9 days in Cebu - Looking for recommendation and travel buddies

[smurfzzz]

Hello fellow divers,

I will be arriving in Cebu on 2nd Feb 4:00am and departing 10th Feb 8:00pm.

I'm an advanced diver with >100 dives, comfortable with current though I can't say I'm well experienced with strong current yet.

So, I'm looking for macro diving, Malapascua thresher shark, Pescado cathedral caves and Oslob whaleshark + Kawasan Falls on my last day (since my departure flight at 8pm).

So this is some sample itinerary, please advise if it's doable or how should I adjust??

2nd Feb (arrival 4am) - 3 dives macro diving in Mactan with Club Paraiso, then head to Malapascua
3rd Feb & 4th Feb - 6 dives in Malapascua, then head to Moalboal
5th - Travel Malapascua -> Moalboal
6th & 7th - 6 dives in Moalboal for sardine run and Pescado catherdral cave, then head to Dumagnete
8th & 9th - 6 dives in Dumagnete then head to Oslob
10th - Oslob whaleshark sighting and Kawasan Fall (depart for airport at 4 or 5pm, flight at 8pm)


So with the above, please recommend a dive centre in Malapascua, Moalboal and Dumagnete that also provides transportation service.

If anyone is travelling to Cebu on the same date as me, please ping me, the itinerary is adjustable...

Cheers
Teresa

 

[FairyBasset]

Hi, you can try savedra diving in Moalboal. It’s right on the water and has good rooms to stay. They will offer Pescador Island dives and obviously the sardines. They may also offer trips to Oslob and Kawasan falls from there. I dived in Oslob, which was way better than snorkelling, though obviously it’s a very controlled environment. I wasn’t that impressed with the waterfall, but we didn’t hike up to the higher parts, we only did the bottom falls and lake. Full of people floating around in life jackets.

 

[Goingforsound]

Hi,

I am quite frequently in the philippines. Everything depends on the budget. If you are booking private vans and boats everything is doable. People tend to underestimate the time to travel here. It takes most of a day to get anywhere really.

Cebu-Malapascua is a 4.5h bus ride from Cebu North Terminal, then a 45min ferry. What is really interresting in Malapascua is Monad Shoal and Gato Island. Sometimes the dive shops can do them all in one day. I dive with Fun Sun Dive, the manager Tata is really nice. You have time to do a Monad Shoal dive (or two, depends on the diveshop schedule) the morning of your departure.

Moalboal the dives are OK. Oslob is a tourist trap, really sad the way they feed the whale sharks with hundreds of tourists in the water. The best whale shark sightings are in Pintuyan, but thats far off your current route.

If I had only 9 days, I would do Malapascua and Dauin. You would need half a day to get to either destination, The macro in Dauin is really nice, and you can visit Apo Island which is better than everything I have seen so far in the phils for the corals (havent been to tubataha yet). Its 6h bus from Cebu South Terminal to get to Dumaguete, then a 30min ride to get to Dauin.

Remember, less is more! Happy diving!

 

[Goingforsound]

Just to comment on the schedule:

3 dives on the 1st day would bring you to mid afternoon. Then you would travel to Maya port but the last ferry is 4:30-5pm. Travel time by van is 3.5-4hrs. I landed at 7am, and was in Malapascua at 3pm last week doing it by bus.

There is no chance you are making your 8pm flight if you are leaving Oslob at 5pm

 

[Damselfish]

Personally, I would not stay more than 2 places in 9 days, and only if they are sort of convenient to travel between. It takes too long to get around most anyplace in the Philippines. Just checking out of one place and getting settled into the next one can take an amazingly long time. As I say every time someone is trying to hit as many of the Philippines best/famous dive spots in way too short a time, you may actually see less by traveling around too much.

IMO, attempting to do a day of diving someplace, transfer in the late afternoon/evening, and repeat - isn't a good idea and often won't even be possible. Especially if you are doing this by public transport and ferries. Especially the second half of your proposed trip which I'm more familiar with.

Rather than trying to find a resort that provides transportation to other places (not sure this even exists - you may get some help with arrangements and maybe a ride to an airport or ferry terminal, but not actual transfers between far flung places) - I would focus on staying places where they do day trips to other nearish spots, to get more variety. Like from Dumaguete/Dauin you should be able to do 2-3 tank trips to Apo Island and maybe Siquijor. From Moalboal, our resort did a early morning trip to Oslob by van and IIRC got back for more diving in the afternoon. I think some places in Dauin even do day trips to Oslob, where they hit Oslob and a couple other spots along the way. The trick with this is, they're probably not going to do these longer trips every day. They may have a rough schedule of what day(s) they typically go, but it's also going to be based on demand and conditions, so will be hard for the day trips to work out if you're only at a spot for 1-2 days.

You might also look into the safari boats, a sort of liveaboard that includes meals and diving, but you stay at a different spot on land each night. (On some you might be able to bunk on the boat.) They can hit lots of spots in different areas and may also have opportunities to visit some of the famous land attractions. It's a way to do exactly what you're trying to do that is tailor made for a place where it's difficult to do in the "normal" fashion.

 

[Skulmoski]

I will be diving with Fun & Sun Dive Travel 5-8 Feb 2019.
GJS (DM # 393080)

 

[Centrals]

So this is some sample itinerary, please advise if it's doable or how should I adjust??

2nd Feb (arrival 4am) - 3 dives macro diving in Mactan with Club Paraiso, then head to Malapascua
3rd Feb & 4th Feb - 6 dives in Malapascua, then head to Moalboal
5th - Travel Malapascua -> Moalboal
6th & 7th - 6 dives in Moalboal for sardine run and Pescado catherdral cave, then head to Dumagnete
8th & 9th - 6 dives in Dumagnete then head to Oslob
10th - Oslob whaleshark sighting and Kawasan Fall (depart for airport at 4 or 5pm, flight at 8pm)

Judging by the proposed itinerary I am pretty sure you have never travelled in Philippines before.
So little time to cover so many places spreading over three islands!

Two places and two islands:
2nd - Taxi to Northern Bus station for the bus to Maya and ferry across. Evolution is my suggestion. Should have time for Mandarin fish spotting.
3 - 5th - Diving
6th - Early departure for Cebu and then bus to Moalboal. This will take around 10hrs if using public transport. You should be able to do a night dive. Nelson's dive shop.
7 - 9th - Diving, ask about the trip to Oslob
10th - Home

Leave Dumaguete on your next visit.

 

[Goingforsound]

If i might emphasis, she would be much better off diving Malapascua and then Dauin and apo island than going to Moalboal.

The travel is doable in a very long day.

 

[smurfzzz]

Thanks for the wonderful feedback...
Taking consideration of all the long travel, i decide not to be ambitious and stick with 2 places.
Malapascua is a must ... 2nd place, maybe Moalboal because i want to dive the catherdral and sardine run.

Else like what everyone recommend, Dauin !!

Do you think if Moalboal catherdral dive site and sardine run is worth?

 

[liveaboardlifers]

@smurfzzz - how did moalboal and malapascua in 9 days work for you? Any tips hints?