Anilao AND PG???

[diverjen]

Dr bill - thanks for the reply! I was hoping you would chime in! What was club O like, do you have any pictures? I am a bit more on the adventurous side, but my husband has his limits, lol.

Would 6 nights at each be a good mix or would you suggest 10 at one or the other based on our criteria? Or if 12 nights total how would you split it? Do you agree that PG has better/ more coral reef diving than Anilao?

Can you expand more on "ain't cheap"?


Also if you recommend both in which order would you suggest?


Thanks again for your responses

 

[mlsantos]

Hello Diver Jen… Anilao is a great place to be in May most of our clients from the USA stay 10 days or more the diving is great and the photo oppurtunities are endless… I represent one of the newest dove resprts in anilao… Aiyanar Beach and Dive Resort for more information on Aiyanar you can visit the websites… Dive Anilao with Aiyanar Beach & Dive Resort and Aiyanar Beach and Dive Resort - Dive Anilao for more information and aiyanar.net also has videos on there. If you may be interested please email me at marco.santos@aiyanar.com for any inquiries you may have...

 

[diverjen]

Thanks mlsantos we will give it a look!

Just booked air for 14nights late April into May. soooooo excited! Thanks scuba board!

 

[Searcaigh]

I have done PG and Anilao several time now, my last trip was pure Anilao though.

On one trip myself and two buddies did Anilao first (Crystal Blue) then PG (Asia Divers / El Galleon). Asia Divers arranged a banca to pick us up from Crystal Blue.

After the trip one of my buddies commented that it would have been better the other way around, personally I prefer quieter places. There is also shore diving at Anilao, good for setting up new camera gear etc before heading to do more serious dives.

Boat trip between Anilao and PG was $100, it also gave us a day break in the dives.

 

[diverjen]

Thanks searcaigh! That is incredibly helpful and insightful! Can you comment on the reef diving between the two?

If we were to split it for our first time, would you recommend an even split of 6 nights each or something else?

 

[mlsantos]

Hey Diver jen… it is almost that time of the year again… please let me know if i can help you with anything...

 

[keigo70]

Hi diverjen!

From my experience, Puerto Galera is more touristy, with more beach and party-goers than Anilao. Anilao is generally more quiet, with more dive-centric tourism than PG. Both places have a lot of resorts to stay in though, so don't worry about that!

In terms of the underwater experience, both are good. I've only been snorkeling in PG, really, but some of the marine protected areas we visited over there had great coral cover and diversity.

Anilao is nice during that time of the year (right now the weather is terrible, as it is the country's monsoon season). The coral and fish diversity is great too. Some of their dive sites have won a couple of "best marine protected area" awards over the years. Plus, most of their popular dive sites are pretty close to shore, and require hardly any travel time by boat.

 

[diverjen]

thanks keigo70! We are so so so excited! We are really looking forward to it and know we are going to be blown away. I had almost given up on an Asia trip for diving for next year, but it is actually going to happen!

do you guys know how far out we need to book dive resorts for next April/May? trying to get a sense of that now and still trying to figure out if and how to split it, lol!

 

[keigo70]

Well April/May is summertime in the Philippines, so tourist traffic will be pretty high. Especially since both Anilao and PG are popular tourist destinations.

You'll probably want to book a couple of months in advanced. Maybe as early as January, just to be safe!

 

[diverjen]

thanks keigo! I have been emailing resorts already, they probably all think I am such a dork! It seems like Anilao has more limited options than PG, so I definitely want to get that booked soon, but maybe its not so pressing for PG? I would like to have reservations set in October or Nov by the latest for both. Thoughts?

Oh and totally an aside, what do you guys do about bottled water? I drink a ton of water and am wondering where I can pick up some big bottles. Also, I assume you load up on pesos in the airport in Manilla? Do the resorts usually take cards or do you need to plan enough cash for everything? In Anilao it seems like you are pretty much eating at the resort so a meal plan makes sense, but what about PG? Better to try to get full board or just see how it goes? I assume since we want 4 dives/day in PG that its probably easier/less hassle to eat at your hotel/resort.

I keep going back and forth about whether to split or not. Mostly because I am worried that if we don't go to PG we will miss some of the better coral reef diving? Anyone care to comment on the coral reef diving between PG and Anilao? /begging