8 days Cebu itinerary: suggestions or tips?

[diveUAE]

Looking for Dive Recommendations in Cebu

Hello all

I'm planning to use Cebu as my base for about a month in April focusing on logging some great dives rather than hopping from place to place. I’d rather dive consistently than feel like I’m traveling non-stop.

I was hoping to get some local insight on good places to stay that are budget-friendly, as well as recommendations for dive shops where I can connect with cool people and dive regularly. If you have any suggestions or could point me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance

Do you mean you want to stay Cebu city? Not a good place to base yourself for diving, as you would only really be able to dive out of Mactan - or do a very long day trip to Moalboal.

It’s better to pick the places you want to dive and then stay there. Yes, it means you’ll have to “move around”, but with a month and 3-4 places that should be fine.

My top pick would be Malapascua (do not miss), Bohol (for Balicasag), Dauin and maybe Siquijor.

If I had a month I’d start by flying to Dumaguette and dive/stay with Bongo Bongo divers - very, very budget friendly and a great place to meet other divers. But do read up on the diving as it’s mostly muck diving - Apo island has beautiful corals though.

Then boat to Siquijor, boat to Bohol and boat, bus, boat to Malapascua.

Be back in Cebu the day before your onward flight.

 

[Centrals]

There are only two places in Cebu Province that can be used as base: Mactan Island and Moalboal.
Camotes Islands and Malapascua are tiny island.
It is not that difficult and expensive on inter-island travelling between Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Negros.

 

[russ805]

Do you mean you want to stay Cebu city? Not a good place to base yourself for diving, as you would only really be able to dive out of Mactan - or do a very long day trip to Moalboal.

It’s better to pick the places you want to dive and then stay there. Yes, it means you’ll have to “move around”, but with a month and 3-4 places that should be fine.

My top pick would be Malapascua (do not miss), Bohol (for Balicasag), Dauin and maybe Siquijor.

If I had a month I’d start by flying to Dumaguette and dive/stay with Bongo Bongo divers - very, very budget friendly and a great place to meet other divers. But do read up on the diving as it’s mostly muck diving - Apo island has beautiful corals though.

Then boat to Siquijor, boat to Bohol and boat, bus, boat to Malapascua.

Be back in Cebu the day before your onward flight.

I've been jotting down tons of recommendations!

I’m not too interested in muck diving since my eyesight isn’t great, so I’m more focused on reef dives. I haven’t booked a ticket yet—Cebu seemed like a possible starting point, but my arrival location is still undecided. I’m open to moving around, but if I find a place I love with great diving, I’d be happy to stay put. I'm easy to please
I appreciate you taking the time to respond, I have been emailing a few resorts and starting to compile some destinations.

 

[diveUAE]

I've been jotting down tons of recommendations!

I’m not too interested in muck diving since my eyesight isn’t great, so I’m more focused on reef dives. I haven’t booked a ticket yet—Cebu seemed like a possible starting point, but my arrival location is still undecided. I’m open to moving around, but if I find a place I love with great diving, I’d be happy to stay put. I'm easy to please
I appreciate you taking the time to respond, I have been emailing a few resorts and starting to compile some destinations.

I think Cebu/Visayas is a great place to start! That's what we did and have not yet been to Anilao/Puerto Galera, Tubbataha or Coron (Although I promised my husband we would do Coron as he's a major WW2 buff)

My husband also have trouble seeing the very tiny things - we just told our dive guide to maybe focus more on the not so tiny (but still small) stuff, there were plenty of nudies and shrimps in a good size and also saw octopuses and frogfish + a lot more - to me muck diving is not so much about tiny things - it's more that the diving usually is on sandy bottom not on a nice reef - i think Dauin has a little bit of it all (except big fish) and we loved Bongo Bongo - the rooms are very small and basic, so no one spends time there, all gather in the bar/reception area, so there was always someone to talk to and share dive sites/pictures etc. Pool was also really nice. Most of our dives were shore dives with pretty easy entry.
But do not skip Malapascua!