Philippine diving help

[k374]

I am spending 2 wks in the Philippines and thought I'd do some diving in the region as well. For now I have planned 2 days diving in Puerto Galera (Canyons and other sites), a day of diving in Bohol and a day of diving in Apo so a total of 6 dives.

For Bohol diving the ideal area to stay is Alona beach, is this correct? For Apo diving where in Dumaguette should I be staying?

 

[Tortuga68]

What do you like/want to see? Macro, photography, coral, big fish, little fish, wrecks?

Based on your profile: "My philosophy - Live life to the fullest because it is way too short" I'd say you should do more diving during your trip! For four days of diving you can easily do more than 6 dives total eg in PG you can easily do 3-4 dives a day and still have time to relax, the boat ride to most sites is 5-10 minutes each way

Sabang Wrecks, Alma Jane, Hole In The Wall, Kilima Drift, Atoll, Shark Cave, Monkey Beach/Wreck & West Escarceo are all great dives with lots of variety and very comfortable for an AOW/Nitrox diver like yourself... as well as the famous Canyons of course. Verde Island (two dive half-day boat trip) should also be on your short list with Canyons, if the weather/conditions are good. Night dives and shore dives are nice & easy too

http://media.photobucket.com/image/map pg dive sites/boljakool/PuertoGaleraDiveSites-1.jpg

 

[k374]

i'm too lazy to do 4 dives in 1 day After 2-3 dives I am ready for my cold beer LOL!

I am very interested in spotting some big pelagics, mantas would be awesome. I did about 15 dives recently in the Andaman sea and didn't see anything big at all which was a terrible disappointment so I am keeping my fingers crossed to see something big in the Philippines.

 

[CODMAN]

I am keeping my fingers crossed to see something big in the Philippines.

All I can say is Malapascua!

 

[Tortuga68]

i'm too lazy to do 4 dives in 1 day After 2-3 dives I am ready for my cold beer LOL!

I am very interested in spotting some big pelagics, mantas would be awesome. I did about 15 dives recently in the Andaman sea and didn't see anything big at all which was a terrible disappointment so I am keeping my fingers crossed to see something big in the Philippines.

Pelagics are pretty rare in PG unfortunately. Shark cave is usually pretty reliable for some small white tips - although I haven't seen any the last few times - but other than that you have to be very lucky

The usual dive schedule is 9, 11 & 1 or 3pm... you can easily get up at 8am, do three dives plus lunch and be enjoying a cold San Miguel by 5pm (if you skip the 1pm dive for lunch & do the 3pm), or be on the floating bar by 2pm if you just do the morning dives & lunch

Anyhoo, up to you... I would recommend Verde Island though, usual form is to do two dives either side of slack water with SI on the boat, and you can have a BBQ on the island before heading back to PG. Whole trip takes about 5-6 hours max depending on how big/fast your boat is

So you could so that one day and Canyons, Alama Jane (30m wreck) and/or one of the drift dives the other day

Enjoy!

 

[abu]

Thresher sharks in Malapascua.Good luck.

 

[Centrals]

i'm too lazy to do 4 dives in 1 day After 2-3 dives I am ready for my cold beer LOL!

I am very interested in spotting some big pelagics, mantas would be awesome. I did about 15 dives recently in the Andaman sea and didn't see anything big at all which was a terrible disappointment so I am keeping my fingers crossed to see something big in the Philippines.

Malapascua is the place for thrasher shark, manta ray as well as devil ray. Nothing is guarantee though.
You probably saw more dive boats/divers in Similan than any fish bigger than a ft in lenght.
Alona beach is indeed the place to stay in Bohol for diving.

Travelling to PG, back to Manila, fly to Bohol and then boat to either Apo or Dumaguette and finally fly back to Manila!!!! You will spend more time in travelling than the total dive time under water(6 dives)!!!!

This is my suggestion: Manila to Cebu and onward to Malapascua(the beach is pretty good and quiet) for few days. Back to Manila and then proceed to PG. Do not forget to request a specila trip to Verde Island. BTY, the beach in PG is SUCK.

 

[eagerbeaver]

i'm too lazy to do 4 dives in 1 day After 2-3 dives I am ready for my cold beer LOL!

I am very interested in spotting some big pelagics, mantas would be awesome. I did about 15 dives recently in the Andaman sea and didn't see anything big at all which was a terrible disappointment so I am keeping my fingers crossed to see something big in the Philippines.

Hi K374 - firstly, when will you be here? Secondly 1 day in Bohol and 1 day in Apo is going to be a lot of travelling for not much diving...I'd save 1 or other location for another trip and enjoy staying in one spot more.

So, in Bohol you want ot get to Balicasag Island for schooling fish and bigger fish...Apo has some schools on Mamsa Point, Cogon and Coconut. Might not much chance of pelagics.

As the others have said Malapascua is your best bet for pelagics... We've been seeing 1-4 sharks every morning this week and schooling devil rays - school of 13 yesterday.

Let me know if you ned any other help, and enjoy!

Matt.

 

[k374]

Thanks, i'm in Manila now, just got here I'm heading to Puerto Galera in a couple of days. I looked at Malapascua but it's just too inconvenient to get there, especially with my luggage (read on Wikitravel that there is no pier there and may have to alight in knee deep water, no thanks!)...perhaps another time.

Good idea about choosing either Bohol or Apo..I think I will go with Bohol and check out Apo another time. Thanks all for this information.

 

[k374]

Just to give some feedback, I ended up diving with Frontier Scuba.. I did do the Canyons. Well, the diving was not the best... viz was atrocious at 15ft and the reefs were not in the best of health, but did see a few things. Frontier Scuba was excellent though!