I'm just back from the Philippines, and had a great time there! For those that are interested, here is a quick summary of our time there.
First, I have to say that there were a few changes from the initial plan. Our non diver friend, who was interested in trying scuba, was unfortunately not able to come. Which means more diving for my buddy and I! We still went to El Nido though, but attached to it a dive Seafari from El Nido to Coron. We ended going with Submariner Diving, mostly because the dates of the Seafari suited us better.
The first couple of days in El Nido were used for relaxing (it looks like my friend and I were both in need of quite some sleep...) and doing theory and on-land line training. Indeed, while preparing the trip and discussing with the dive center owner, he suggested a cavern course, and since it was something I have been interested in for a while, I jumped on the occasion. Unfortunately, we had a storm after that and couldn't dive the cavern before we had to leave on the seafari (on the day of the storm, the boats couldn't leave, and there was far too much waves/currents after the storm to access the cavern entrance). We still were able to pratice the use of a reel and lines underwater (but in open water), pratice our fining techniques (OMG the back-kick is a real horror - although I was suggested that a change of fins might help me a lot with that), etc. So despite not being able to go into the caverns (and not finishing the course), I still enjoyed it a lot. I learned a lot, including a whole new way to approach and prepare my dives. I really thank our instructor for that.
We ended with a fun dive, but because of the previous storm, there was sand everywhere and visibility was almost nil. Not the best dive I've had, but as our instructor said "at least, it was good training for zero visibility diving".
Regarding the town, it's a cute one, with a lot of nice places, and the landscapes in the area is amazing.
After that, we left for the dive safari from El Nido to Coron (4D/3N), and had a lot of great diving during it. We finally had a dive in better conditions in El Nido, and I was finally able to "see" what I couldn't the previous day ^^. We also dived on a lot of gorgeous and very healthy coral reefs (although starting to bleach at the tips - water temperature has been pretty warm lately) between El Nido to Coron, with lots of marine life, including a memorable night dive near Cullion.
The last two days of the Seafari were spent on the wrecks of Coron. They are impressive. It's a really strange feeling to see those and dive through those, thinking about their history. Before that, I had only dived on one small wreck, a fishing boat that was prepared and sank for divers. It was nothing comparable to the wrecks in Coron.
We finished with a dive in the Barracuda Lake, and that was probably the craziest and most fun I've ever had on a dive yet (mind you, I don't have that much diving experience yet). There's a thermocline/halocline in the lake, creating all kind of strange and funny effects. And the underwater landscape is absolutely gorgeous (my profile picture is from that dive).
And I can't finish without mentionning the staff on the boat. They were all fantastic.
For the dive crew, we had an instructor and 2 divemasters for 7 guests. My buddy, myself and another guest dived with the instructor, since we were taking a few courses (wrecks, nitrox). For the other guests, each pair dived with a divemaster. They were great at pointing and showing things to us under water, and our instructor had been especially patient with me and all my questions (especially with all the fish/marine life questions I had after every dive).
We also had a photographer with us on the boat, and those interested could buy here pictures at the end of the trip. I loved the idea, since for once, I had pictures of my dives to show my family and friends back home.
The chef was really good (all hopes of dieting went down the drain when I had my first bite of his food), and all the crew in general very kind and helpful.
Regarding accomodation, we would sleep on the islands every night. Hotels were simple (no hot water, but we didn't really needed it seeing the warm weather we had), but clean and comfortable. We spent two nights in Cullion, which is an interesting town in itself. It's an old leper colony, and there is still a lot left to visit.
All in all, I had a great time, and will probably go there again (I haven't seen enough of El Nido yet, and want to dive the wrecks of Coron again).
I think it's the first time I'm trying to write a trip report here, so I'm not quite sure of what you want to see in those. Sorry if it's a bit messy, there's so much to say,I never know when it's too much or not enough. If there's anything of interest to you that I didn't mention here, please ask!