Southern Leyte for budget novice diver/snorkeler?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

prairiedog

Registered
Messages
17
Reaction score
9
Location
California
# of dives
25 - 49
Hello all! I apologize if this is redundant, I did a pretty good search of forums but there are a few things I wanted to confirm before making any arrangements!

Going to the Philippines for the first three weeks of January 2015 for diving. I don't have the money or the inclination to travel around in the country so I want to stay in one place the whole time. After a lot of research, I am pretty seriously considering Southern Leyte, specifically Peter's. The main criteria, in order of importance, are:

1. Budget accommodation
2a. Novice-level diving: I have about 30 dives over 6 years, so obviously I don't have a lot of experience. I plan to get my AOW while I'm there. But I predict I will still want to stay mostly above 60' without terrible current.
2b. The whale shark thing is a great bonus, but I am in it for the fish/color/coral. So I'd like to be able to do a lot of reef and wall dives.
3. I like diving and snorkeling equally (though I would not call myself a free diver). I'd love to be able to snorkel on non-dive days, from the shore if possible. But hiring a boat would be ok too if it's not too expensive.

Does Southern Leyte meet these criteria? And does anyone know how much the food costs at Pete's or nearby? Thank you all!!
 
January is considered as peak diving season in the country. So dive operator has less incentive to give discount especially on accommodation.
Peter's:
1. Has dorm room available.
2a. I don't see any problem.
2b. You will love the walls.
3. I have seen snorkellers enjoying themselves just off the beach from Peter's.
4. The place is very isolated and you need to take a motor-trike to Padres Bugos for cheapy. Bring a lot of books to read.

Moalboal(Panagsama Beach) is worth considering as an alternative. Nelson offers really cheap diving rate and there plenty of places for food around the area. The town of Moalboal(P7.00 for a shared trike) is not that far away and there are bakeries, market etc etc. You can even join the local trip to Oslob to see whaleshark if you have not seen one in Leyte.
However, I prefer the diving at Southern Leyte than Moalboal.
Travelling between these two places is dirt cheap by US standard and not that difficult as well.
How about this route: Manila to Tacloban and onwards to Peter's, night ferry to Cebu City and bus from Southern Bus Terminal to Moalboal. Finally cross over to Dumaguete and catch your flight to Manila. No back tracking whatsoever.
BTW, take a look at Harold's Mansion in Dumaguete. You might like the sound of it.

Have fun.
 
Ok great, thank you! It did sound like the diving in Moalboal is not quite as good, but I hear what you're saying about the isolation factor on Leyte. Which is not necessarily a problem for me, in some ways the further I can get from everything the better. But it is good to know that I could move if I got bored or it got to expensive or whatever.
 
You will like Southern Leyte but I think 3 weeks is a long time to stay there. You should check out at least one other place. You could do like Centrals says and do Moalboal and Dumaguete also, or if you don't want to move around too much, just do S. Leyte then Dumaguete. Great diving there too, much more tourist infrastructure there and nice to see a different side of Philippines.
 
Thanks. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to go to a couple of places. How does the diving in Dumaguete compare to Moalboal? I guess I'm most interested in which has more or better reef/wall dives. Also snorkeling--I know Moalboal has great shore snorkeling and that is definitely a huge plus, but not sure about Dumaguete. Thank you!
 
I've never been to Moalboal, but I have been to Dumaguete twice. Dumaguete (actually Dauin) has great macro/muck diving right off shore (although most resorts will still do it as a boat dive), plus day trips to Apo which has nice reefs. Also possible to do other day trips (Oslob, Siquijor), so good variety of dives when based in Dumaguete/Dauin. The only place better for macro (in my opinion) than Dumaguete is Anilao.

Like I said I am not familiar with Moalboal. The reason I haven't been there yet is that most people put other places in Visayas as better on their lists. It's actually the only major place I haven't been t yet in Philippines so I guess i should check it out one of these days!
 
If you have few days to spend in Tacloban then you should investigate The Sotohon Cave System near Basey in Samar.
You might find Moalboal very similar as Southern Leyte ie. wall dive. The school of sardines is not to be missed. As already explained Dumaguete is mainly for macro/mud diving. And most of the operators are out in Dauin but Harold Mansion is smack in the middle of the city so getting cheap food is definitely no problem. I believe they also arrange interesting land trip. BTW, I have never seen any snorkellers around Dauin. There aren't that much to see in sandy bottom but I could be wrong.
You can also charter a boat to Malapascua from Padres Burgos. Cheap accommodation is also available, contact Evolution.

Finally, if you do decide to move on then you better arrange your flight out early.
 
Last edited:
So helpful you guys, thank you. I guess I am leaning toward Moalboal, if only because I seriously can snorkel 4 hours a day. I never get tired of it. And the sardines sound great. But I need to mull things over.

Centrals, do you mean I need to book a flight ahead of time, like soon?
 
Once you have bought the International Flight then you should look for the domestic connection.
Flight to Tacloban is NOT the frequent when compare with Cebu City.
From time to time Cebu Pacific has promotion fare between Manila and the rest of the country. It can be as low as P1.00(US$1.00 = P44.00) but you have to act quick. Check its web site(www.cebupacificair.com) regularly.
You might also need to book ahead for cheap accommodation.
January is peak season.
 
Ok, very good to know. I already have my international ticket, I got an amazing fare by checking regularly for sales so I will do that with the domestic flight too.

---------- Post added October 9th, 2014 at 10:26 AM ----------

Also I emailed Peter's, and they said their main dishes run P120-200. In case anyone wondering stumbles upon this. It's totally within my budget, which is good.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom