First time to the Philippine! need some advice on where I should go

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lovelyG

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Hi All,

I'm travelling the Philippines during the Christmas season probably for 10 days, so I have 8 days for dive excluding flight time. I'd like to take AOW course for the first 2 days, and do fun dives for the rest. This is my first trip there and want to get some advice on where to go among Mactan, Moalboal, Bohol, and Dumaguete considering things below

1. I'm new to scuba. I'm an OWD and got certified last year in Playa del carmen, Mexico. my diving experiences might not be enough for some diving sites, and I gotta exclude them.

2. I'm a solo traveler and don't want to get bored after my diving is done for day. not exactly looking for some night parties or something, but I just love backpacker atmosphere. if it's not too much, I'm also okay with touristic places.
(any recommendations of dive centers that are for relaxing and socializing are welcomed.)

3. Actually I was thinking of Bohol at first, but now combination of two destinations.. Visit Bohol first and then Dumaguete or Mactan and then Bohol something like that... what do you think? wouldn't it be boring spending 8 days diving in Bohol only? or would it be too hectic or to cover two places in 8 days?


Thanks in advance :)
 
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We have been to the Philippines a few times and the very best place for the atmosphere you describe is Malapascua Island. Try to stay in a dive centre , that way you will have more company in the evenings. The diving is wonderful. We stayed and dived with Ocean Vida , which is stunningly beautiful and right on a white sand beach. For ten days you could get two centres in but it will take a full day to get from one area to another. Dumaguete is also another great area , Liquid Dumaguete is a wonderful.shop. t The guests , the couple who own it and the guides all eat together....the food is awesome and the family who own and run it are adorable.

Take a look at the Trip Advisor reviews.

Have a great trip
 
If it's you first time diving in the PI, I would not waste precious dive time with traveling to and from the Visayan island region (which you and another poster) are contemplating. That travel infrastructure in that area (actually the whole country) area of the Philippines is underdeveloped and you will waste time taking ferries, bankas, jeepneys, and trikes getting from place to place.

My advice would be to focus on Anilao and/or Puerta Galera. These areas are 2-3 hour transfer from Manila and both have great diving. If you want a more social and "party" atmosphere the PG is definitely the one to choose. The beaches may not be the best, but the underwater is very good and varied, with open water and muck sites available. There are many diver operators to choose from, a couple I can recommend from personal experience are El Galleon Resort or Atlantis Resort and their associated dive operators. If cost is a factor, you can always stay at a cheaper accommodation (many available) and just dive with them. Also, every in PG actually takes place in an area called Sabang Beach, which is a series of small beach-lined coves, and everything is within walking distance of everything else. This is not so for many of the Visayan dive areas you are considering.
 
Christmas is the peak season so accommodation get booked out well in advance.
Alona Beach(Bohol) too developed to my taste. Diving is ok.
Anilao has such a unique diving rate that really put me off.
Dumaguete is very quiet if you are staying in Dauin. Try Harold's Mansion which is in the city center. Diving is mainly macro unless it is in Apo Island.
Mactan is ok but you probably require transport to go out!!
Malapascua is very very quiet but diving is very good.
Moalboal is a little bit more lively than Malapascua but the diving is a bit boring after few days(mainly wall dive).
Puerto Galera is the most lively place among all diving destinations in the country. Diving is good but the place is very very busy over Christmas.
My suggestion: Moalboal with Dumaguete or Puerto Galera.
 
i am 100% with jonnieb. huge variety in lodging, eating, drinking, dive operators, courses, dive sites, attractions on non-dive days and nights. the only put-off might be the extraordinary number of vendors - a few extraordinarily pushy. other than that, you can not be bored. you can not go wrong. save your visayan trip for another time when you have just a little more time. that said, if you are a solo woman traveler the puerto galera area, and sabang beach in particular, might be a little overwhelming. consider avoiding sabang.
 
Actually,Bohol is less than an hours flight from Manila and 20 mins in a van or pickup to get too the Alona or Doljo area.
 
I spent three weeks over there last year diving in Anilao (Club Ocellaris) and Sabang (Puerto Galera with Action Divers). Great diving in both locations. Many of the operators in Anilao are somewhat isolated from any real night life. Club O was all about the diving... we'd spend as much as 8 hours a day in the water (dives lasting up to 2 1/2 hours on a single tank). Sabang had plenty of night life if one chose that and the diving was pretty good. Hoping to go back soon but have potential trips to Costa Rica, Hawaii, the Caymans and the Red Sea in the next 6 months.
 
Hi All,

I'm travelling the Philippines during the Christmas season probably for 10 days, so I have 8 days for dive excluding flight time. I'd like to take AOW course for the first 2 days, and do fun dives for the rest. This is my first trip there and want to get some advice on where to go among Mactan, Moalboal, Bohol, and Dumaguete considering things below

1. I'm new to scuba. I'm an OWD and got certified last year in Playa del carmen, Mexico. my diving experiences might not be enough for some diving sites, and I gotta exclude them.

2. I'm a solo traveler and don't want to get bored after my diving is done for day. not exactly looking for some night parties or something, but I just love backpacker atmosphere. if it's not too much, I'm also okay with touristic places.
(any recommendations of dive centers that are for relaxing and socializing are welcomed.)

3. Actually I was thinking of Bohol at first, but now combination of two destinations.. Visit Bohol first and then Dumaguete or Mactan and then Bohol something like that... what do you think? wouldn't it be boring spending 8 days diving in Bohol only? or would it be too hectic or to cover two places in 8 days?


Thanks in advance :)

It really depends on how much diving you're expecting to do? If you move around you'll lose at least one dive day and those are limited already. I'd focus on one spot chosen for the variety of diving. Truth is that the diving is good pretty much everywhere in the Philippines, it's just a matter of "degree" :) Some places are better for certain things than others though.

I'm in the planning stages of a trip right now which would be virtually identical to yours. 10 days with 8 dive days. I expect to do around 30 dives in those 8 days. To do that I need to maximize time wherever I go. The easy places to get too relatively quickly (not catching connecting flights or ferries) are Anilao and Puerto Galera if you fly into Manila. Moalboal or Malapascua if you fly into Cebu. It's true that flight times are short, but connection times have to be added too, and both ways!

I would rule out Anilao. Like Dr. Bill just said, it's pretty focused on diving. There is virtually nothing else to do there :wink:

The diving is good in Moalboal. It's almost all wall diving though. I do consider Pescador Island one of the better dives in the Philippines :) Having said that it's pretty concentrated along the wall and Pescador Island. Three or four days would do it for me. That's a destination I would add on when I had time to do multiple destinations. That leaves Puerto Galera or Malapascua either of which would be great choices for a first dive trip.

Puerto Galera is great. One of the top dive destinations in the Philippines. Lots of different types of dives there. The Verde Passage (Puerto Galera on one side and Anilao on the other) is considered the "center of the center" of marine bio-diversity of shore fish for the entire planet. Realistically you're not going to see every species in a week though :wink: You should see, frogfish, corals, big schools of sardines, jacks, lionfish, scorpionfish, turtles, sharks, nudibranchs... the "usual suspects" I call them :wink: Truth is the whole Philippines is like that though :) I'd call the Puerto Galera vibe a little edgier. You can definitely "party hard" there if that is what you're into. As was mentioned by another poster, I don't know if Sabang would be the best choice for a woman traveling alone, but that is where most of the dive operations are based. You'd be fine at one of the upscale resorts, but you have to pay more for those.

Then there is Malapascua.... Along with the "usual suspects", Malapascua is one of the few places in the world you can reliably see thresher sharks. They also have an afternoon manta ray dive which is pretty reliable for seeing manta's out at Monad Shoal, and they have mandarinfish mating which is very cool to see. I think the sighting of pelagics is more reliable at Malapascua. I get the overall diversity that I see most other places, plus the pelagics :wink: Malapascua has plenty of places to eat and drink, but has a very laid back feel to it. Definitely a different vibe than Puerto Galera. I should add that "muck" diving is in a different category and one I think underwater photographers find more "interesting" than probably the "average" diver :)

For what it's worth, this is my 7th trip to the Philippines. I've dived almost every major dive destination there. I've made almost 200 dives there so far. With only 8 dive days this time I'm planning a third visit to Malapascua Island and I plan to dive with Evolution Evolution Diving Resort in Malapascua, Cebu, Philippines for the second time. The Craic House Irish Bar at Evolution has really AWESOME food :) It's a great place to hang out with other divers. Malapascua will have plenty of sites that are appropriate for an OW diver with your experience level. If you knock out your AOW when you first get there, that will open up even more dives for you. I guarantee after a few days of diving and given the variety of sites you will get to experience your comfort level is going to go up and you'll be having the time of your life :) Nothing beats experience!

Wherever you decide, don't wait to long. You're going during high season, so reservations are definitely recommended!

If you have any specific questions as you research your trip feel free to ask. Someone on this board will know the answer :wink: AND be sure to take lots of photos and let us know how the trip went when you get back :wink: Best of luck!
 
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