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

[Micko1974]

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.

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.

If you do step 6 above then you should really go to Panglao and scuba dive at Balicasag Island. The dive sites there are really beautiful with both hard and soft corals. The majority of Panglao is surrounded by big walls. You can then continue onto step 7, with another side-trip to Anda. It's on the way to Ubay.

 

[cetacean]

This is a little late...

However - the Solomon Islands are absolutely in the Coral Triangle, and most of the diving in the Solomons is better than virtually all the diving in Thailand. If you haven't been to Morovo Lagoon, you've missed some of the best diving in the world.

BTW - many scientists demarcate the Coral Triangle with the western edge matching the Wallace Line which runs between Bali and Lombok. Others extend it up to include most of Indonesia, the bottom tip of Malaysia (but not Thailand).

 

[Micko1974]

This is a little late...

However - the Solomon Islands are absolutely in the Coral Triangle, and most of the diving in the Solomons is better than virtually all the diving in Thailand. If you haven't been to Morovo Lagoon, you've missed some of the best diving in the world.

BTW - many scientists demarcate the Coral Triangle with the western edge matching the Wallace Line which runs between Bali and Lombok. Others extend it up to include most of Indonesia, the bottom tip of Malaysia (but not Thailand).

The diving in both PNG and Solomon Islands is awesome. It's not the easiest to get to, but it's definitely worth the trip. I was lucky, I did both on a small yacht with a compressor onboard.