dive itinerary for Nov. 2015

[Kelle]

Hello: my husband and I are ready to book our first dive trip to the Philippines and wondered if anyone has any recommendations to our plan below, based on their experiences. Like if they would spend more time in one place over the other, or anything else - thanks in advance !!

11/1 - arrive at Cebu Int'l from the U.S. in the afternoon- take transport to Magic Island Resort in Moalboal
11/2 - two dives at Pescador
11/3 - two dives at Pescador
11/4 - 1 a.m. dive local to resort area - afternoon trip to Kasawan Falls
11/5 - early a.m. transfer to Atmosphere Resort - with a stop at Oslob on the way
11/6 - 3 dive day at Apo - 1 mandarin fish/evening dive from resort
11/7 - 3 dive day at Apo - 1 mandarin fish/evening dive from resort
11/8 - afternoon ferry to Panglao Island/Alona Beach area - any resort recommendations for diving the next few days at Baliscag?
11/9 - Baliscag dives
11/10 - Baliscag dives
11/11 - Ferry to Cebu airport for early evening flight home

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi there

You have picked great spots , but this is way too busy, particularly if you are coming all the way from the US. Balicasag is great for nice coral and lots of turtles , but has nothing you will not have already seen in Pescador or Apo. Consider spending four or five days in Magic and Four days in Atmosphere. Otherwise you will loose too much time traveling.

Have a great trip.

 

[NorCalDM]

I agree with Tippytoes12 traveling in the Philipines is not like the U.S. You will be spending a lot of time moving around. I would pick two resorts and spend more time diving I spent four days at Atomsphere at the end of my trip in February and that was not enough time don't miss out on the muck diving around Atmosphere.

 

[shutsal]

As someone who just dove Apo with Atmopshere I think one 3-dive day there should be plenty. They are beautiful reefs full of turtles but you can get that almost anywhere. Definitely spend at least a day and I would suggest more diving around Dauin. Some of the best muck diving I have ever done! Much preferred the muck in Dauin to the reefs in Apo, but then again we spent a week in Tubbataha before that.

 

[Kelle]

Thank you three very much for the advice - we needed to hear that. Shutsal, based on your comments, I'm thinking maybe for our two days diving from Atmosphere, we'll do a 3-dive day at Apo and make the next day muck diving in Dauin. I hear Tubbataha is amazing - probably not even comparable to Pescador, Apo or Balsicag. I am disappointed that you all think that making the 3rd leg of our trip plan would be too much, b/c for some reason I thought the Baliscag diving was pretty great for schools of fish (other than sardine fish) and that's one of our favorite things. It looks like if we left Atmosphere around 1:30 p.m. we could get to Bohol Beach Club by 4:30 p..m.; relax that evening and then have the next 2 days to dive Baliscag. I should listen to you all though - b/c we just came back from a dive/land excursions trip in Costa Rica and it was non-stop. I needed a week to recover and I call it Vacation BootCamp (even though it was pretty awesome).

 

[Damselfish]

I agree with the choir, with that number of days do no more than 2 places. I know it is tempting to do more, but you may not see more and will probably see less because of the time wasted traveling and re-acclimating. This is often true even places where travel is quicker, but it really does take longer to get anyplace in the Philippines than you might think. You also won't have much chance to repeat something that you really liked or didn't work out the first time due to conditions or whatever. And you'll wind up needing that post-vacation vacation.

I also agree about Apo Island. It was very nice but one day is probably enough. We actually went there 2 days, but after the first dive of the 2nd trip we all decided we'd prefer to head back to the Dauin area and get in more dives there. (And we had a whole week there.) I wouldn't necessarily plan on 2 days at Pescador either. IIRC it was nice enough but we liked Apo better. There is plenty of other diving done from the resorts you have chosen that you shouldn't be missing, lots of great critters to see. Makes no sense to go there and not do it. You've picked good places, but with that settled you probably don't need to plan every last dive detail in advance - I'd try and go with the flow more and decide things as you go along as much as possible.

And yes, Tubbataha was pretty amazing. We were just there in May. Still, like anyplace, you can have great luck or not.

 

[xrcjdx]

if you survive your november 1 plan november 2 will surely kill you. you seriously underestimate both how beat up you will be after a day+ of travel from the states as well as the jet lag you will encounter with a half day difference in time zones (unlike costa rica).

you arrive cebu city in the afternoon? great, it is check in time. spend the first night in cebu city, eat, shower, pass out (not necessarily in that order). split the rest of the time between bohol and dauin (incl. apo). one advantage, and one advantage only, is all your commute can be done via the ferry (except the relatively short and painless rides from the port of tagbilaran to the resorts at alona and back, and dumaguete to dauin and back). you miss nothing sticking to 2 of your 3, except some absolutely unnecessary and unpleasant travel time. and you can actually gain a diving day if you wish. there are also several terrific shore based excursions available on bohol as well as in the dumaguete/dauin area.

if it is the whalesharks that are driving your desire to go to moalboal (i.e. visiting oslob on your way to dumaguete), please mindfully consider first whether you wish to support what is practiced there.

 

[nudisusie]

Hi Kelle

I agree with the majority of posters above. I would skip Bohol in favour of longer time in both Moalboal and Dauin.

When in Dauin i would spend only 1 day at Apo and the rest of the time critter spotting along the coast. Atmosphere house reef is excellent and well worth visiting in the daytime. And the resort is awesome so I'm sure once there you'll want to stay longer!

Whilst Balicasag has some very good dive sites and the local sites in Panglao are good too it seems to me a hassle involved in travelling is not outweighed by the diving, which is very similar to what you would experienced elsewhere. The rules for diving in Balicasag have also changed with diver number limitations and increased marine park fees - the local mayor referred to tourists as "the golden goose" in a recent interview about the new fees - ie just interested in taking money not reef conservation.

I will be visiting the area myself in 2 weeks, its part of our liveaboard trip so we cannot change, however having been there in 2007 and again in 2009 & 2010 i think diving elsewhere is better. I'll post a review in a few weeks so perhaps that will help you decide what is the best option. we will also stop at Moalboal and Pescador and I'm staying afterwards at Atmosphere Resort so I'l try to provide you with some good comparisons.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions on the region I've spent quite a bit of time there so happy to assist,
Susie

 

[Kelle]

Taking everyone's suggestions to heart, what about this revised plan? Yes I'm bringing this up again - lol! Does the extra day built in and the more relaxed schedule make it more feasible? (I just can't help noticing what I see as slightly different diving in the videos I'm watching of Moalboal and Baliscag. Am I imagining that?)

11/1 - arrive at Cebu airport from the U.S. in the afternoon-- stay in a Cebu hotel and eat, shower and pass out.
11/2 - morning transport to Magic Island Resort - check in and spend the afternoon at Kasawan Falls
11/3 - two dives at Pescador
11/4 - two dives at Pescador or local dive
11/5 - early a.m. transfer to Atmosphere Resort - with stop at Oslob on the way - yes I would like to snorkel with whalesharks (I've not done it before so I may very well find that I feel terrible about it - coming from someone who won't visit dolphin encounters or zoos or the like b/c of bad feelings I get).
11/6 - 3 dive day at Apo - 1 mandarin fish/evening dive from resort
11/7- dauin dive (muck diving seems cool never having done it before - so far our preference has been schooling fish and healthy corals).
11/8- afternoon ferry transport for Bohol Beach Club
11/9 - Baliscag dives
11/10 - Baliscag dives
11/11 - Ferry to Cebu airport area - spend the night in Cebu
11/12 - flight home to U.S.

 

[peeweediver]

Kelle: We stayed at Magic Island in February 2014 with our LDS. We had 20 people so we had the whole resort. Cannot say enough about the owners, Ari and Desiree, and all the staff. Just a great place to be. Pescador is a great site. Consider a night dive at Pescador. It's amazing and totally different than during the day. There are other good sites along the reef and you may get to see the sardines, which was the highlight. Desiree or Jo, dive shop manager, can tell you which sites are looking great when you are there.
Take advantage of the very relaxing atmosphere of the resort. If you are trying to not "miss" any great areas of the Philippines, you will no matter what because it is so varied and big. Relax a bit and enjoy being under water in that relaxed state. We were at Magic Island for 10 days. Too long?? Maybe, but we enjoyed every day and all the people at the resort. Three or four days of diving there will give you a sense of the diving area and let you relax and enjoy. For me, diving is a zen-like experience and rushing from place to place would ruin that.
Enjoy.

Rob