Atlantis or Mike's or?

[borisphotosafari]

S Leyte, 3 hour ferry from Cebu. Mike's resort, 5 days is perfect.

Day trip to Oslob, for whale sharks, as long as you don't go on weekends and public holidays. They open at 7 till noon, leave Cebu city before 5am. Some people don't like the zoo type atmosphere, at least they are making money from the whale sharks, not finning them like they did before.

Danny Noy, private car agent, used him a few times for Oslob. As far as I can remember it was 3500 pesos for the day trip that included a stop at the waterfalls after whalesharks.

 

[Centrals]

Fly in at Dumaguete and out from Bacolod therefore you can dive Sipalay.
Southern Leyte is a very good suggestion but the trip from Dumaguete and then back to Cebu wastes too much time. No ferry to catch is an added bonus.
Dumaguete to Sipalay is 6hrs by public bus and then another 6hrs to Bacolod. Both Dumaguete and Bacolod have numerous connection to Manila everyday.

Check out Sipalay.

 

[bshort4]

Susie, Is your international flight going into Cebu or Manila? If you haven't made a choice yet I would recommend Cebu--much better to fly into than Manila. From Cebu it's a short ferry ride to Bohol---from Bohol a ferry ride to Dumaguete and can be there in time for a afternoon dive. If flying into Manila that's a whole different can of worms lol. You'll probably land at terminal one then need to change terminals to terminal three for a flight to Bohol (Tagbilaron) then when you're done diving there a ferry ride to Dumaguete then a flight back to Manila. I'm flying into Manila visiting friends then flying from Manila to Bacolod then bus to Sipaly for a week then a bus to Dauin and Mikes Beach resort for diving for a week then fly back to Manila from Dumaguete. This will happen at the end of November--first time in Sipalay--so I'll be sure to post a review here on the diving there. If you can change your plans on Anda and dive somewhere else I would do that--been there three times (I have friends running a resort) and the diving was only so-so--I think you'd enjoy diving Balicasag in Bohol much better even with how touristy it is. Mike's resort also runs day trips on one of their bankas to Oslob for the whale sharks combined with two dives at Siquijor, if I remember right it was about 7,500 pesos per person for the trip including lunch---but they do need enough people to take their banka boat over or they can arrange a private trip for you by van.

 

[Mucksavage]

Mike's trumps Pura Vida for sure. Better rooms and food. Pura Vida is a 30 second walk away so you can still eat there or have a drink if you like.

Cebu would be your main hub to arrive in. You can also spend 5 days in Malapascua or Moalboal for example. Lesser spots would be Siquijor or maybe Bohol.

Skip the whale shark thing. Its a circus. I drove through Oslob on Monday and there were about 200 Hiace vans parked there bring people to swim with them.

 

[Luko]

Lesser spots would be Siquijor or maybe Bohol.

Not sure Bohol/Balicasag/Doljo/etc can be considered as "lesser"... in my book Balicasag tops Alona/Malapascua for instance (no threshers perhaps but more fishlife, more varied macro).

 

[Centrals]

In my book Alona Beach + its surrounding(Balicasag included) is history.
Nigel Marven on Wild Philippines has couple of things to say about Gato Island and the thresher shark.

 

[Luko]

Personally I prefer taxonomial books with documented images and latin names, I also prefer shooting UW myself than looking at TV shows.
To each his own.

 

[AlMitch]

As for the whale sharks...is it a bit of a zoo..YES...but is it still an amazing experience?....Definitely!!
I wrote about my experience with the whale sharks in my last trip report concerning Mike's.
Trip Report: Mike's Dauin Dive Resort, March 2018

 

[Tippytoes12]

We stayed in a very nice resort in Anda , but were not particularly impressed with the diving. Southern Leyte is , hands down , the best diving in the Philippines. Would suggest you fly into Cebu and then catch a fast ferry to Southern Leyte. However the resorts are simpler than Pura Vida or Atlantis. We stayed in Southern Leyte Divers twice and saw whalesharks on our last trip in December, they are an excelllent German run shop with beautiful rooms right on the water.

We also got from Leyte to Dumaguete in a day by catching a ferry back to Cebu and then flying to Dumaguete. We stayed in Pura Vida once , it’s a beautful property ,but the food was more miss than hit and the guides were not particularly helpful. It would have been nice If they had put their phones down for 5 seconds and got our gear together or changed tanks or rinsedit afterwards , but they didn’t , so they didn’t get a tip.

We stayed in Liquid twice and this is a good option. The food has deteriorated a lot , but the rooms are nice and I love the diving there. We did Oslob twice a few years ago and despite its failings it does help the local people a lot. Everywhere in the world that has regular whaleshark spots can be a zoo. In the Maldives there are boats everywhere dropping non-swimming guests on top of the poor things. So go and make up your own mind.

Best fishes x

 

[Bec Dumaguete Divers]

Hello please check out www.dumaguetedivers.com
for dive sites specially Apo island ,about accommodation and more..email us to info@dumaguetedivers.com
Phone number 09178349434. Thanks.