Help me decide!

[coopervanning]

I am trying to figure out where to go! My husband and I will be flying into Manila late evening on Jan 28 and fly out late evening Feb 5th. We are looking for some place that is relativly easy to get to from Manila be it by flying or ferry. It doesnt need to be a dedicated dive resort since I have bad ears and have a hard time doing more than 2 dives a day on a good day. We are not into the "party scene" but want to be able to go out for a nice meal and company at night. I would like to be on a beach if possible. Most important is a safe dive shop that doesnt do cattle boats! Dont mind paying a bit extra for that personal experience on a smaller dive boat.

I have been looking at PG and boracay. Any other options would be appreciated.

 

[CODMAN]

Hi Cooper, I think PG would be an excellent choice. It's close to Manila (2hours bus+ 1hour ferry), it has social life, night life (but you can get away from it), non-diving activities and very varied diving. Some good restaurants. Plenty of excellent operators too.

Anilao is also excellent, closer to manila, but much quieter and not much non-diving to do...

In PG, I would suggest Big Lalaguna beach for accomodations since it's the quietest of the 3 beaches and the nicest. I found Lalaguna Beach Club to be excellent accomodations, although not the cheapest. Their dive operation is also excellent.

If you are looking for a smaller personalized dive operation, I often recommend DIVE DOJO NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON. Although friends of mine (I did my DM course with them) and I am a bit biased, they run an excellent dive operation that is very personalized and very modern (rental equipment is very new, real Italian Esspresso machine, etc...). There are also many other good dive operators, which I'm sure the other forum members will come along to tell you about. The great thing is you can even wait to be there, then walk around and check out the operators for yourself to make your own decisions. There are plenty of good choices to choose from.

That's pretty much what I think of it, considering you don't want to move around too much while there. If you don't mind traveling a bit inside the country, there are plenty of other places to choose from also!

If you have more specific questions, don't hesitate! Someone here will be along to answer, I guarantee!

Cheers!

 

[blue steal]

Hi Cooper, I think PG would be an excellent choice. It's close to Manila (2hours bus+ 1hour ferry), it has social life, night life (but you can get away from it), non-diving activities and very varied diving. Some good restaurants. Plenty of excellent operators too.

Anilao is also excellent, closer to manila, but much quieter and not much non-diving to do...


Cheers!

Agree with CODMAN, PG fits with your needs. I've only been to PG twice and that was to white beach and aninuan....very quiet there. BigLalaguna or small laguna is close to sabang where you will find a few restaurants, shops, etc. My wife lives in mabini, 5 minutes from anialo and I go there all the time, but it is quiet during the week. Not much to do outside of diving......

 

[jonix]

+1 on PG. there's nothing to do at night at anilao. except for food at Aquaventure Reef Club

 

[coopervanning]

Thanks to all. I had looked into lalaguna and thought it looked nice. how close is divedojo to them? Is it worth staying at one and diving at another?

 

[CODMAN]

It's about a 10-15 minute walk along the beach. Divedojo is in Sabang, the busier beach. If you want quiet, yes it's worth staying in Big lalaguna. The Lalaguna Beach Club has a very reputable dive operation. If you want all in one, they will surely be a good choice. But they cover the whole resort. Divedojo is small, 1 bangka, maybe 8-10 divers max at a time. And they are very good with courses; the head instructor is very experienced. I find it worth it, but either would be a good choice in my honnest oppinion! If you are in no hurry to book, you can always pop into divedojo and see for yourself if they suit you. And if not, just book with lalaguna beach club (or another). Or if you want to book ahead, contact either of them and they will take care of bookings ahead of time. There are many choices there and you really can wait till there to decide. You are sure of finding a dive operator who can take you...

Thanks to all. I had looked into lalaguna and thought it looked nice. how close is divedojo to them? Is it worth staying at one and diving at another?

 

[coopervanning]

Thanks codman. I posted in another forum last month and I think you responded there also! We will be traveling to tahiti and china before we hit the philippines so I would like to book before we go so we wont have to worry about anything. How much of a hassle is it to go from the airport to the ferry and onward? are we best off asking LaLaguna to arrainge it for us? Will they? Sorry for so many questions but I am a little lost for people to ask. All our friends already think we are nuts to travel around the world like we do!

 

[blue steal]

Another option may be the El Galleon resort/Asia divers. I have heard many good things about them as well. They are in small laguna, quieter than sabang and only a 5-10 walk to sabang, + the famous point bar. Wow....going from airport to ferry......not sure, but if the resort does the arrangements it will cost a lot compared to doing it yourself. I've taken the JAM bus from manila to batangas city for maybe $3 then the ferry for maybe $4-5 to PG.

 

[CODMAN]

Blue is right. Asia divers is another very reputable operation. But they have no beach whatsoever...

Whoever you deal with, Laguna Beach club, divedojo, or most other operators, they can surely arrange transportation from Manila for you. But as Steel said, it will be expensive! Just the car from the airport to the ferry will probably cost 100$ or more, whereas the bus and ferry cost just a few $. It depends if you want cheap and local, or convenient and quick ($$).

I took the bus and ferry and it was easy... and safe... I took the first JAM bus the next morning after getting in (like 5 am) after 2-3 hours of sleep and made it to the ferry in 1h30. Later busses can take 2-3 hours if you hit Manila traffic. But the bus takes you directly to the pier so it is convenient. If you get in early to manila, take a taxi to the bus station, then bus to Batangas then ferry directly to Sabang which drops you off 50 meters from Divedojo... If you get the first bus and ferry, you can be diving by 10h00 am (I was hitting Canyons for my first dive at that hour after 37 hours of travelling!!!) If you get in late, book a room ahead of time (and whatever the PPDers here tell you avoid Victoria court...), take a taxi to the hotel, catch some ZZZs, next morning taxi to bus station, etc... I enjoyed it and it was my first contact with Philipino Culture... Um... No... actually driving through Victoria court in Passay at 2 am was my first contact with Philipino culture... Then I told the taxi driver to take me elsewhere.... Anywhere...

Cheers!

 

[h2odragon1]

Puerto Galera is a 2 hour ride to the Batangas pier then a 45 min boat ride to Sabang beach.
Sabang is known for it's night-life, Little LaLaguna beach is a short walk away and is quieter. Neither is known for their beaches, so Big LaLaguna beach would be a better choice if you want a beach.
My wife and I dove with Action divers on Little LaLaguna beach in 2005, and there were no 'cattle boats', usually just us the dive-master, and the boatsmen. Dive Puerto Galera, Dive Philippines, Dive Action Divers ,great diving time!!
Panglao Is. would be another choice, but it's an extra flight to Bohol. Great beach and great diving.