Dumeguete, Puerto Galera, or BOTH?

[EricJ]

My wife and I are looking into booking a dive trip to the Philippines this Summer.

We've heard good reports about Dumaguete and Puerto Galera. We're having trouble deciding which location to select.

Help us out with our decision. Which site has the best diving? Does the Philippine dive experience warrant extending our trip and visiting both sites (one week in each place)?

Help will be appreciated.

 

[Bombarie]

We've heard good reports about Dumaguete and Puerto Galera. We're having trouble deciding which location to select.

Help us out with our decision. Which site has the best diving? Does the Philippine dive experience warrant extending our trip and visiting both sites (one week in each place)?

Help will be appreciated.

Hi Eric,

First thing you need to consider is that our summer is typhoon season in the Northern Philippines. The central part of the Philis - the island group referred to as the Visayas - is generally not affected by the passing typhoons, the Northern part is. So my scare is that Puerto Galera is more prone to typhoon hits than the centre part - you should look this up? The Visayas are rarely hit by typhoons directly but obviously, the foul wheather is felt through the whole region.

Dumaguette is on Negros, one of the islands of the Visayas group. Its main diving attraction is Apo Island, which is a maybe 45 minute sail from the two resorts just south of Duma (Atlantis something; forgot the name of the other one, anyone can fill me in?). There used to be a British guy running a resort on Apo Island but in summer 2003 the rumour was that he had run off to the UK as he was prosecuted by Phili authorities for assaulting his staff. Most people thought that was just an excuse for the local authorities to seize his resort - dunno what happened and whether it is still in business.

Anyway, Apo Island diving is nice but after three days, you would have seen it all. Luckily, the Visayan area is one big diving spot - there's great diving in Alona Beach on Bohol, Moalboal on Cebu, in the northwest of Siguijjor Island (great romantic gettaway) and off course off Limasawa island off the tip of Southern Leyte. With the exception if Leyte, you could dive all these spots in a 2 week holiday, as they are so easy to travel to.

As a start itenary (is that the word?) I would consider the following. (1) Fly into Cebu International Airport. (2) Get a bus or taxi to Moalboal on Cebu Island (2.5 hour by bus, taxi should be a wee bit quicker). Moalboal's attraction is Pescador Island in the middle of Tanom Strait (between Cebu and Negros), with great viz, 200 feet walls and lots of fish action, great corals and resident whitetip reefsharks @ 150 feet. Dive with Nelson's - the local Samual L. Jackson look alike, but Nelson is even cooler. His crowd discovered diving in the area and they have quite a few stories to tell. Moalboal is all about diving (basically sandy strip op the beach with diveshops, cafes and restaurants. There is so so shore diving but Pescador is really worth it, I would say 3 days there are sufficient. See www.neptunediving.com for more info.

From Moalboal, take the bus / taxi to the Southern tip of Cebu island and take the ferry to Dumaguette. Overall, the transfer to the resorts that dive Apo from Moalboal will take something like 6 hours (public bus, ferry, bus). Taxi's will shortcut travel time but nothing beats a western diver with his gear on the local bus - good laugh for the locals, who are all very friendly. After you get bored of Apo Island (and the resorts - these are very tranquil places with little else to do than dive), you can take the boat from Dumaguette to Siguijjor - which is a beautiful exotic island with so-so diving and fine white beaches on the south) or immediately onward to Taglibaran on Bohol. From Taglibaran you take a taxi to Alona beach, maybe 30 minutes. A typical resort place, its full of hotels and see side restaurants and has 30+ divespots in front, including famous Basicalag Island and Cabilao. Spend the rest of your time here - great diving, relaxed lounging on the beach, all types of accomodation. Google it for more info.

That is what I would do - Puerto galera and Dumaguette are just too far away to do both in two weeks in my humble opinion; and considering the typhoon season it may be that Galera is a sub-optimal bet in the first place (but you should verify this independly). Let me know if you require further info - I could rattle and rave on re the regions for pages...

Take care, Arjan.

 

[bondasik]

hi Bombarie,
Good review on cebu, that is what i'm looking for my trip to Philippines in may, will be splitting my time on Puerto Galera & cebu ( mainly on Malapascua & Apo or maybe Duma if I still have time for 3 weeks trip)
Please do check out my treat :http://www.scubaboard.com/t85095-.html
and if you could adding which operator do u recomended for Malapascua beside Philippines Island Diver, as I hear pro & con regarding this operator, any news regarding the Instructor who use to be running the Bubble 007 dive center ?? or R the 007 still running ???

Cheers

 

[EricJ]

Thanks, Bombarie. Your review helps a lot! It's so hard to find unbiased reviews. Yours is extremely helpful!!!!

 

[Bombarie]

hi Bombarie,
Good review on cebu, that is what i'm looking for my trip to Philippines in may, will be splitting my time on Puerto Galera & cebu ( mainly on Malapascua & Apo or maybe Duma if I still have time for 3 weeks trip)
Please do check out my treat :http://www.scubaboard.com/t85095-.html
and if you could adding which operator do u recomended for Malapascua beside Philippines Island Diver, as I hear pro & con regarding this operator, any news regarding the Instructor who use to be running the Bubble 007 dive center ?? or R the 007 still running ???

Cheers

Hi Bondasik -

Green with envy I respond to your post, that is some great trip you are scheduling!
We dove with a local operator on Malapasqua, I think the dive guide was the guy who had been there as of day one. Don't recall the name and don't have the log available, sorry. The tresher's are fantastic the whole trip is quite something - going out early, descending in the middle of the ocean in peasoup along a line, crawling over the shoal to remain in disguish, peeking in the distance whether the sharks are out there - exciting. We got lucky and saw them on one dive - the next day we were without luck. Rumour is that the treshers are changing schedules so you need to have increasingly more luck.

Check the liveaboard schedules for June / July - its monsoon season at the Similans then,
dunno whether they sail in this period?

Travel safe, Arjan.

PS: There is a ferry from Zamboanga (Philis) to Sandakan (Malaysia), might be an interesting way to get to Borneo from the Philis. If you got time, make sure to visit Southern Leyte in the Visayas- check www.leyte-divers.com for more info.

 

[Bombarie]

Thanks, Bombarie. Your review helps a lot! It's so hard to find unbiased reviews. Yours is extremely helpful!!!!

Thanks Eric - in case you wonder about this mystical island Malapasqua, its on the North tip of Cebu island and the main (i'd say only but some will say: hey don't forget the mandarin fish! I'd then respond: Eric has seen those on Dumaguette's Pier already) reason to go there is to see its tresher sharks, who get themselves cleaned every early morning on a 25 meter deep plateau called Monad Shoal. It is a 4 hour travel from Cebu City by public bus to the Northern tip, from where a small boat will take you to the island. Its a nice place but it's isolated and these days they say you need luck to see the treshers. Check befiorehand whether the area is safe to traverse - there where stories of NPA communist guerrilla's stopping busses to collect funds in summer 2003 (I heard them on the bus first).

All the best - Arjan.

 

[wahlaoeh]

hi Bombarie,
Good review on cebu, that is what i'm looking for my trip to Philippines in may, will be splitting my time on Puerto Galera & cebu ( mainly on Malapascua & Apo or maybe Duma if I still have time for 3 weeks trip)
Please do check out my treat :http://www.scubaboard.com/t85095-.html
and if you could adding which operator do u recomended for Malapascua beside Philippines Island Diver, as I hear pro & con regarding this operator, any news regarding the Instructor who use to be running the Bubble 007 dive center ?? or R the 007 still running ???

Cheers

Hi Bondasik,

Just received this mail from Andrea & Trevor formerly from Bubble07 on their new dive shop, Thresher Shark Divers in Malapascua:

Greetings from Andrea and Trevor on Malapascua!

Many of you asked to be told if and when we opened our own dive shop, and now it has finally happened! You may know that we have been planning on opening their own shop for a while, and after Bubble 07 closed recently, we decided that we loved the diving so much on Malapascua, we wanted to stay. Thresher Shark Divers is now Malapascua's newest dive shop!

Our main divemaster will be Vic Vic, who you may remember from your last visit. The guide with the laser eyes! We also have the old boat crew, and together we make a great team.

We have nitrox, a new and spacious boat with a cabin, brand new equipment and we are constantly searching out new dive sites and new marine life. This weeks sightings include yellow pygmy seahorses, a giant octopus, hammerheads, flamboyant cuttlefish, and a blue-ringed octopus!

We want to bring a new feel to the island. We will be diving in small groups, with special offers each month. Our bar will soon be up and running for those après-dive beers, and we are already the place to be at sunset. If you are a regular visitor, why not join our Dive 4 Miles program to get free dives and free courses?

The dive shop will have additional facilities, like internet, a bar, movies for you to watch if you are taking a day off diving (yes, we have Finding Nemo!).
Take a look at our website for lots more information, www.thresherdivers.com

We have met so many wonderful people during our last 18 months on Malapascua, and we hope that you may be able to return at some point in the future.

We hope to see you sometime soon!

Best wishes,

Andrea, Trevor, Viv-Vic and the team at Thresher Shark Divers.

 

[lara1018]

puerto galera is nice (i dive it more frequently because i live in manila, closer), but dumaguete would get my vote. my favorite night dive is there (house reef in front of el dorado). absolutely blew me away. with (when i was there) this really curious batfish swimming round as your own private guide. and to echo what the rest have said, it is in the visayas so it should be easy for you to move around and do a bit of island hopping/diving. supercats between major islands take about an hour and are very comfortable and efficient.
goodluck! hope you have an amazing time
lara

 

[bondasik]

Wahlaoeh
Mateeee,,
you're a lifesaver....

Bon

 

[415Gem]

Wait... I am going in 38 days. Ye-A-a-H-H-h. San Migs !

Wahlaoeh
Mateeee,,
you're a lifesaver....

Bon