First time visiting the Philippines next week... Looking for suggestions

[tbm13]

2. Malapascua
@sostil regrets of only spending two days in Malapascua!! This is the only place where shark(thrasher shark) is more or less guaranteed.
Evolution.

3. Moalboal
Good for two days but the sites are easy for the inexperienced.
Dolphin House Resort.

4. Southern Leyte
Getting there is not that straight forward from Cebu.
Peter's or Sogod Bay Scuba Resort.

5. Dauin
Liquid.

These are great suggestions. Just to add:

2. Malapascua: Evolution is the go-to place. I also had good experiences with MTD (Malapascua Thresher Divers) but Evolution is imho the best shop in Malapascua.

3. Moalboal: I can recommend Moalboal Dive Center, a new shop which is run by very competent people.

4. Southern Leyte: "Getting there is not that straight forward from Cebu". It's fairly easy now with the ferry to Maasin. There's a thread about the ferry on this board.

5. Dauin: I'd add Bongo Bongo Divers as another good dive shop.

 

[tbm13]

Forgot to say: surprised I'm not seeing Bohol on the list. It's an easy ferry ride from Cebu city. Balicasag Island is a nice boat dive. Many good dive shops, such as Valm.

You could go from Bohol to Dauin/Dumaguete (maybe via Siquijor if you want). Then from Dauin/Dumaguete back to Cebu (either stop at Oslob if you're into whale sharks but they are being fed there; or via Moalboal), then Cebu city to go up north to Malapascua.

This is all doable in 2 weeks and then off to Manila for PG/Anilao for 2 weeks.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Plus, seeing the Thresher Shark anywhere else in the world is not as easy as here, especially naturally (I’ve heard you can find them in the Maldives relatively often, but that requires a LOB).

I saw thresher sharks on many of my dives in Fuvamulah and this is land based diving boat diving not a LOB. You can see them all during the day on dives there.

Panglao Bohol is also definitely a good place to dive as well I have done several vacations there. Bohol Divers Club and Big Blue Divers but many dive ops at Alona Beach.

 

[ScubaBackpacker]

Greetings All,

I am traveling to the Philippines next week ( flying into Cebu on the morning of the 19th) and planning to do some diving while I spend a month in the country.

First a little about me and my interests..

63 year old male
Certified in May 2024 AOW and Nitrox
59 dives
Enjoy both large and small aquatic life though really love nudibranches
Enjoy slow diving to look for smaller items
No camera as I want to wanted to concentrate on my skills and see what a camera can do to some newer divers
Haven't done a lot of wreck diving though as a newer diver that is on the larger size ,5'11" almost 200lbs, I tend not to enjoy smaller openings.

Really enjoying the wonderful recent trip reports by sostil and was wondering what others might recommend based on my likes.

From what I gathered I am leaning to skip Malapascau and Moalboal and perhaps starting at Dauin. Anilao is on my list and was thinking of going there closer to when I leave from Manila. sostil reporting makes me wondering about skipping Siquijor but always open to suggestions

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and if you need more information about my diving likes/dislikes please ask!

Hi !
I am in the Philippines now. I was about your age when I first visited the Philippines; like you I am not a photographer and don’t have to see big animals.
Currently making my third visit to Sogod Bay. I don’t find it that onerous to get here as some others do.
I fly into Cebu City, stay at the Parklane next to the mall, and take the fast ferry to Massin. 30 minutes then to Sogod Bay Scuba Resort where we stay(did a review of this resort back in 2019/2018.
Of Dauin, Apo Island, Moalboal, Panglao/Balacasag, and Malapascau, Sogod Bay and Malapascau stand out. Would write more, but dive time !

 

[Centrals]

The daily fast ferry by Ocean Jet to Maasin and onwards to Surigao has certainly cut the travelling time to Sogod Bay considerably. There must be a good reason why I went to Ormoc instead of taking the more direct route to Maasin in Feb 2024. The arrival time of the flight could be the reason. Anyway I hope this connection will continue to serve the community unlike the one provided by Weesam.

I am pondering what should I do on my next visit to Sogod Bay next Feb as my flight is scheduled to arrive at 22:30. Shall I book a hotel for few hrs or just go to the ferry terminal directly.

 

[Centrals]

Alona Beach: Over developed and the back gas could be an issue. History for me. There are plenty and better alternatives.

 

[MikeCal]

Malapascua - Moalboal - Dauin
PG - Anilao

Moalboal to Dauin is dead easy even by public.

Could you review the following regarding the trip from Moalboal to Dauin

bus from Moalboal to Bato
trike? from Bato to Liloan Port
ferry from Liloan Port to Sibulan Port
trike to bus station?
bus to Dauin

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

 

[Centrals]

Could you review the following regarding the trip from Moalboal to Dauin

bus from Moalboal to Bato
trike? from Bato to Liloan Port
ferry from Liloan Port to Sibulan Port
trike to bus station?
bus to Dauin

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

Liloan(Cebu) to Sibulan(Negros)
I am pretty sure Dolphin House can advice you on which route to take.
Trike from Dolphin House to Moalboal Bus Terminal(Jollibee), bus to Bato, trike to Liloan.

 

[sostil]

Could you review the following regarding the trip from Moalboal to Dauin

bus from Moalboal to Bato
trike? from Bato to Liloan Port
ferry from Liloan Port to Sibulan Port
trike to bus station?
bus to Dauin

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

I recently traveled along this route in July.

In Moalboal, once you take a trike up to the main road from Panagsama Beach, you can stand at the bus stop by the Jollibee. You’ll get swarmed by many people trying to sell you a ride/taxi but these are extremely expensive (I was quoted 5000P for a ride to Bato). They will even tell you that no bus is coming or one won’t come for an hour. You can just gently brush them off and continue waiting for a bus, they come down the road often. There’s lots of locals usually waiting at the same stop, you can ask them when they think the next bus will come. Just make sure to check with the conductor that it’ll go all the way to Bato, since a couple buses stop before then.

My bus ride from Moalboal to Bato cost 138P per person and it was a beautiful 1.5hr drive along the coastline.

Right when you get dropped off at the bus station in Bato, there are plenty of tricycle drivers waiting. You can haggle the prices.

The Liloan Port is for the fast craft going straight across to Sibulan Port on Negros. The ride was max 30 mins and costed 130P (+ additional 5P environmental fee) per person. If you miss the fast craft for some reason, there’s also a big (& slower) RORO down the road. I’m a bit unsure of the schedules here but they operate very frequently, maybe 1-2x an hour or so.

Once you hit Sibulan Port, you will once again be swarmed by tricycle drivers for expensive rides. For convenience, this is fine here & you can ask your resort how much you should pay to get there directly from the port.

But if you’d like to do it cheaper, you can walk up the road (2mins) to the national highway/main road. Again you’ll see buses cruising by every few minutes. If they don’t stop for you, check to see if there’s an obvious bus stop close by (large group of people standing/waiting), which causes the bus drivers to not want to stop again only a few meters farther.

We paid 15p (per person) for a 30mins ride to the Ceres main terminal in Dumaguete. There you can tell the Ceres conductors where you want to go and they’ll direct you onto the correct bus.

I’d estimate the entire travel from Moalboal to Dauin to take 3hrs of transit + however long you have to wait at each transition point. So probably 4-5hrs of travel total.

 

[Centrals]

LOL.
Tourist stick out like a sore thumb! Happens everywhere.
I really hate those blatant lies about no more services for bus/boat etc etc. India is the worst place for me.
Get away from the tout and then ask the local. You will not get an answer if there is any tout around you.
Dauin is in the eastern side of Dumaguete so there is no direct bus from Sibulan.

Start the trip early.