Trip Report:Mindanao, Bohol, Negros & Cebu - Feb 2015

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Canard

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
91
Reaction score
14
Location
Victoria, British Columbia
# of dives
1000 - 2499
Mindanao, Bohol, Negros & Cebu – February 2015

I spent the month of February 2015 diving in the Visayas region of Philippines. Appropriately, I started my Philippine trip with a ferry ride from Vancouver Island to mainland British Columbia to catch a flight from Vancouver to Manila. In Manila I transferred to a local flight to Cagayan de Oro in Northern Mindanao. Mindanao is off the radar of most tourists because of the long-standing guerilla war between the central government and the Moro separatists. What is overlooked is that Mindanao is a big place and the warfare is isolated- northern Mindanao is peaceful and prosperous.

I started in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) as it is the winter home to my Van Isle dive buddy Totong. It was thanks to his hospitality that I ventured on this trip.

Although it is off the international radar there is actually quite a vibrant dive scene with good shops and charter operators catering to the local market. Spearfishing is very popular. Unfortunately, the winds were unfavourable during my time in CDO and it limited our diving. My first dive was at Agutayan-White Island Marine Sanctuary about an hour north of CDO. We launched from Lingyan in a small boat private charter. Great dive but the weather was picking up and that was it for the day.

Next day, more wind so we opted for river rafting instead on the Cagayan River. Lots of fun and pretty mellow trip through 22 sets of rapids over 3 hours. They had us paddle once and a while but I think we were really just “meat in the boat”.

To escape the winds we headed south towards Iligan to a private beach resort owned by Totong’s friend. The property fronts a great little reef that makes a wonderful shore dive. Over two days we made 4 dives here and enjoyed a couple of terrific lunches at local restos.

Finally the wind shifted and we headed up to Balingoan to the Mantangale Alibuag Dive Resort. I’m not sure this was the absolute best diving I experienced in my 4 weeks but it was certainly up there. Any place but Mindanao this place would be packed. 5.5ha of manicured grounds featuring the owners’ 20 year love affair with orchids sets the tone. The owner, Dudong, is also head of all things diving. It is his passion and he knows the waters intimately. We were there between seasons and were the only divers so had a marvelous private dive experience. Great boats, great sites and Nitrox mixes customized to optimize each dive are standard. PHP1,500 each dive including Nitrox. We experienced the local waters and also made the short crossing to Camiguen Island, which was simply spectacular.

We took an overnight ferry from CDO to Bohol, which was an adventure in itself, but I didn’t want to fly and have to lose a day of diving. We landed at Tagbilaran at 4 AM and were met by a van from Dive Thru Dive Resort on Panglao Island – we were diving again by 9 AM! Dive Thru had the nicest accommodations of my trip. A small resort with 14 well-appointed, eco-friendly rooms, a good restaurant and a superior dive shop. In truth the room was a bit over my budget at 3500 php/night but the diving fees were reasonable at 1500/php/dive. Spacious boat with only 4 divers and a very attentive guide made the most of Balicasag Island as our small group was able to find some space amongst the throngs from nearby Alona Beach.

Balicasag was the most crowded dive spot I experienced with dozens and dozens of dive boats. In spite of the seeming crowds on the surface underwater wasn’t really too bad. If we encountered another group we would just hold up for a couple of minutes and let them swim by. I particularly enjoyed the steep walls on the open side of the island that hosted healthy corals and abundant and diverse fish, including spectacular swirling masses of Big-Eyed Trevallys. Rather than degrading the dive sites through overuse the volume of divers seems to have a beneficial effect in that the locals are protecting the reefs to ensure the ongoing tourist revenue. A protected reef has more value than an exploited one.

We had 5 great days of diving around Balicasag and Panglao and I enjoyed walking into the tourist town of Alona Beach in the evenings. On our last night the resort was host to a major Valentine’s Dinner put on by the Rotary and featuring the Canadian ambassador. Poor bugger had to sit through at least 2 hours of karaoke. We were up early the next day to take the fast ferry to Dumaguete on Negros Island.

Hindsight is 20:20 and in retrospect I wish we had stayed in Dumaguete where Totong had relatives rather than heading to Dauin and the Pura Vida Resort. Didn’t enjoy the resort in the least and the diving with Sea Explorers was very expensive at PHP2,000/dive. Ouch. We made the day trip to Apo Island and enjoyed 3 excellent dives there but we checked out of the hotel after one night and headed back to Dumaguete.

Our plan had always been for me to carry on solo after Dumaguete and so I made plans to return to Alona Beach. Since I was catching an afternoon ferry we headed up into the mountains for a change of scenery. Beautiful countryside and hot springs which have been harnessed to produce geothermal electricity.

Travelling alone I took things down a notch and travelled cheap. The trike from Tagbilaran to Alona Beach was just PHP300 and I stayed at the distinctly down market Alona Studios Hotel for PHP1,000/night. This was Chinese New Year and everyplace was full. I went diving with Philippine Fun Divers and have only good things to say about them. I was very lucky to join up with 3 other divers and arrange a special day cruise to Cabilao Island as well as a few more dives at Balicasag. PHP 1,200/dive and excellent service all round. Alona Beach is a fun spot with lots of restaurants and bars. Can’t comment on night life as I was up for diving each morning.

The final week of my stay was at Moalboal on Cebu. I stayed at Panagsama Beach with the famous sardine dive directly in front. I arranged for diving and accommodation through Savedra Dive Centre and was very satisfied. I enjoyed the “nippa hut” fan room at just PHP800/night and the 20 dive package for PHP22,000. (They offer a 15% discount to PADI pros too!). With the exception of Pescador Island the diving is all within a 5-10 minute boat ride and so the boats were smaller and more crowded than they had been elsewhere but it was of no consequence. Small dive groups with sharp-eyed divemasters made for some interesting creature spotting. Pygmy Seahorse, Frogfish, Ghost Pipefish and other “most-sees” were revealed. I really loved the dives at Pescador Island and think they may have been the best of this trip. And the famous sardine dive is deserving of its fame. Panagsama Beach is a tiny place but it boasts a lot of restaurants and exudes a very chill vibe. Couldn’t have had a better spot for a relaxing end to my trip. I grabbed a private transfer to the Cebu airport and began my uneventful return to Vancouver Island. The first dive back in my drysuit was a bit of a shock.
 
My Caucasian girlfriend and I spent a couple of weeks travelling around Mindanao with no problems whatsoever, CDO, Surigao & Davao. Would have loved to head over to Zamboanga as I heard some great things about it but reading reports that you would need your own escort outside of the city was a bit off putting!

Camiguin was one of my favorite destinations in the Phils, great place to relax for a week or so, although I didb't end up doing any diving there for some reason.

Rafting at CDO was also great value for money.
 
Great report, will use as inspiration for my next upcoming trip in August hopefully. Have to read up on Alona Beach.
 
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