Beginner level diving destinations in the Philippines

[Nadine Rubio]

Heya!

I’m looking into completing a PADI scuba diving course (beginner level) in the Philippines either towards the end of this year or early next year (before uni starts here in NZ). I’ve been doing a little bit of research and found many diving destinations all over the country and need some help choosing which one would be best suitable for me.

- HAVE NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE SCUBA DIVING

- I was born and raised there so mixing in with the locals isn’t gonna be a problem. I also have relatives residing in Manila.

- I am on a tight budget (full-time student) so I’d like some cheap suggestions/recommendations.

- young female, (possibly) travelling alone overseas for the first time

 

[Jay]

Welcome to ScubaBoard.

I have a couple working as instructors in Manila that I re-certified with. He's a Course Director and she's also near that qualification. 10k plus dives each, very good -and complement each other a lot. Probably about the same price you'd pay in NZ but you'll get the benefit of more than one instructor, a low student ratio and the course will still happen irrespective of number of students. They have their own pool in Manila, and OW dives are at Anilao.

Please PM me for detail if it sounds interesting.

 

[Rickk]

There are several areas where there are a good concentration of dive sites and dive shops/resorts in the Philippines.

I have not been to most of them but can offer some suggestions based on my experiences.

Bohol, the diving is centered around Anola Beach on Pangalou Island in the south part of the Island. The beach itself is starting to become a party spot, especially at night but there is a lot of good dive sites and some pretty cheap places to stay. You can fly into Cebu, then take the ferry for about 500 p. I dove with Philippine Fun Divers there and they were great. Lots of dive shops not necessary associated with a resort so you can split the accommodation and the diving. This may get you a better overall price because dive resorts tend to be more for the tourist's with bigger budgets.

Diving there is all boat dives, lots of good beginner level dives. Well worth a look.

Dumaguete, mostly just south of the city, the diving there is a mixture of shore and boat dives. The beach is very rocky and some entries pretty difficult. The dive operations are mostly affiliated with a resort so the usual practice is to stay where you dive. Diving a little moire pricey than Anola Island. Easy to get to, take a bus from Cebu to Dumaguete then a local transport to wherever you are staying.


Cebu itself, some diving right from the city, I took my Rescue course there, not the best diving but I was only there a couple days so it might have been timing. Many options for accommodations and dive operations. I dove with an independent operator who was affiliated with a beach place that catered to independent divers. Up side was the training was pretty cheap but I got what I paid for I was very unhappy with the training.

Puerto Galera, I am there now but have not dived due to nasty head cold. This is a major party spot and teh town of Sabang is fill of professional women, who don't have an office if you know what I mean.

Next month I am going to Moalboal, again easy to get to from Cebu, independent dive operations appear t0 be the norm, some published diving rates the lowest I have seen.


Places I have looked at on line but not been to for diving include the resort destinations like Coron (expensive to get to and accommodations are pricey) Subic, and places like Boracay etc appear to be more pricey.

I'd take a good hard look at Moalboal and Anola as I think they meet your needs better, easy and cheap to get to, and with dive shops independent of accommodations offer more options.

Also check out Airbnb as you can get self contained accommodations which give you the option of self catering.

Remember when you buy a course, you are not buying an agency, you are picking an instructor. As far as I can determine all agency training is pretty much the same and they all rely on the actual instructor to deliver so the instructor is more importance than the agency.

Don't shop only on price, i made that mistake on my rescue course and am not seriously thinking of re-taking with a different instructor/agency.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful underwater world.

 

[dharma diver]

I was living in Makati for awhile and was able to go diving around a bit. I would recommend annilao for sure since you are on a budget and it is a few hours drive from Mania. I haven't been but everyone tells me that it is a must dive place. The next place you can get to by bus and boat is Puerto Galera which i heard is a beautiful place to visit and dive. IF at all possible and you can squeeze into your budget I would go to Coron or head down to Oslob, Cebu and dive with the whale sharks, now that is a cool experience. Safe travels and please let us know how your trip went.

 

[nrhayes91]

I recently dove in El Nido and Bohol. Some mild currents in El Nido but very manageable. I would recommend both places for easy diving. They both offered some of the easiest and most enjoyable diving I've ever done.

Both areas have excellent muck diving with abundant macro. Disco clams were pretty cool to see in El Nido, as well as schooling snapper. Bohol (Pamilacan and Balicasag Islands) had turtles abundantly and sea krait on nearly every dive. Pamilacan and Balicasag were both mainly sloping sandy bottom with spires of coral throughout. The house reef offered a nice leisure drift wall dive. Lots of nudis in both locations.

For pricing, we paid less than 100$ per day with 3 boat dives/day including lunch.

 

[Rickk]

Depending on your time and budget you may want to look at Marine Conservation Philippines.

It is a volunteer marine conservation agency that will offer PADI certifications.

For a 6 week stay ($US450 per week or $2,700) you can get two certification's, full room and board plus about 60 dives.

Marine Conservation Philippines - Marine Conservation Philippines


If you have the time and money, that is a pretty good way to get a fair bit of experience diving as well as OW and AOW levels. Not al fun dives, you will do some research assistance stuff, dive against debris and community outreach as well.

 

[lm17]

Second the reco on Moalboal.

 

[drk5036]

Moalboal is fine, and it’s cheap, but I’m not sure you’re necessarily going to get a personal touch. I think it’s a better place to go to get some practice AFTER having your cert.

I’d recommend evolution dive resort in Malapascua. While with an open water license you won’t be able to enjoy the threshers, I think their staff is really good and your training would be great. It’s also a fun place to spend some time, the island is beautiful. If you have time to do OW and AOW and Nitrox, you might be able to squeeze in a thresher dive before you leave