Central Visayas in December?

[Cosmographer]

Hi All,

Over the upcoming Christmas holidays, we are thinking of doing an inexpensive dive trip. Since we live in HK, we were considering Palau, Chuuk, and Raja Ampat but these options seemed better suited to a liveaboard (expensive) or had pricey airfares just to get to.

So the Philippines seemed like a natural choice. We would like to swim with the whale sharks (I assume Oslob is best for this?). Considering we only have a week, what other sites would you recommend? We were thinking Malapascua or maybe the Dumaguete area (Apo Island and Dauin?)

Although we've been to the PI many times, this will be our first diving trip here. We are not interested in macro or muck diving. Colorful reefs, good visibility, and pelagics if possible would be great!

What would you experts recommend? How are the diving conditions around this time?

Thanks!

 

[wannadive64]

The 3 main whale shark watching areas in the Philippines are Donsol, Oslob and Padre Burgos in Southern Leyte. They each offer quite different experiences, so it is worth doing your research in advance to see which will suit you best.

 

[eagerbeaver]

We would like to swim with the whale sharks (I assume Oslob is best for this?)

True, assuming you have no moral qualms about the whole feeding debate...

Considering we only have a week, what other sites would you recommend? We were thinking Malapascua or maybe the Dumaguete area (Apo Island and Dauin?)

Malapascua will get you Pelagiacs, and Apo will get you pretty corals. With only a week doing both is a stretch. It's a days travel between them.

We are not interested in macro or muck diving. Colorful reefs, good visibility, and pelagics if possible would be great!

The truth is that the Philippines is really a macro destination, so if you are not interested in that then you could find yourself disappointed at many locations. Dauin in particular is muck and macro only. In Malapascua other than the dawn dive with the sharks it's mostly macro...so I would be prepared some nudibranchs and frogfish and shrimp if I was you!

I assume Thailand is already ticked off your list? I did 5 dives in Koh Samui last month and saw Bull Sharks, Whale sharks, schooling barracudas, and lots of other non-macro stuff! I was pleasantly surprised.

HTH

Matt.

 

[Cosmographer]

Thanks for the info. From what I understand, December is not a good time to dive the Gulf of Thailand?

(We also like wreck and cavern diving so Malapascua seems up our alley despite the lack of vibrant reefs?)

 

[eagerbeaver]

Ah yes, you might be right! Forgot about that.