New Divers heading to Philippines in November

[ladytravelbug]

So my brother and I are new divers (35 dives for me 14 for him). We are looking to do a last minute trip to dive someplace in the Philippines for early November.

We are looking for place that is good for beginner divers, has something to do if we spend a day not diving, and has some bars for the evening not looking for crazy night life - but also not looking for some place that is totally dead come sun down.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks!

 

[GavinO]

You could take a look at Boracay , Bohol and Puerto Galera. These 3 have a good combination of what you're looking at, some more than the others.

 

[Centrals]

Fly into Cebu and you have the choice of either Bohol(Alona Beach) or Moalboal.
I prefer Moalboal over Alona Beach because it is smaller and quieter. There are far too many non-divers staying on Alona Beach nowadays.
Look up the whaleshark at Oslob(pro or con) if you wish.

 

[EMG]

What's your certification level and how long would you be staying?

Puerto Galera has pretty good diving at OW depth. There are a number of shipwrecks in Sabang bay right at 18 meters and a lot of good reef in the area. Enough fun stuff to do when not diving as well.
I liked diving in Cebu but all my favorite dives were 30+ meters.

 

[h2odragon1]

Good response's!
Bohol has more for the non-diver, with trips to the Chocolate hills, visits to roadside Zoo's for the Tarsier's, Baclayaren (spelling?) Church.
Moalboal is quiet! not much night-life! not much other than Great Diving!
Boracay is good for the novice diver, and there is a golf course, decent night-life, the diving is average!
Puerto Galera has different environments. Sabang- night-life!!; Little La Laguna quieter, and close to Sabang; Big La Laguna Quieter still, better Beach, you can arrange trips to the falls, or the Mangayan Village; White Beach great beach and quiet night-life, (more $$ though). ALL resort area's are short access to all dive sites! great for newbies, and experienced divers!!

My pic is from the Chocolate Hills!

 

[drbill]

I spent a week in Sabang (Puerto Galera) and enjoyed the diving there. Fairly easy to get to from Manila and the dive sites were all a short hop from the dive center. I dove with Action Divers and stayed at Banana Moon (very basic but great view)

 

[Sevenrider860]

I like Moalboal myself. Great diving from beginner to advanced. There are a few bars, but it is not "crazy" nightlife. I found the price for lodging and food was cheaper than other places. Nice wall dives. If you want some additional instruction while you are there it is available. Savedra Dive Center is my choice in Moalboal.

Puerto Galera is also nice and it also has some great diving from beginner to advanced. More night life available than Moalboal, but you can stay in

Little La Laguna as others have suggested where is is a quieter. I went with Action Divers last trip and enjoyed it. I will probably go with Blue Ribbon Divers when I make my next trip as we ate dinner there most nights.

If you have interest in some wrecks, even at the beginner level, Subic Bay may interest you. It is easier to get to than any of the other locations mentioned. You can get as much or as little night life as you want. There are also a lot of non-diving activities available. It does not have the bright blue water and colorful coral and fish, but it has some excellent wrecks.

In Subic I like Arizona Dive Shop for recreational diving. If you are interested in refining your skills, Andy Davis offers a "Pre-Tech" clinic that will definitely improve your diving (both motor skills and thinking skills) even if you have no interest in technical diving. My 14 year old son attended a clinic with Andy last December and the difference in his basic diving ​

skills is noticeable. More importantly, the way he thinks about diving makes him a safer diver.


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[BlueDevil]

There is some very good and very easy diving to be had on the Dauin Coast of Dumaguete which is approx 1 hour flight south of Manilla. There are some bars in town where you can mix with the locals.

Tapatalk 2

 

[Hank49]

I second Boracay. The diving around there is decent but there are shops with larger boats that do day trips and overnight trips to better diving not far away. Nice experience.
And if you do a couple check out dives and can handle, Yapak 2 is world class. 100 foot blue water decent into an unreal wall. When it's on with the upcoming tide there are giant trevally, gray reef sharks, dog tooth tuna....really nice dive. Strong current.

 

[South Sea Divers]

Come in Puerto Galera...see us at South Sea Divers... : )) got a good deal and good dive : ))
hope to see yah )

---------- Post added October 11th, 2013 at 09:49 AM ----------

additional is...fun night at the bar after dark until 2am see yah...