Liveaboard or land based in the Philippines - Any suggestions?

[rmhart]

I am planning a potential trip to the Philippines in 2015 and would like suggestions on land based or liveaboard.
We are most interested in the bigger animals and not so much the macro world.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Doc]

Depends upon what you define as "bigger animals".

In that prolly 90% (?) of everything in the Ocean fits in "the macro world", you have to list which in the 10% of critters gets you all warm and fuzzy.

Maybe you like Whale Sharks? Whale Sharks Donsol Philippines | Diving | Interaction

Not sure I would drag all the way to the Philippines to see something available somewhere closer.

It would be a crying shame to do the Philippines and not look hard at each of the "macro" critters- they are so abundant. Very many Nudibranchs, all sorts of odd bottom dwellers, generally peculiar stuff.

 

[rmhart]

Thanks for the feed back Doc.

I probably should have been more specific. Our main objective is the bigger critters shuch ash thresher sharks, Whale sharks, mantas, etc. Just don't want to go where everything is muck diving.

Hope that makes more sense.

Thanks

 

[jake11]

When we went to Dumaguette we mainly saw the small stuff but it was beautiful diving!

 

[xrcjdx]

a little late reply, and not to say all land based diving in philippines is muck, but you want a iiveaboard. u r likely to find much of what u seek on tubbataha.

 

[nudisusie]

Hi rmhart

For what you're looking for a liveaboard to Tubbataha would be your best option - there its mostly big fish schools and many shark, and dramatic reef scenes - though there are plenty of critters too the dive operators typically focus on the big stuff where as elsewhere you'll have mostly macro. The park is only open between Feb and June each year. My pick would be Siren Fleet as i know the boat is well looked after and the crew are outstanding.

Malapascua may be another good option for threshers and mantas at Monad Shoal and Kimud Shoal but depends upon how many dives as local sites tend to have more macro focus. My pick would be Thresher Shark Divers - great operation, well run dive centre, very customer focused.

 

[aquashik]

Hi! For the big stuff your best bet is in Tubbataha Reef. Season starts end of March to June. Siren Fleet is the most expensive. Your other liveaboard options are Palausport and the Discovery Fleet...all the other boats are small and quite old.

Malapascua for the thresher sharks, I suggest Evolution Diving. And bohol you get the turtles, school or jacks and beautiful reef, go with Philippine Fun Divers.

Donsol is only for snorkeling with the whale shark. If you want to see them while scuba diving, your best bet is in Southern Leyte...but if you don't see the whale shark...the sites there are mostly macro and muck diving

 

[Hintermann]

Hi! For the big stuff your best bet is in Tubbataha Reef. Season starts end of March to June. Siren Fleet is the most expensive. Your other liveaboard options are Palausport and the Discovery Fleet...all the other boats are small and quite old.

Not really. MV Stella Maris Explorer has been completely refurbished under the new management for Expedition Fleet and all the reports in the last 18 moths have been excellent.

 

[Juergen_187]

Hi, I have recently been to Ticao Island, a hidden treasure of an island. On every dive we've seen Mantas, huge Mantas! The reef nearby, called San Miguel, is also beautiful. Ticao feels like a "Robinson" island with only one resort, getting there is already spectacular, starting from landing in Legazpi with its impressive volcano Mayon. Sure, you have to be lucky, there is no guarantee for big fish encounter. We were also lucky about the current, which was close to zero.

We combined Ticao with Anilao, which is not far from Manila. I came across Ticao actually when I was searching for a liveaboard tour, and I found this one looks pretty good:

Philippine Secrets Dive Safari Philippines dive holiday | Asia group tour | Dive Worldwide

regards, Juergen

 

[bill22]

Malapascua Island for the Thresher Sharks. I've made 3 trips there (7 total trips to the Philippines). I've dived with Thresher Shark Divers and Evolution. I dived with TSD my first visit in 2007. I dived with Evolution my second visit the end of 2010 and again for my third visit in November 2014. Of the two, I recommend Evolution. Evolution Diving Resort in Malapascua, Cebu, Philippines

For whale sharks, I would try Southern Leyte. Whale Sharks are pretty reliably sighted during certain times of year. In Southern Leyte I dived with Peters Dive Resort and can recommend them as well. Peter's Dive Resort Philippines: Scuba Diving in Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte

I dived Tubbataha on the Borneo Explorer in 2009 and had a great trip. I can recommend them also Borneo Explorer | Expedition Fleet Liveaboards: Scuba Diving Philippines

Best of luck!