2nd dive trip to Philippines in October

[rob1967]

Thanks for reply,
I guess I will have to go back for places which I know. I started to plan, so I thought about 4 ways. please comment me about that.
The first plan:
9th arrive manila in 5:00, flight to Dumaguete and dive in Daiun.
10th Dive in Apo Island, in the evening cross to Cebu and head to Moalboall
11th Dive in MoalBoal, in the evening head north of cebu
12th take a boat to Malapascua. From my last trip I know that there is a boat only in late morning, so I will miss the thresher shark trip and take closer dives
13th Treshser Shark trip. Do you know if in the evening is there boat for mainland Cebu? take a bus to Cebu and sleep there.
14th Shopping in Cebu. In the evening take plane to Manila and then exit the Philippines.

The second plan:
9th arrive manila in 5:00, flight to Dumaguete and dive in Daiun.
10th Dive in Apo Island. In the evening take a ferry to Tagbilaran
11th arrive at morning and head to Alona beach. Dive aroung Panglao Island
12-13th dive in Alona beach
14 take a ferry to Cebu and then Plane to Manila

The third plan:
9th arrive manila in 5:00, flight to Coron in 9:00 and try to make up for 1/2 dives.
10-11th dives in the wrecks
11th evening take a boat to San Jose in Mindoro (I know there are not schedule boat)
12th go to Sablayan and cross to Pandan Island
13th Dive in Apo Island
14th Head to Manila by bus to PG, boat to Batangas and bus to Manila

The forth plan:
9th arrive manila in 5:00, flight to Tacloban, 2 buses for Pedre Burgus.
10-13th Dive in Pedre Burgus
14th Vice versa to come back Manila

Wow! You really like to move around a lot! I am amazed at how many places you have been to already, but did you actually go to all those places in one trip? Over what period of time did you visit all those places? I'm just curious, because I've been to the Philipines 8 times, and have been to all the places you have, except haven't gotten around to Malapascua and Moalboal yet.

IMHO, the first 3 plans involve WAY too much travel. You will be spending too much time in transit. Much better to spend your 4 days in one place. For example, if you stay in Dauin, you could make day trips to Apo Island, Siquijor, or Oslob. If you are into macro/muck diving, you may like Dauin better than Apo.

But the macro in Anilao is even a bit better than Dauin (in my humble opinion), and has the advantage of being very close to Manila, a definite consideration if you have only 4 days.

If you like wrecks, then yes, go back to Coron. These places need a good 4 days or so to do them justice.

Re: third plan, I think you mean Apo Reef??? Apo Island is close to Dauin in Visayas. Apo Reef is midway between Coron and Mindoro. The diving there is great, but it is hard to get there. It could be done as a LONG day trip from either Coron or western side of Mindoro, but not guaranteed. Depends on weather and if the dive operator has enough divers willing to to pay the extra fuel for such a trip. If you have only 4 days, it does not seem feasible to cross from Coron to Mindoro. Again, has to be arranged privately, and will be weather dependant.

Regarding 4th plan, I have not yet been to Southern Leyte, but to me seems a bit far if you have only 4 days. It may be better to stick to something closer to an airport.

Transportation in Philippines is nowhere near as quick and reliable to what you are used to back home... It will be much better to choose one place and stay there if you have only 4 days. Just my 2 cents....

 

[Centrals]

You really like packing and travelling!!
These are my opinions:
Plan 1:
10th Are you sure that there will be schedule to dive Apo Island. There is bus from Dumaguete to Cebu via Moalboal(check the schedule).
13th You might have to charter your own boat to the mainland.

Plan 2:
10th Please check the ferry schedule.
14th Flight from Tagbilaren to Manila.

Plan 3:
Are you sure there will be boat between Coron and Mindoro?
You can fly from San Jose to Manila.

Plan 4:
This is the only plan that I have no question.
Don't blame me if there is devine intervention ie. typhoon!

What is wrong with Anilao? If you really enjoy packing, unpacking and moving around, a 4 day combined trip to Anilao and PG would be my suggestion.

Good luck to your planning.

 

[oryosef5388]

rob1967 I did it in 45 days (I have Israeli passport which get 60 days visa on arrival), alone (so faster than with people), without equipment (only booties and mask), and with public transportation without charter any boat.

About my plans- The plan for Coron and the wrecks I will erase because I want to see big fish, not wrecks and not macro (Eilat has beautiful macro).
The plan for southern Leyte, like you said- it better to be close to the airport, and October is not Whalesharks season, so I will erase this to.
I know for sure it will better to start at Duemmagete, and do 1-2 day of dives in Apo Island and Dauin.
What do you think am I need to do after? Head for MoalBoal (and maybe after Malapacua), or head for Bohol?
Thanks for helping!​

 

[Hydreliox]

Dumaguete-Bohol-Cebu (Moalboal or Malapascua) makes sense with transport. It's just the way the ferries run. 2 hours from Dumaguete to Tagbileran (sp?) then another 2 hours from there to Cebu.

 

[rjjj111]

I have been to the philippines 5 times myself and dove many of the places you mention.

you are doing way to much travelling in my opinion. if you (have) to do 2 places, i would do Dauin for apo island and balicasag island. if it were me i would just go and dive balicasag island, enough to see for only 4 days and you will not be so rushed. you can also rent a boat at alona beach and go to oslob for whale sharks. plus there is alot of land sites there in bohol also. i dove apo island just 1 day and was (not) impressed. i have dove balicasag island 2 different times now for several days each time and i love it there. great diving at balicasag island in my opinion.

moalboal is pretty good but the sardines are gone now. if you want schooling fish and big stuff balicasag island is the place. there is another big school of fish off of mactan island at con tiki divers area, i just returned from there 9-5-2012.