So confused~ Need travel advice

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melissabeads

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
171
Reaction score
17
Location
Colorado
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi!

I am trying to arrange a trip for myself, my husband and our two friends. My husband and I are both DMs and our friends are beginner divers. I would like to stay in two if not three different areas with in the Philippines. We will have just short of two weeks.

None of us are afraid of low budget hotels as long as they are clean, safe and close to some food. Actually the more unique location the better. I am a photographer and would love to dive where there is a good amount of macro life. That being said a week of muck diving might be too much?

It would also be great to travel to at least one destination where we could spend some time touring and seeing the culture and doing some hiking or other topside activities. My friend's husband is not near the diving faniatic as us and I want him to enjoy the trip.

I feel pretty responsible :shocked2: to make the trip great for everyone so any advice on where to stay/dive would be great! We aren't the lay on the beach type of people. Either diving and sleeping or out and about spending time seeing all we can see. I have a sea of bookmarks for different places and just can't seem to narrow them all down.

Thanks!
 
Hey fellow Coloradoan! We are off for our first trip in April/May, so I can't offer first hand advice, but will love to hear the responses!

Are you flying into Manila or Cebu?

From reading a lot, I would say secondhand - if Manila try Anilao and Puerto Galera combo. If flying into Cebu try a combo of Moalboal, Malapascua (sp?), and Dauin.
 
diverjens, been doing her research and is well on her way to becoming an PI authority.

Anilao is not just about muck it has really nice variety of sites and excellent macro, and coral habitat. I was just in Anilao and wasreally happy with the diversity, combining it with Puerto Galera would be easy and you can probably find some good topside fun to be had.
If your flying into Manila you can still easily and cheaply fly to Cebu or Dumagette or Taclibaran and combine Dauin with either Bohol-Alona beach, Moalboal or Malapascua. Then you can fly back to Manila from Cebu/Dumagette/Taglibaran. Easy peasy.
Dauin has excellent macro/muck (got my first taste there in '09 and was hooked) but not limited to that there also is Apo Island which has some excellent coral gardens, Alona beach has excellent walls/macro, Malapascua has threshers and macro, and I haven't done Moalboal but hear its good.

Everywhere will have good diversity of macro as the Coral Triangle is the most diverse underwater ecosystem on this fair planet of ours.


( and while we have a Colorado theme here, I'm third generation Colorado native but no longer living there-Go Aggies)
 
Puerto Galera is easily accessible from Manila, has loads of sites (it costs extra bit be SURE to get out to Verde island, it's incomparably better than the main island). not so much to do outside diving but you can always take a trip out to some of the other towns on the island of hike to a waterfall or something.

Balicasag off the coast of Panglao, Bohol is fantastic. Bohol itself has a few unique tourist attractions like the chocolate hills and the tarsiers (look out up).

---------- Post added January 30th, 2015 at 12:25 AM ----------

you'll never be far from food the Philippines though haha
 
Just short of 2 wks.
My suggestion is:
1. Fly to Cebu from Manila asap. There are numerous flights everyday by PR/5J. The first flight by Cebu Pacific(5J) is around 12:15.
2. Moalboal(2hrs from the airport). Resorts are at Panagsama Beach though. "Nelson" is my choice.
3. Ask the resort to arrange the land transfer to Santender for the short ferry across to Dumaguete. "Liquid" in Dauin is my suggestion. But you might like to say at Apo Island instead.
4. Take the fast ferry from Dumaguete to Tagbilaren and then a short ride to Alona Beach. If you want a bit of rustic feel then "Peter's House" is the place(Genesis divers).
5. Malapascua is very nice but it is a small isolated island. The connection from it to other places are time consuming.

How you divide the time on 2, 3 and 4 is entirely up to you. The transfer between all these places won't take more than 3-4hrs.
 
Melissa, you have received all good suggestions above. If you are really keen to see 3 places, do what Central suggested. But if you only have 12 days, I think only 2 places is better. So you could do Dumaguete (more precisely Dauin) plus either Bohol (Alona Beach) or Moalboal.

As Dirtfarmer said, Anilao + PG is also a very good suggestion. Advantage of this is that they are close together and relatively close (about half a day travel) to Manila, so no extra flight to Cebu required. Anilao has the best macro in the Philippines (and arguably best or 2nd best in the world), also very good all round diving, but not much to do topside (except maybe hang out at your resort and have massages). But this is not a problem if you are a keen diver/photographer. Anilao is the absolute best in Philippines if you are a keen underwater photographer. PG has very good all round diving, and also some topside day trips possible (waterfalls, hikes, etc). Since there are 4 of you in your party, you can hire a private boat to take you direct from your resort in PG to your resort in Anilao (or vice versa); it takes only about 90 minutes so very efficient time-wise.

Dauin has very good macro, and day trips to Apo Island (nice coral reefs) are easy to arrange. Dauin also has nice variety of resorts to suit all tastes/budgets. Also fairly good for non-diving activities.

Malapascua also has very good diving, plus thresher sharks! But as Centrals said, it takes a bit more effort to get there, so if you are keen to do 2 places in 12 days, it would be a good long day to transfer somewhere else (closest would be Moalboal).

Whatever you choose, I am sure you will have a great time!
 
HI Melissa,
When are you going? I am trying to put together something also.. 4 of us. Only 2 divers. So I can relate. Need something to keep the non divers happy also. I can tell you everything you need to know about Indonesia ( been there over 25 times now) but never to Philippines so will be interested where you end up. I have s few friends that dove there and diver friend that lives there. Just started today to look.

I found this
Malapascua Exotic Island Dive and Beach Resort

and hear good things about this place

Scuba Diving in the Philippines The Atlantis Dive Resorts and Liveaboards, The Best Dive Resort in the Island - Sabang, Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro and Lipayo, Dauin, Negros Oriental in Dumaguete the resort..

Carl


Hi!

I am trying to arrange a trip for myself, my husband and our two friends. My husband and I are both DMs and our friends are beginner divers. I would like to stay in two if not three different areas with in the Philippines. We will have just short of two weeks.

None of us are afraid of low budget hotels as long as they are clean, safe and close to some food. Actually the more unique location the better. I am a photographer and would love to dive where there is a good amount of macro life. That being said a week of muck diving might be too much?

It would also be great to travel to at least one destination where we could spend some time touring and seeing the culture and doing some hiking or other topside activities. My friend's husband is not near the diving faniatic as us and I want him to enjoy the trip.

I feel pretty responsible :shocked2: to make the trip great for everyone so any advice on where to stay/dive would be great! We aren't the lay on the beach type of people. Either diving and sleeping or out and about spending time seeing all we can see. I have a sea of bookmarks for different places and just can't seem to narrow them all down.

Thanks!
 
We've spent ten weeks in the PI in the last two years. I would ditto Centrals. A good itinerary with such limited time. Only caveat is there's not a lot to do topside in Moalboal or Dauin (although the volcano/lake is a good day trip). Bohol isn't the best diving but is the best diving location for topside activities. So much to see there. Please visit tarsiers in a wild sanctuary, not in anything caged. Those tarsiers will die.

Anilao is not-to-be-missed for macro but I wouldn't do more than three places max (two is good) in two weeks.

Moalboal - average diving by Philippine standards but good walls and excellent night dives. A reduced sardine run from a few years back but worth a look. Nelsons is a great (local) shop. Blue abyss caters well for photographers and can put you up in very cheap accommodation - but only dive with Jun there as a critter spotter and get him to private guide. Diver guide ratios in Moalboal can be less than ideal. Avoid the shops that cater to Korean divers. Nothing to do topside.

Dauin - some of the best diving in the PI. Apo Island for coral and Dauin for incredible macro. nothing to do topside. We stay with Mike's resort who will take excellent care of you and can put you up in much cheaper accommodation next door. You will note our preference for smaller, boutique operators. Liquid is excellent but we prefer the very individual attention of Mike's.

Bohol - best combo of topside and diving. If diving there don't miss snake island! It's not something everyone will take you to automatically but it's very unique. Other than that average diving. Again, some good walls and black coral. And again we like the small boutique shop Prana diving (who can also combine yoga if you're into that). Laurent is ex special forces and taught me much about diving there for free. You will get very individual attention. Mostly used by the French and little recommended in the forums here but at least check them out and get a feel for their vibe.

If you want to see one of the best places for macro in the world, then do go to Anilao. Photographer Tim Ho has a couple of ventures there now catering to budget conscious photographers - and his backpackers photo hostel is a bargain. Used almost exclusively by very very good photographers. Some of the best photo guides in the Philippines. Mark Callisto who guides there is often the guide of whoever wins the photo comps. He can find anything anywhere and will tell you what angle of approach to use and even what strength diopter to flip in. Never had a guide who compares. Not even close. Don't miss the bobbit worms! Took us a few expositions to find one but just a not to be missed animal.

---------- Post added January 30th, 2015 at 06:02 PM ----------

If you are going to malapascua, please do consider Evolution. You really get what you pay for with them.
 
oh yeah if you are into wreck diving them Coron is unbelievable

whole fleet of Japanese warships were sunk in WW2 and most are diveable, we're talking 150m long giants with 50 cal machine guns, cranes etc intact. truly spectacular. We didn't try it but there are reasonably priced island hopping tours too, similar beauty to el nido

make sure you fly there though, the boat ride from El nido is a grueling 9 hours and we all got food poisoning from the food and were bedridden for four days
 
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