Destination Diving: Anilao

[mjgoodman]

Hi,

I'm strongly considering a trip to the Philippines in February. I'm debating between Anilao, Dumaguete and Malapascua because I only have ten days. My question is this: how does Anilao stack up against Lembeh? Is Anilao, by itself, a destination dive site like Lembeh? I am a beginning UW Photographer.

I've been incredibly spoiled having dove Raja Ampat, Bali, Komodo, Lembeh and Bunaken. If I'm going to fly across the pacific, I want to make sure the diving is worth it. I'd love to hear from all the "Asia Experts." Thank you.

 

[Centrals]

"Asia Experts"!! Certainly not me.
Lembeh is unqiue and so are those three places that you had mentioned. I am yet to visit Raja and Komodo but the other three places in Indonesia are fine but Philippines is THE place.
Anilao is only 3-4 hrs by car from Manila while the other two will require at least one domestic flight(Dumaguette) and more(Malapascua).
PAL fly directly from Honcover to Manila and you can recover from the jet lag in the comfort of the resort within few hrs after the plane touch down.
Malapascua probably can offer one thing that Indonesia could not ie. Thrasher Shark.
On your next visit to the country, please consider Tubataha(liveaboard only from mid Mar to mid June).

 

[wanderlass]

Anilao has one of the greatest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world and has been called the nudibranch capital of the world by the folks at Underwater Photography Guide You should also consider Puerto Galera, just one hour by ferry from Batangas. Itself has great diving and is also the jump off point of Verde Island, so tagged as the center of the center of the world's marine biodiversity.

Unless you are looking for something specific like Thresher Sharks which is in Malapascua or the Sardine Ball in Pescador in Moalboal or whale sharks in Sogod, Layte.... Anilao and PG should be perfect for your uw photography fix for 10 days.

Folks from Manila have been diving Anilao & PG, every weekend since the 60's. I wrote a short piece introducing Anilao Diving.

 

[altaskier]

I've done liveaboards in Palau and on the Great Barrier Reef, and in October I spent 4 days diving in Anilao with Club Ocellaris (Manila was a convenient stopover on a business trip in Asia). While Palau in particular is tough to beat, I had a really great time in Anilao. Nudi heaven! I'll happily return there if I'm looking for a few days of diving, though of course I'm also eager to go to other places like Raja Ampat.

 

[Coo]

We dive with Planet Dive in Anilao. Anilao is awesome for its diversity in life and types of dives. Being owned and run locally, the experience of the staff of Planet Dive is spot on and they have a house reef that they have built some time ago so early morning dives, on your own, as part of the package are brilliant. I am not sure what their hire gear is like as we always use our own.

For the days when you want to put away the camera, there are some great challenging dives and for the days when you are feeling particularly camera happy, you can spend your whole dive being totally blown away by all sorts of bizarrities! Nudi's abound but so do a massive range of other critters - from pipe fish to shrimps. February is a great time to be there because the cold waters of the South China Sea run through and bring with them all sorts of diversity and feeding opportunities for the underwater locals. Mind you 'cold waters' are only cold by comparison with the usual super warm waters of the area!

Anilao is one of my favourites in the Phillipines and it is certainly worth a stay.

 

[rickcavanaugh]

As a photographer, Alexis at Club Ocellaris was the best dive guide I have had anywhere. He work hard to find as many critters as possible. He was not there to babysit you. He was there to find critters. He would disappear for 5 minutes, and then he would show up, leading us to a new incredible critter. Great Guide!

The diving at Anilao is more diversified than Lembeh. Lembeh has more muck less reef. Anilao has more reef and less muck. Lembeh beats Anilao on muck alone, but for the whole experience muck and reef. Anilao is wonderful. On one night dive in Anilao, I saw about 30 different octopus. One was in a jar holding a shell up as a door.

I loved Anilao and have been there twice. I would not hesitate to go back.