Rain season in PI

[sonar]

Hi all,

i will (99% sure) leave for PI in the beginning of May to return in August (boom bye yeah ). I understand it will be all rainy season. I ll leave just before the tornado season and arrive right after the fresh and dry high season. How does the rain influence day to day life? I understand some roads may be closed, accomodation is a bit cheaper and so on but how bad is the rain?

does it rain for days sometimes or is it just like the rest of SE asia? With 2 short but heavy rains followed by a nice fresh air and some thunder at the end of the day? Or does it have more impact in PI due the sea? Does is affect diving? I dove once in the rain which was real nice

Oh btw; whats the best way to get a visa for three months? take of it at home or do it on the airport?

 

[Gen San Chris]

It depends where you go, here in the south we usually get less rain than in the north but this year is different, we have not had a dry season at all!
The rain up north depends upon tropical storms and Typhoons, these make the rains very difficult to predict! One thing is for sure, you will get rain!
You can get a 59 day visa at the Embassy but at the Airport you will only get 21 days and have to renew it at the immegration nearest to where you are staying!
Enjoy your trip!

 

[kosmonooit]

When the typhoons arrive you will know all about it! It also means boats dont sail and often flights are delayed, and you can get stuck and ur plans messed up. Be flexible with your movements and plans in terms of diving coz when the typhoons come that means very high winds.

May / June still mild, August - November rain rain rain then it starts turning in Dec when the days are short then summer is coming now its scorching hot and dry.

I think much further south is out of range of the typhoons / massive tropical storms that come in from the east and generally swing north west / north east (?)

 

[antiquediver]

It wasn't that rainy season previous past 2 years at this time. I am talking about western Visayas where we had fantastic dives in July and August with a viz of 25m and more. Of course the wind (Habagat) can change schedules for dive spots, but there are a lot of options.
Immigration: make your first Visa in your country 59 days and continue at any BID Offices in all major places and cities available. (here we get Boracay, Kalibo, Ilo Ilo) It can be done in between 2 hours and it's easy to get them.

 

[Izel]

It wasn't that rainy season previous past 2 years at this time. I am talking about western Visayas where we had fantastic dives in July and August with a viz of 25m and more. Of course the wind (Habagat) can change schedules for dive spots, but there are a lot of options.
Immigration: make your first Visa in your country 59 days and continue at any BID Offices in all major places and cities available. (here we get Boracay, Kalibo, Ilo Ilo) It can be done in between 2 hours and it's easy to get them.

I agree with you. Visayas and Mindanao , generally, do not suffer from the typhoons as much as Luzon. Even here in Luzon, the typhoons were mild last year compared two years ago (no super typhoons, i mean). Most of the time you get discouraged to go to Anilao when the weather is damp in Manila... only to find out from your dive buddies that it was sunny out and they had the best dives ever (they always do that! grrr).

Its hard to tell, really. Partly because of climate change, I think. It's not like it's a whole month of persistent rain. When there is a typhoon (or even the monsoon rain) this week, you get rains for 3-4 days. Then it will be sunny the next 1 - 2 weeks. Traditionally, rainy season starts in May - July. August - October is the 2nd summer (usually very humid! but not last year). November - January rainy again (but not last year!). Feb - April (1st summer). Weather is weird. So I guess, I just confused the heck out of you. Just come to the Philippines, ok!

You might want to look up the weather here. When you go to the home page, pick Asia then pick the city you'll be visiting. If it's not on the list, just type the city on the search botton. I've used this in several occasions and its been useful.


http://http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&locCode=ASI|PH|RP112|SIQUIJOR&metric=1

If you want to know more about Philippine typhoons, so can also visit this site solely dedicated for that.
http://http://www.maybagyo.com/

 

[beachbum32]

Check out the typhoon histories and more here:
:: Typhoon2000.com® :: Archives