10+ days itinerary for January or Christmas

[Asanoth]

Hello,
we are planning a 30 days trip from Christmas to 20ish January. We are not sure where to go yet, but one of our top choice now is to do 2 weeks or so diving in the Phillipines and then/before land trips in Thailand or Malaysia for the rest of the trip (possibly some diving there, but I think it is better to allocate maximum of diving budget to the Phillipines).
My ideal diving destination would have great macro and abundance of rays and (large) sharks, not necessarily too much fish. There is no such destinations in the Phillipines in January, I know. My (realistic) priority would be to see as many cephalopods and nudibranch and as many species of those as possible, and looking for diversity in other taxa as well. Not really too keen on true fish. I would really like to pick the best destinations possible, not to just go somewhere like Ollango only because it is convenient and it is possible to dive there

We already dove in December 2022:
- Anilao - We were starting our diving and did no dive trips, but I would very much like to return there. Thinking 3 or 4 days with 3+1n dives a day.
- Balicasag - Reef is beautiful there, but it does not feel like it is worth a trip/flight to Bohol
- Moalboal - Sardines are a spectacle, but the reef on Pescador Island is gone and the Talisay wall and around is not on par with other sites - I do not think sardines alone are worth the trip when we've already seen them
- Ollango - Reef is pretty much destroyed, this was our first time to see some larger fish, but now we have 50+ dives, not 10+ like back then, so I do not think we will go to Ollango

Apart from Anilao, I was looking at following destinations - I think I would like to pick 3 or max 4 in total in order not to spend too much time on transfer and waiting through no flight periods:

- Apo Island - Eastern side is supposedly destroyed, would the west be much different than Anilao?
- Malapascua - would like to see the treshers, but I do not think they warrant the trip to Cebu. Should we fly to/from Cebu or find another diving destination nearby, I would be intrigued
- Coron - we did only one proper wreck in Thailand, the fish density was astounding, so it would be interesting to do some more wreck-turned-reef. But Coron is fairly off.
- Puerto Gallera - I know people go here a lot, but I list it mostly for the convenience to get to from Batangas? How would it compare to Anilao?
- Apo Reef - I just recently discovered this site, supposedly good for sharks and stuff, but I am not sure how it delivers. If I go to a "pelagic" dive site, I would like to see something more/else than grey/whitetip/blacktip reef sharks. I know iNaturalist is not best for underwater wildlife, or definitely not nearly as good as for land animals, but it still does not seem too promissing: Observations Also, not sure how is the accessibility and prices wil probably be multiple of those in divesite-is-behind-the-corner Anilao

Would you please have any tips how to build the itinerary to get the best diving experience given stated interests? We will stick to land based, we cannot justify the cost of LB in Visayas, and we will probably sort of rough it on acommodation and stuff, not going to luxury diving resorts.
We do not plan to do any non diving stuff in thew Phillipines, we spent 4 weeks in the country and feel it does not have much to offer there.
I would also be open if you had some comments on if and where to dive in Thailand (did Koh Lanta - Phi Phi and Haa)/Peninsular Malaysia, or honestly anywhere else in the world, I started another topic for that:

Diving trip for January/Christmas

Hello, we would like to take a 30 days vacation over Christmas going into January, of which we would like to allocate about two weeks to diving. The rest we want to do a land vacation, wildlife focused. It does not matter much where it is in the world. Our first choice would be the Phillipines -...

scubaboard.com

Thank you very much!

 

[Centrals]

Southern Leyte. There is no better place at that time of the year. However there are only a few resorts in the area so advanced reservation is a must.
Koh Lanta is good but the diving cost is pretty high because of the travelling distance.
Koh Lipe is cheaper diving wise but the cost of living/travelling is higher than Koh Lanta.
Everything will be closed in Peninsular Malaysia from Perhentian all the way to Tioman.

 

[Centrals]

Day trip from Khao Lak to dive Similan Island is a viable option.
Bus from Phuket Bus Terminal 2 to Khao Lak was a mere B150.00(what I paid yesterday). Khao Lak is very spread out so you need to know where to get off otherwise you will need local taxi. Nang Thong Supermarket is a good place to get off. The bus stop even has a small shelter, very useful yesterday when it was raining on my arrival. To Zleep Hotel is fine and only 3mins walk away.
It will be very busy in Dec/Jan.

 

[Asanoth]

Thank you, I did not consider southern Leyte. I read on it, and it almost looks too good to be true:

Everything from manta rays to whale sharks and dolphins can be seen here if you are lucky.
... whales, dolphins and manta rays serve as entertainment.

Is that really like that? The reef is apparently great, but does it also combine with such a variety of pelagics.
Honestly, I would not stretch my travels too much only for the whale shark, I would love to see some (again), but I would not make a trip around it. But if there are also devil rays and even cetaceans, or possibly even pelagic sharks I would make trip around that. I guess macro is not on par with Anilao?

I also read that hammerheads can be regularly seen at Malapascua in winter, but I am not sure if regularly does not mean like "one guy saw a shark here two years ago". Also, the reef is supposedly good.

If all above were true, I could do MNL - 3d Anilao - MNL - TAC/SUC - 3d Leyte - ferry + bus - 2-3d Malapascua - CEB. I guess that both transfers would probably take more than a day if not using taxis?


Regarding Thailand, I would not probably dive from Lanta again - it was not so expensive, like 30-50 €/dive, but the diving there does pale in comparison with the Phillipines or Indonesia. My main question is, is there any place in Thailand or westcoast Malaysia, where the diving is as good as or better than the good sites in the Phillipines? Because otherwise I better spend my money and time there. Not sure if Similan can compete, but I guess it is better with a liveaboard, and then I expect the value to be way better in the Phillipines, again. What do you think?

 

[Centrals]

@Asanoth
Stick with Philippines.
I have been diving all over the country for about 28yrs and pelagic is a rare commodity except in Tubattaha.
As for the elusive hammerhead? I had seen it once. LUCK.
I will be diving Sogod Bay in Feb and Koh Lanta/Lipe for three wks later on.
Good luck.

 

[Asanoth]

Thank you. In that case, what would you say we would get in Leyte that we would not get in Anilao (or Malapascua)?

 

[Centrals]

No two places is the same.
One thing that you will never get in Southern Leyte is the horde of divers.
I had made my reservation months ago.

 

[Asanoth]

No two places is the same.

Obviously. But you have been diving there regularly for 28 years. We have one dive trip a year, and maybe none in 2026-2030 - and if so, then nearly certainly not in the Phillipines. Therefore, we want to pick carefully, so that we get the best possible and also diverse experience. Maybe it would be better to skip Anilao alltogether? Doubt it, but I have no knowledge of Leyte.

 

[Asanoth]

I looked at Southern Leyte. It seems that coral is good, fish are good, the landscape in general seems nicer than other sites. But not sure if it delivers on our interests (critters, cartilaginous fish) better than other places.

I am now inclining more and more to Malapascua, as macro there is supposedly also very good.

I am also thinking flying internationally to Cebu and not do any intracountry flights, but that would mean skipping Anilao and I am very hesitant to do that. Is Dauin comparable in nudis and cephalopods?

 

[JonnieB]

Thank you, I did not consider southern Leyte. I read on it, and it almost looks too good to be true:

Is that really like that? The reef is apparently great, but does it also combine with such a variety of pelagics.
Honestly, I would not stretch my travels too much only for the whale shark, I would love to see some (again), but I would not make a trip around it. But if there are also devil rays and even cetaceans, or possibly even pelagic sharks I would make trip around that. I guess macro is not on par with Anilao?

I also read that hammerheads can be regularly seen at Malapascua in winter, but I am not sure if regularly does not mean like "one guy saw a shark here two years ago". Also, the reef is supposedly good.

If all above were true, I could do MNL - 3d Anilao - MNL - TAC/SUC - 3d Leyte - ferry + bus - 2-3d Malapascua - CEB. I guess that both transfers would probably take more than a day if not using taxis?


Regarding Thailand, I would not probably dive from Lanta again - it was not so expensive, like 30-50 €/dive, but the diving there does pale in comparison with the Phillipines or Indonesia. My main question is, is there any place in Thailand or westcoast Malaysia, where the diving is as good as or better than the good sites in the Phillipines? Because otherwise I better spend my money and time there. Not sure if Similan can compete, but I guess it is better with a liveaboard, and then I expect the value to be way better in the Phillipines, again. What do you think?

Nowhere in Thailand compares with diving in the Philippines/Indonesia, take it from someone who lives in Phuket!