Please help me pro/con locations

[Scorp1109]

Hi!
I’ve dove in Seattle (wayyyy to cold for my liking) - 4 learning to dive/cert dives, and the Great Barrier Reef on a liveaboard 2x a 3 day minke and 7 day far north reef trip = 36 dives - and newly obsessed.
I’d love to finish my AOW, take the Rescue and then even do DMT.
I’ve narrowed it down to a couple locations (and companies w/in those locations) all with pretty strong pro/con lists.
Keeping my question simple though - wondering diving for diving, no other factors than what you see in the water - which place - in your opinions - are best. I like a variety of marine life/fish/critters, color, warmth, good vis, and I’m sure like most people gravitate toward the big things - mantas, whale sharks, whales, dolphins...

Koh Tao, Thailand (yes I know, “everyone goes there”)
Komodo, Indonesia (aware of currents)
Malapascua, Philippines
Utila, Honduras (never been on my radar but keeps poping up in research).

Thanks!

 

[TerryC]

Malapascua, Phillipines.
I have visited for the last 3 years.
Going again next June.
Evolution Diving.
Cons... very quiet island, no night life.

 

[AngryMoth]

I've been to 3 of the places you mentioned.

Koh Tao is not a bad place to learn but wouldn't make a top 10 list of places to dive in that area of the world.

Komodo is excellent for coral and abundance of life, not so great for big animals . That being they do have a mantas at some sites and I had 2 unforgettable with them. Currents can strong and in all directions, I would say it's not advisable to go with 36 dives, but it depends on your confidence and how much experience you already have with currents. There are quite a lot of inexperienced people that do go there. Also worth noting it's a very similar destination to Raja Ampad which most people seem to think is better.

Malapascua I liked a lot, a very chilled out island. Probably the best place in the world to see thresher sharks which are a spectacular site to behold. Also a chance to see mantas and hammerheads if you're there at the right time (and lucky). The other dives sites are also good although fairly macro focused. There's other good place to dive in Cebu like Moalboal which you can do in one trip.

None of those really deliver too much on the big animals you mentioned though. I haven't been but off the top of my head Socorro would be a chance to see all 4 of the ones you mentioned, but that's definitely a destination where you should probably think about having at least 100 dives before going.

 

[diversteve]

It's probably Not Utila. Except for Whale Sharks in early Spring Feb-Apr roughly - you won't see any of the other big stuff on your list. We only saw a few reef sharks and would have been looking for them. There were some big pelagics on one dive at Black Hills but Oceanic Triggers, Cuda, a couple big Grouper and a couple reef sharks - once.

And it's snorkel only there with the whalesharks.

If you want to dive with whalesharks on our side of the planet - Placncia, Belize a few weeks after Utila - like May-June.

No idea on your other options.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Hi!
I’ve dove in Seattle (wayyyy to cold for my liking) - 4 learning to dive/cert dives, and the Great Barrier Reef on a liveaboard 2x a 3 day minke and 7 day far north reef trip = 36 dives - and newly obsessed.
I’d love to finish my AOW, take the Rescue and then even do DMT.
I’ve narrowed it down to a couple locations (and companies w/in those locations) all with pretty strong pro/con lists.
Keeping my question simple though - wondering diving for diving, no other factors than what you see in the water - which place - in your opinions - are best. I like a variety of marine life/fish/critters, color, warmth, good vis, and I’m sure like most people gravitate toward the big things - mantas, whale sharks, whales, dolphins...

Koh Tao, Thailand (yes I know, “everyone goes there”)
Komodo, Indonesia (aware of currents)
Malapascua, Philippines
Utila, Honduras (never been on my radar but keeps poping up in research).

Thanks!

Malapascua is Cebu so there are direct flights there from usa. No need to hop from manila. Other side of island is mactan diving and southern part is snorkeling with whale sharks. and you can take a puddle jumper to palawan Coron where there are a dozen WW2 wrecks in the bay and more around the island.

Im going to Cebu in feb and will dive malapascua and coron and and do not forget Moalboal. You can dive all three in one trip thats what ill be doing. You can also take the ferry across to Bohol and dive there.

You should at least hit Moalboal while your at malapascua. its a couple hour drive down the coast from Malapascua.

Btw are you doing the cleaning station thresher shark dives? Thats extremely advanced and you will be at the depth limit of recreational diving. around 100 at least down to 120 130 , You may want to get your AOW before you do that dive. Some of the more experienced people can advise you on that aspect.

btw Coron has not only tons of japanese WW2 wrecks but also Dugong , almost identical to the giant Manatees.... Im def checking those out in feb while on Coron a few days of my Cebu trip

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Malapascua, Phillipines.
I have visited for the last 3 years.
Going again next June.
Evolution Diving.
Cons... very quiet island, no night life.

You can hop over to Mactan/Lapu Lapu and get the night life if you have time

 

[2ndjetty]

Just to mix it up... I'd suggest adding Nusa Penida in Bali on your list. There's a ton of great, beginner friendly diving on Bali's east coast (Tulamben, Ahmed, Padang Bai, etc), it can be very affordable, and there's some great cultural moments to take in. Mantas are seen 9 out of 10 days, plus you can dive some cool reefs, possibly see mola molas, white tip sharks, a big ole parrotfish school, the USAT Liberty Wreck, etc. etc.