Some Advice

[mitphys]

Hi All
My wife and I are headed on a big diving trip this May/June/July to the Philippines, Palau, and Papua New Guinea. We have about 2 weeks of dive time in the Philippines. We have already decided to spend 4 days in Dumaguete and 4 days in Bohol/Balicasag.

-Is Anilao diving different enough from Dumaguete to warrant going there instead of Puerto Galera? We like muck/critter diving a lot (had an amazing time in Lembeh), but dont want to overdo it if Anilao and Dumaguete are really similar.

-In either place, we want to do 2-3 dives a day. We don't like the idea of large groups especially when doing critter diving, so I was looking at Action Divers/Out of the Blue Villas in Puerto galera. Any opinions on them and the quality of their dive guides? Any recommendations in Anilao for operators?


Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Mucksavage]

Anilao is similar to Dauin (Dumaguete) in that its critters and generally much diving. Both are also very destinations. Anilao is also in Luzon whereas your current 2 destinations are in The Visayas and only a couple of hours by ferry apart.

If you want to try something different from Bohol and Dauin / Dumaguete consider Malapascua which is nearby. Its an all round location with excellent macro (but not muck diving), some great wrecks and the place is currently crawling with Thresher Sharks and Devil Rays. I know because I had a full 45 minutes of action just this morning on Monad Shoal. I literally could have tickled a Thresher on the chin. PM me if I can help in any way and happy decision making!

 

[jigo]

best guide for critters in Puerto Galera is mark of seariders. his dive op is beside action divers. also below out of the blue villas.
dumaguete and anilao are not exactly similar. lots more corals in anilao. anilao has also prime muck sites in secret bay, basura and the pier. dauin is mostly muck dives. both are great for critters although there are much more nudis in anilao. lots of rare nudis in puerto galera too if you dive macro haven with seariders.

 

[limirl]

I dived with action divers the last 2 years when I was in puerto galera and highly recommend them. The 2 guides I dived with were Simon and Huw both very helpful, they are not a big operation so small groups work well with them. Typically there is no more than 6-8 divers on a boat.

 

[elanarchist]

You may want to check out Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte, you can get there from Bohol (Ubay->Maasin ferry). Plenty of Ghost Pipes, Mimic / Blue-Ring Octopus, Frogfish, Crabs, Shrimps, Nudis - in the last 6 months we've identified over 120 different species of nudibranchs. Even though Sogod Bay is known for whale sharks - which are still around, saw 7 on wednesday - the critter diving is awesome as well. There's a couple of "secret" critter dive sites that SBSR dives; DI Pedro will show you the goods.

 

[boljakool]

come over to Acacia Resort & Dive Center when you decide to go to Anilao. here's a taste of what you may find in Anilao: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163453&id=840732277&ref=mf

 

[mitphys]

Thanks for the advice everyone! So doing my homework on Puerto Galera, I am finding out a lot of dive operators restrict your bottom time to 40/45 minutes. I have never even heard of dive operators who cut your time off below an hour (except in special situations like super strong current dives etc.). Most places are typically an hour or longer (incl other parts of the Philippines). Seems a little wierd that I would go such a long way to do some diving and then have the operator tell me I cant even use half the tank I paid for in some cases. Any ideas why PG operators do this?

 

[Rogersea]

I have not heard that in the Philippines. During dive briefings I often hear a max depth mentioned followed by an approximate time that will get you back to the "Safety Stop" area

 

[eagerbeaver]

Thanks for the advice everyone! So doing my homework on Puerto Galera, I am finding out a lot of dive operators restrict your bottom time to 40/45 minutes. I have never even heard of dive operators who cut your time off below an hour (except in special situations like super strong current dives etc.). Most places are typically an hour or longer (incl other parts of the Philippines). Seems a little wierd that I would go such a long way to do some diving and then have the operator tell me I cant even use half the tank I paid for in some cases. Any ideas why PG operators do this?

I think in the few cases where this is the case it is because they are scheduling 4 dives a day, and to fit all that in with SI's and snacks, and lunch, and travel time they have to limit the dive times.

Additionally you may find that if the dives are all 'guided' then getting your hopes up about 60mins+ can often be thwarted by other divers who have sucked the tank down in 35mins :-D

Enjoy your trip!

Matt.

 

[Karl_H]

Normally the dive times in PG are tied to the boats, most resorts will have their boats (or boat for some resorts!) fully booked on most days and giving longer dive times means one or two less dives for one group....

I'm sure if you mention you'd like longer dives beforehand something could be arranged.

Karl