012 - - ScubaBoard Gallery
