2+ weeks in Philippines: where to go?

[Centrals]

Coron is great for wreck diving, recreational and Tek alike.
However, most of the wrecks are quite a distance from the town of Coron. 2-3 hrs travelling everyday for a week !!!!! I am not too sure about that.
I know at least two resorts(Sanget Island and the new one by Gunter) which are near-by. Gunter could certainly look after you on tek diving. I believe he used to be with IANTD but now probably changed to TDI. I am not too sure if Andy(Sanget Island) offers tek diving but please do ask. Sea divers in Coron is another option if you do not mind the travelling everyday.
After diving all those Jap wrecks how about couple of USA varieties in Subic Bay? The USS New York with the still intacted turret guns!!!
Puerto Galera is arguably the best place to conduct tek training in Asia and need no introduction. Chuck Driver at Captain Gregg, the deep dive buddy(200m+) of late John Bennett, is still around even though he has retired(allegedly) but Mark Cox and Ethei should have no problem to look after you. Other centres recommended are LBC(Frank Doyle) and Tek Asia(Dave Ross and Big Sam).
Gato Island near Malapascua is great for macro and Monad Shoal for the famous Thrasher shark. Matt Reed at Evolution can take care of tek diving in Malapascua.

Good diving.

 

[Centrals]

Hi Jen,
There are not much diving in Palawan but great for travelling. The last frontier in Philippines !!!
You are better off in Cebu Island. Alona Beach(land and sea), Dumaguette(land and sea), Moalboal(land) and Malapascua(land and sea) are all within reach(2-5hrs).
Typhoon comes and goes quickly so should not prove too much of a concern especially you have over 2 weeks in the country. But please make sure you do not get stranded on the island when you have to fly home.

 

[tkdgodess]

My vote is for Cebu. It is a vibrant fun city with good diving ime.

 

[jbird71]

After diving all those Jap wrecks how about couple of USA varieties in Subic Bay? The USS New York with the still intacted turret guns!!!

Thanks for all the advice... and the idea of visiting Subic is very interesting to me. I'm a bit of a military history "buff", and Subic is somewhere I've wanted to visit.

 

[gasgirl]

Hi PPD,
I am also looking for advice as I will be travelling to the Phillipines in Feb/11 for volunteer mission and thought I would stay an extra week for some diving. Would love for my hubby and 2 Jr Open Water teens to join me but may not be possible. Any advice?
Thx!

 

[Centrals]

Thanks for all the advice... and the idea of visiting Subic is very interesting to me. I'm a bit of a military history "buff", and Subic is somewhere I've wanted to visit.

US Navy mainly supplying vessels are still visiting the place frequently. It might have something to do with the military actions westward!
Besides USS New York there are couple other discarded military hardwares eg. LST and LCU. There is also a F-4 fuselage at 44m about an hr away.
At San Fernando in La Union which is 2-3 hrs drive up north from Subic, there are several M-10 tank destroyers sitting from 40m down. Ocean Deep can arrange all the logistic, weather permitted.

 

[gunter.bernert]

I like pretty much everything... wrecks, reef, macro, cave. I'll be traveling alone so hopefully somewhere that's social, although my bar hopping days are behind me.

Another option I am considering is just staying in/around Coron for the entire time. I'm looking to transition into some technical diving, and might devote some time to getting a wreck/ deep diving cert.

You are on the right place! Just feel free to contact me and I can give you some suggestion.

 

[gunter.bernert]

Coron is great for wreck diving, recreational and Tek alike.
However, most of the wrecks are quite a distance from the town of Coron. 2-3 hrs travelling everyday for a week !!!!! I am not too sure about that.
I know at least two resorts(Sanget Island and the new one by Gunter) which are near-by. Gunter could certainly look after you on tek diving. I believe he used to be with IANTD but now probably changed to TDI. I am not too sure if Andy(Sanget Island) offers tek diving but please do ask. Sea divers in Coron is another option if you do not mind the travelling everyday.
After diving all those Jap wrecks how about couple of USA varieties in Subic Bay? The USS New York with the still intacted turret guns!!!
Puerto Galera is arguably the best place to conduct tek training in Asia and need no introduction. Chuck Driver at Captain Gregg, the deep dive buddy(200m+) of late John Bennett, is still around even though he has retired(allegedly) but Mark Cox and Ethei should have no problem to look after you. Other centres recommended are LBC(Frank Doyle) and Tek Asia(Dave Ross and Big Sam).
Gato Island near Malapascua is great for macro and Monad Shoal for the famous Thrasher shark. Matt Reed at Evolution can take care of tek diving in Malapascua.

Good diving.

Hi Centrals, thanks for your comment, I can only agree. Just one correction, you can now dive the Wrecks of Busuanga from Concepion Town or Puerto Del Sol Resort, just 5-25 Minutes away from our new Discovery Divers-Dive Center, ready to cater for recreational, technical and rebreather divers.

 

[pughio83]

You could always check out Boracay to add some liveliness to your trip after coron. The diving is varied, with some excellent macro (esp at night), a small wreck, some deep dives and has a fab beachs, plus onland lots of accomm, nice restaurants,bars and can have a very social time in the evening.PG diving better and has nightlife to, anilao best macro but v quiet. Bohol v nice, decent diving with good corals and some macro, but quiet. not been malapascua but chance of bigger fishies!!

 

[slowhands]

Coron is the main spot for wreck diving in the Philippines. Spend a week there, then maybe go down to Puerto Princesa for some tourism, river in a cave, butterfly farm, crocodile zoo... It's not Disneyland, but it's laid back, not crowded and pretty, nice people there.

Subic Bay is another great area for wrecks. There are 20 well known wrecks. There is a lot of soft coral around Grande Island, but the bay is fished out badly (all small fish). Lots of night life in nearby Barrio Baretto. Nature diving is nice at nearby Anilao, a nice relaxing close.

I dive the Philippines 3x a year, and find myself going back to Alona Beach, to Puerto Galera, to Dumaguete. I enjoyed tiny Cabilao Island very much. But I try wild cards, Palawan was nice last trip. There is always a good surprise waiting if you have an open mind.