A comprehensive itinerary to the best+accessible+affordable places in the Coral Triangle

[dumpsterpurrs]

The Coral Triangle is the indisputable crown jewel of scuba diving worldwide. It's also undeniable that the majority of it is a pain to get to, most of the region is less than sparsely developed. While a quick trip to this region from anywhere in the world usually fails at being quick, if one could ever set aside some time to fully experience the Coral Triangle, it can actually be done pretty easily and cheaply.

I developed the following itinerary as the main diving portion of my longer round the world trip. It includes the best diving spots around the Coral Triangle that are both easy to get to and doesn't annihilate your bank account (you want it to last you this months-long diving marathon). Almost all transfers are either overland/ferry or direct flights, only a couple flights with one connection, no flights with two connections or more (a true miracle for this region). I'm fairly confident this list covers almost everything you'd want to see in the Coral Triangle, minus the ones costing way too much (Tubbataha, Triton Bay, Palau, etc) or difficult to get to (Malapascua etc) or both (Chuuk etc).

This itinerary can be used as is, which would probably take about five action-packed months at a moderate pace. You can also pick a portion or omit certain stops. Malaysian Borneo in particular is not difficult to shuffle around. I'm not doing this whole plan at once. Certain parts I have to move around to match with my other travel plan. But this itinerary is the most optimal for the Coral Triangle for the cheap and lazy, IMO. The diving is complimented by diverse "dry" travel activities including nature conservation, indigenous cultures, and some of the very best food scenes in the world. Let me know if you spot anything I can improve with this itinerary!

Looks like this on a map: Coral Triangle – Google My Maps

(diving spots are bolded)

(fly to HKT - direct or one stop from most major locations in the world)
THAILAND
1. Similan (bus to Bangkok immediately after LOB, BKK-MNL)

PHILIPPINES
2. Anilao (ferry from Batangas)
3. Puerto Galera (ferry from San Jose)
4. Coron (ferry, MNL-Brunei)

BORNEO
5. Brunei (bus)
6. Miri (Miri-Mulu)
7. Mulu (Mulu-KCH)
8. Kuching (KCH-BKI)
9. Kota Belud (bus)
10. Kudat (Kudat-SDK)
11. Sepilok (bus)
12. Kinabatangan River (bus)
13. Lahad Datu (bus)
14. Sipadan (ferry)

INDONESIA
15. Sangalaki (TRK-LBJ one stop)
16. Komodo (LBJ-SOQ one stop)
17. Raja Ampat (SOQ-MDC)
18. Bangka (overland)
19. Lembeh (MDC-DPS)
20. Bali (DPS fly to most major airports in the world either direct or one stop)
(LOBs going from one location to another - eg. Raja - Maumere - Komodo - look very cool, but all seem quite expensive. not sure if it's worth it to splurge on one since you can also just do more R4/Komodo)

Bonus:
AUSTRALIA
(DPS-Cairns direct)
21. Great Barrier Reef (Cairns to Townsville direct, or bus/train)
22. S/S Yongala (from here you can fly direct to any major Australian airport like Brisbane, Melbourne, and Darwin, from which you can fly home. or take the bus/train to Cairns and fly from there)

 

[Centrals]

1. There is NO ferry to take to Anilao.
2. Malapascua is no more difficult to get to than Southern Leyte. If you have time why bother with dive safari?
3. Manado covers Bunakan, Bangka and Lembeh.
4. Bus from Brunei to Miri.
5. Home stay at Raja Ampat.

 

[Luko]

You're missing a few spots which are worth in Indonesia :
- Alor getting from DPS one stop in KOE, you could also come back from Alor stopping at Maumere then driving through Flores to LBJ (one of the best itinerary for a 4 days overland travel in Indonesia).
- Ambon returning from SOQ. Ambon allows diving local and daytrips to Lease islands (Molana, Nusa Laut, ...), also a hub for flying to Banda islands (other than diving, one the most interesting historical place in Indonesia).

You're also skipping the Visayas part of the Philippines (Dauin, Balicasag, Cabilao, Malapascua, South Leyte...) , while it is an easy & cheap part to travel and you could fly in and out from Cebu.

I will disagree with one of your assertion : "some of the very best food scenes in the world." ...ho humm, that's probably one the main issues traveling a long time in SEA : I won't ever order a Nasi Goreng in my life anymore.

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

1. There is NO ferry to take to Anilao.

Rome2Rio shows me a ferry between Batangas and PG. Does it not exist anymore? How do people go between Anilao and PG then? How about the San Jose-Coron and Coron-Manila ferries?

2. Malapascua is no more difficult to get to than Southern Leyte. If you have time why bother with dive safari?

Yeah you're right, I'm removing both. I can't. I really really can't. All the other locations are extremely accessible. I physically can't handle the difficult transfer.

3. Manado covers Bunakan, Bangka and Lembeh.

SB seems to suggest I can skip Bunaken to just focus on Bangka if I want reef, and Lembeh for muck.

You're missing a few spots which are worth in Indonesia :
- Alor getting from DPS one stop in KOE, you could also come back from Alor stopping at Maumere then driving through Flores to LBJ (one of the best itinerary for a 4 days overland travel in Indonesia).
- Ambon returning from SOQ. Ambon allows diving local and daytrips to Lease islands (Molana, Nusa Laut, ...), also a hub for flying to Banda islands (other than diving, one the most interesting historical place in Indonesia).

Yeah I know lots and lots are missing in Indonesia. It's just not always easy to make the flights make sense. I get very sick from flying and also hate not being able to dive the day before flying, so I avoid flying as much as possible. The thing is once you consider you can easily do the Bangka+Lembeh(+Bunaken)+R4 bundle very easily by flying from SIN into MDC then direct onto SOQ, it's very hard to justify the effort required for many other standalone locations.
- Alor: impossible to avoid connecting flights both ways, which I'm only doing for Komodo. The rest of this itinerary tries to stick with direct flights.
- Ambon: did have it on my initial list, then I figured this trip is already going to Lembeh for muck. Very interested in diving the Banda Sea, but the LOBs I've found are all quite pricy.

You're also skipping the Visayas part of the Philippines (Dauin, Balicasag, Cabilao, Malapascua, South Leyte...) , while it is an easy & cheap part to travel and you could fly in and out from Cebu.

Of those, it seems only Dauin, Panglao, and Calibao are truly accessible with their own airports, while Malapascua, Southern Leyte, and also Moalboal still takes a lot of effort to get there. However the accessible spots are also, um shall I say not that special? LIke they are nice enough but not very special. When you factor in the logistics of several flights and days off before flights, it feels a bit not worth it to me personally. I'll keep those three in mind though, in case it works out.

I will disagree with one of your assertion : "some of the very best food scenes in the world." ...ho humm, that's probably one the main issues traveling a long time in SEA : I won't ever order a Nasi Goreng in my life anymore.

Oh no please I don't understand why people love nasi goreng. it's just fried rice in sweet sauce. SEA cuisine is so much more! SEA hands down has the best food in the world, you don't even have to try that hard to find it. I typically hate spending time in cities, but would go out of my way to stop by Kuching or Singapore just for the food. I'm not a huge fan of the food in the Philippines though, and Thai food gets very repetitive after a while. Indonesia - you do have to know what to order, can be hit and miss. But Malaysia is just *chef kiss*. Brunei surprisingly has good food too. And you can always swing by Viet Nam if you really want good food every single meal and need a break from diving.

 

[Centrals]

Overland diving adventure in Philippines with no BACK trekking.
Starting from Tacloban.
Bus to Sogod Bay.
Ferry to Cebu City and onward to Tagbilaren(Alona Beach) forget about Malapascua.
Someone had mentioned recently that the connection from Tagbilaren to Dumaguete is NO longer available! If that is the case then forget Alona Beach as well and take the bus from Cebu Southern terminal to Moalboal.
Bus and ferry to Dumaguete(Apo Island).
Bus to Sipalay(diving).
Bus to Bacolod and ferry to Iloilo.
Bus and ferry to Boracay.
Ferry to Roxas in Mindoro.
Bus to Calipan and van/jeep to Puerto Galera.
Ferry and jeep to Anilao.
Manila

 

[Centrals]

Rome2Rio shows me a ferry between Batangas and PG. Does it not exist anymore? How do people go between Anilao and PG then? How about the San Jose-Coron and Coron-Manila ferries?

You travelling down from Manila to Anilao not from PG.
AFAIK ferry from Coron to Manila runs once a week.
ttps://www.letsgopalawan.com/tour/ferry-san-jose-to-coron/
6hrs journey and 3 times a wk.
Long journey from PG to San Jose via Abra de Ilog(ferry) or even longer if taken the whole route on road.

 

[Centrals]

and Thai food gets very repetitive after a while. Indonesia - you do have to know what to order, can be hit and miss. But Malaysia is just *chef kiss*. Brunei surprisingly has good food too. And you can always swing by Viet Nam if you really want good food every single meal and need a break from diving.

Thai food gets very repetitive!!!!! From north to south? Not a chance.
I still remember the food I had in Vietnam all those yrs ago and NOT impressed at all. I cannot remember the last time I went into one. A bowl of authentic Laos Khao Soi beat anything that chinese, Thai or Viet can offer.

 

[Luko]

SEA hands down has the best food in the world

Best food in the world?
You're speaking to a french foodie, I'm regularly visiting european cities with a focus on food and wine.
I have been traveling SEA regularly for 30 years, including P/Pinang, Kuching or KK (if you're on Malaysian food). And nothing to compare... really.
Vietnam might be the exception for the variety.
When you're stuck in the heartland of Flores with nothing to eat else than coldish Nasi Goreng, you understand that food is not a priority in some regions of SEA, while you will always find something very tasty in any remote village of Europe.

- Ambon: did have it on my initial list, then I figured this trip is already going to Lembeh for muck. Very interested in diving the Banda Sea, but the LOBs I've found are all quite pricy.

Very different areas, Ambon is not only muck and besides that it connects directly to Raja Ampat.
You can dive also Banda islands from local operations. (and btw Maluku and Banda probably have the best cuisine in Indo)

Of those, it seems only Dauin, Panglao, and Calibao are truly accessible with their own airports, while Malapascua, Southern Leyte, and also Moalboal still takes a lot of effort to get there. However the accessible spots are also, um shall I say not that special?

Moalboal is only 3hrs drive from Cebu, very easy part, plus you could even take land transport to Dumaguete for Dauin (then Sipalay)
Um... you list Balicasag or Moalboal like "not that special"... while you're going to Similan or PG, lol... probably you'd need to dive a bit more of SEA spots before asserting something like that or comparing what you have not seen.

Here's to "not that special" :

The "not that special sardine school" in Moalboal :



The "not that special" reefs of Balicasag island :

 

[FT]

Centrals, his ferry plan is for onward travel FROM Anilao TO Puerto Galera. Compare the other numbered points; the travel plan is always for getting to the next spot.

Others have posted on this board that Moalboal is still not recovered from Typhoon Odette/Rai in December. Best to research current conditions before heading there. South Leyte, though also hit, is in good enough shape to welcome divers (again, according to posts here).

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

Centrals, his ferry plan is for onward travel FROM Anilao TO Puerto Galera. Compare the other numbered points; the travel plan is always for getting to the next spot.

Others have posted on this board that Moalboal is still not recovered from Typhoon Odette/Rai in December. Best to research current conditions before heading there. South Leyte, though also hit, is in good enough shape to welcome divers (again, according to posts here).

Thanks! That's exactly what I meant. And that's also the reason why I'm skipping Moalboal until it recovers. (typhoon damage in cebu phillipines particularly moalboal) - pronoun is She/Her, btw

After going back and forth a million times, now I realize even Anilao and PG are too hard for me unless I come with a local friend in her car. That's the problem with PH - it's such a pain in the neck to get around. Even the most straightforward transfers resulted in all the difficulty hopping between different public transports or tuktuk rides. The time I went from Panglao to Cebu, not only the whole journey from hotel to ferry to airport bus already super annoying and exhausting, the supposedly 30mins bus ride from the pier to the airport lasted almost two hours. And everywhere was so hot. Traffics was so slow. Cebu City is so dusty and noisy and busy and hot I really don't ever want to return.

Looks like you really can't avoid at least some connecting flights and some lengthy transits and some backtracking. Perhaps this is how you can do the PH leg with minimal pain:
1. Fly into MNL, bus and taxi to: Anilao
2. Ferry from Batangas to: Puerto Galera
3. Ferry to Batangas, bus to MNL, MNL-USU: Coron
4. USU-DGT: Dauin
5. Ferry from Dumaguete: Siquijor
6. Ferry from Larena to Tagbilaran: Panglao
7. Bus to Ubay, ferry to Port of Bato: Southern Leyte
8. Ferry from Massin to Cebu: fly out from CEB

For those especially wimpy like me, only 3-6 are truly accessible.