Newbie help; basics about good/cheap diving Philippines

[CODMAN]

Hi all, I'm a Philipines newbie and need some help! I've looked over the posts and didn't find a good newbie intro information post, so I'm posting here. If it's already been covered, if you could point me in the direction of the post, I'd appreciate it. If not, here is basically what I'm looking to find out about.

First off, I'm basically daydreaming (so nothing certain about a trip yet). But dreams can come true. I was considering a quick trip to Utila (and still am), but the Philipines are more exotic and there seem to be some great deals out there, so I am considering it a plausible alternative! The thing is, I know nothing about the diving there and the country is so vast, with so many different areas, that I'm having trouble getting a grasp on the general situation and am unable to figure out what regions would interest me (not having the option of 3 trips a year to visit all regions).

So can anybody give me a quick lowdown on the basics?
1- What are the general areas for great diving in the Philipines? And what are their specialties (ex: large pelagics in this region, vs Nudibranchs and small stuff in the other region). Also, are some regions more of a bargain than others? Some regions hard/expensive to get to?

2- Do you have any recomendations for dive ops, that are particularly good for the price? What are your favorite areas?

To tell you a bit about what I'm looking for. I would like a Nitrox available dive op able to do at least 3 dives a day (sometimes more) with the possibility of night dives. We would be staying for probably 2 weeks, so moving to another area is a possibility, but don't want to loose too much dive time. I like variety; I love large pelagics as much as the small wondrous stuff (I loved Roatan for the small stuff). Also, if there is anything of cultural interest to visit in the area, that is a plus, but not absolutely necessary.

I'm sure more questions will pop up. But thanks in advance for helping me gain knowledge about this region of the diving world. The ScubaBoard community really is the best source of knowledge!

Cheers!

 

[jigo]

try searching past threads on the following: cebu:mactan/malapascua, bohol:balicasag/cabilao, dumaguete: dauin/apo island, and sogod bay. all these areas have nitrox, both macro and some pelagics as well as a profusion of hard and soft corals, dive ops in these sites also do night dives regularly. they are also close together and one can easily move from one place to the other without losing too much time. ideal port of entry is Cebu
an alternative is puerto galera/verde island/anilao which are very near manila--if that's your port of entry.

 

[chip104]

jigo summed it up nicely on the different dive locations. For a newbie here's a few things you might want to consider:

What kind of marine life do you want to see and what kind of diving do you want to do?
The Philippines' speciality, of course, is Tropical diving - coral reefs and fishes galore. Pretty much all the dive locations you will see in the Philippines have excellent coral and benthic life (macro) that you will only experience in the Coral Triangle. But we also have wreck diving in Coron and Subic Bay (both have WWII wrecks). For the pelagics, Malapascua has thresher sharks and mantas, while Sogod Bay has Whalesharks.

How much travelling are you willing to endure?
The main international entry points are Cebu City, Subic Bay, and Manila. From there, some places such as Sogod Bay or Malapascua take a bit of travelling to get to once you're in the country. Other places such as Puerto Galera or Bohol are a bit more convenient. Getting to some places can be a mix of taking a domestic flight and/or a boat and/or car ride. It would be good to note that local transportation is very cheap and the dive op you stay with can arrange for some, if not all, the transportation.



In general the Philippines is a very safe place to travel as well as convenient since pretty much all the locals understand and speak English. Since there are so many dive ops in different locales, it would be good to choose a place to go to first. I'd search for the places Jigo listed to get a better idea.

My personal favourite place that I have dived is Verde Island (see my profile to see where I have dived). But if I were to go to the Philippines for the first time and spend 2 weeks, I'd probably enter the PI via Cebu, then go to Bohol. Lost of great diving sites and cultural things to experience.

Hope that helps!

 

[swisstrav]

if you have two weeks only, the question ist, where do you enter the philippines.

manila? then clearly go to puerto galera/sabang. lots of dive sites, even for one months diving.

entering via cebu? you love big stuff - move on to malapascua. a nice quite little island on the north eastern tip of cebu island with a kind of "bounty feeling". second week maybe panglao/alona beach.

beeing the first time in the philippines you will love it.

only one disatvantage - you will need to come back....

let us know your port of entry and we tell you more

 

[Babydamulag]

There is only one way for a newbie to be deflowered. Land in Manila, have a van take them straight to Batangas (LEIA Beach), private ferry straight across to either Sabang Inn/Atlantis/Asia Divers to drop off your clothes, change into your dive gear, go to Verde. After that, call your employer to say you are never going back, get rid of any girlfriends or wife, sell all of your non-diving stuff, cut your hair really short, keep only sandals, throw away socks, go dive Canyons, get all 5 Tee shirts from the POINT, after that dive start looking for a place to live and get the IDC schedule for Puerto Galera. Simple.

 

[Hank49]

All good advice....even BabyD's suggestion. Hah. But really, you can't go wrong in the Philippines. The people, the dives, the food, the beer....great.

 

[rhadamantus]

Codman,

PG + Verde Island would be one option

Bohol + Apo Island (Dumaguete) is another.

The good thing about the latter option is that there are also a lot to do besides diving. Bohol is a very rich province, water and land jewels alike. there's the chocolate hills, the loboc river, the manmade forest, the tarsier, lots of really OLD churches and other historical sites, Visayan food is awesome. Dumaguete on another hand also have a fair share of other attractions, plus Apo Island has always been a favourite diving site. (now, who got that Apo Island video where everybody was flying?)

PG+Verde Island on another hand... well, there's not much distraction there but uhmmmn... girlie bars and ice cold drinks... . an instructor friend of mine in PG always say its a different kind of diving but diving nevertheless. i beg to disagree.

PM me if you like some travel help.

There is only one way for a newbie to be deflowered. Land in Manila, have a van take them straight to Batangas (LEIA Beach), private ferry straight across to either Sabang Inn/Atlantis/Asia Divers to drop off your clothes, change into your dive gear, go to Verde. After that, call your employer to say you are never going back, get rid of any girlfriends or wife, sell all of your non-diving stuff, cut your hair really short, keep only sandals, throw away socks, go dive Canyons, get all 5 Tee shirts from the POINT, after that dive start looking for a place to live and get the IDC schedule for Puerto Galera. Simple.

 

[tboxcar]

Nothing against Utila and Roatan, (been to both). But the Philippines will 'blow them (utila/Roatan) away' as far as the diversity of marine life you will see. Have fun and check out the board! Although you won't see many Garifuna or eat much 'conch ceviche' you will love it

 

[Babydamulag]

Really though....the folks here have been diving all over the world. The known sites in the Philippines are simply awesome. You even learn how to point with your lips, realize that the Philippines has the most beautiful women in the world, a rich cultural heritage, food to die for, smiles everywhere you go and simply great bargains to be had all over. Refine your point of entry and we'll steer you in the right direction. PPD'ers are the SHIZNIT!

 

[zvinzonz]

Im glad I read this post. Atleast it gives me other dive site to think about when I get there other than Anilao. But I guess Cebu is out of the question since my port of entry is in Manila. But I'll try to squeeze it in on my scheadule since I'll be there for a month or maybe longer. But I'll definately try to go to Subic since I heard there's some great site in Subic.

A lot of people that I know who don't dive keep telling me that I need to go to Boracay when I get back. But looking in this board I haven't read anything about Boracay when someone ask for a good dive site in Philipines. Is Boracay a good place to dive or should i just scratch it on my thinkgs to do list?