Puerto Galera vs other top Asian dive destinations ?

[Jay]

how about Tubbataha (LOB)?

It's quite an efficient transfer flight if you flying into T2 and out of the same terminal with PAL. The return flight is almost as efficient as you only 'waste' a few hours in the morning fulfilling your 24hr no-fly period given you're motoring overnight back to the port.

Just an idea. The diving there is incredible.

 

[saila]

Dumaguete/ Dauin is not that much harder to get from NYC either - sure you have 1,5hr domestic flight from Manila to Dumaguete after your international one, but you can purchase that from Philippine Airlines as one journey and then they will take care of the terminal transfer in Manila and you'll also get the international baggage allowance for your domestic flight.

Diving here is a great mix of macro (Dauin coast) and coral (Apo Island marine sanctuary), this video can tell you more, and I'm happy to assist you further. The Dauin Coast dive sites are max 15 min from Atmosphere, and Apo Island is around 30min boat ride away.

 

[D_Fresh]

Disclaimer: I live in Manila

I think diving almost anywhere in Philippines rivals the best dive spots around the world. It just depends on what you're after.

PG/Anilao has amazing biodiversity, including pygmy seahorse, nudis, lionfish, and all the other colorful tropical fish species, but not much large stuff beyond turtles, large warsse, and big triggerfish. Malapascua, near Cebu, has thresher sharks, while Oslob has whale sharks. Both white and black tip reef sharks can be found all over PH, but are less predictable.

I second the other posters regarding El Galleon/Asia Divers. Great operation. I am also very excited to check out Scandi Divers soon. I met Kris at DRT Show, he's is a great guy, and I expect his operation is excellent. I plan to go stay a few days with them in Dec/Jan.

It's not unusual to get 4 or 5 dives a day plus a night dive or two (depending on your stamina and SI of course). That's a lot of dive time! I think you'll find Philippine diving to be an amazing value compared to LOB. Especially when you consider any other shore based activities which are unavailable on a boat.

 

[Searcaigh]

Since Anilao and PG are relatively close, do people split their time between the 2 ? Let's say for a 7 day trip. Start in Anilao for a few days and then over to PG ? Not sure Anilao would keep us interested for a full week.

I have done PG / Anilao combined trips twice and recommend doing Puerto Gallera first then moving to Anilao. I've had two trips just to PG itself once with Asia Divers and the other with Atlantis, I also recommend El Galeon / Asia Divers.

To be honest I prefer Anilao despite the remoteness of the local dive ops from each other but as a macro photographer my main passion is to dive and see special critters and not drink myself stupid every night in a PG bar.

 

[ronscuba]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

I now see that since I can get to Manila so easily with direct flights, my options for diving really opens up. Some of the other islands and liveaboards look like they have similar transfer times from Manila as Puerto Galera ?

 

[ronscuba]

From your list, I’ve done Raja by liveaboard and Egypt’s Red Sea by liveaboard and land based. I’d rate PG diving after Indo’s Raja and Komodo but maybe a little bit ahead of the Red Sea. As @Trailboss123 mentioned, I stayed at El Galleon and dived with Asia Divers. Their house reef is excellent, my favorite being Fantasy Reef. It was great to be able to fit in as many as 5 dives a day if you’d like with them coming back between each dive. It’s a short ride to each dive site with the exception of Verde Island. It’s worth the surcharge and extra time.

I’ve dived Lembeh and PG has some pretty good macro while being able to enjoy some really great wide angle scenes on the same dive. Lots of frogfish, nudis, shrimp, crab but not as varied and weird/wonderful as Lembeh which is way more specialty. PG is great if you’re like me and love reef wide angle, appreciate macro (I’m a photographer) and happen to have divers that don’t care for macro. There’s a little of everything to please everyone. PG diving is not as good as Tubbataha in my opinion, so I’d do that if you could only pick one. For the price, PG is the better value for a week all-in. One thing to note is that I didn’t see a single shark in PG all week and I was told that is normal.

Please let me know if you have any specific Q’s. I just got back from the Red Sea (45 dives....4 days land based and 2 weeks on a liveaboard ...so the comparison to the Red Sea is still quite fresh!

Edited to add: I’m addicted to liveaboards and diving with El Galleon/Asia Divers full board felt like a liveaboard on land. The food there is surprisingly very good and dive setup and center is very convenient.

Thanks for your response.

How did liveaboard at Tubbataha compare to Raja, Komodo ? Looks like the flight connection from Manila to Palawan for Tubbataha is similar time and effort wise as Manila to Puerto Galera ? If the diving at Tubbataha is significantly better than PG and travel time/effort is similar, maybe that should be my choice ?

 

[tursiops]

Thanks for your response.

How did liveaboard at Tubbataha compare to Raja, Komodo ? Looks like the flight connection from Manila to Palawan for Tubbataha is similar time and effort wise as Manila to Puerto Galera ? If the diving at Tubbataha is significantly better than PG and travel time/effort is similar, maybe that should be my choice ?

One consideration is the liveaboard at Tubbataha will cost a good bit more than a shore resort at PG.

 

[outofofficebrb]

@tursiops is correct on pricing when comparing the two and the season for Tubbataha is very narrow, around end of March to maybe mid June depending on the operator. I would shoot for late April or early May.

Thanks for your response.

How did liveaboard at Tubbataha compare to Raja, Komodo ? Looks like the flight connection from Manila to Palawan for Tubbataha is similar time and effort wise as Manila to Puerto Galera ? If the diving at Tubbataha is significantly better than PG and travel time/effort is similar, maybe that should be my choice ?

I think Raja and Komodo were still better, but I would rank it right after those 2. You do get quite a few whale sharks in their natural environment (a nice surprise while diving..you never know when they show up!) which I didn't get in Komodo and Raja. The macro in Tubbataha is not as good as PG, though. My week long diving with El Galleon/Asia Divers all-in was about 50% of the cost of what my Tubbataha liveaboard was. (I did both on the same trip.)

I went with Discovery Fleet. Choose your boat carefully since there is an open water crossing that is quite long and some areas around Tubbataha can get quite rough/ The food was amazing and the crew were really great. I highly recommend.

 

[ronscuba]

I am not so concerned about land at PG vs live aboard costs. All the Tubbataha live aboard boat pricing is coming up similar or cheaper to Caribbean live aboards. I found the same for Egypt and Maldives.

 

[Centrals]

SB invaded PG and Dauin couple of yrs ago.
Generally speaking, you can't really go wrong with PG. Most of the dives are very near by and dive boat goes out for one dive and return to base. The only surcharge is the special trip to Verde Island( a must).
Tubattaha is highly recommended but only available for three months(mid Mar to mid June) and by LoB only.
I really enjoy the diving at Southern Leyte(Sogod Bay). Take a bit of time to get there but well worth the effort.

Anilao is well known for macro.