Atlantis: Puerto Galera or Dumaguete?

[jlevine]

Hello,

I have between 1 and 2 weeks in September and am considering the Philippines. I looked at the airfares and was surprised to see how low they are from Los Angeles to Manila - cheaper than parts of the Caribbean, believe it or not. At the Long Beach, California Scuba Show, I received a brochure from Atlantis and their prices for a week are quite good....but if I go I don't know which location to choose (Puerto Galera or Dumaguete). My guess is that either would be great. I am also wondering, however, if September is a good month. I heard that this is monsoon season.

Also, if I stay an extra day or two in Manila, do you have any recommendations for things I should see or do?

I would appreciate any feedback you have.

Thanks!

 

[Antarctic-Adventurer]

I have only dived in Dumaguete and Coron but from what I have heard there would be more to keep you interest in Puerto Galera than around Dumaguete frankly. See what others think too.

 

[UnderwaterAsia]

Hi jlevine,

Both have good diving with plenty of variety and lots to see, so you can't go too far wrong. From Dumaguete, you can hit Apo Island, which is a very popular reef dive, or if you like critters, the Dauin could be interesting.

Puerto Galera has around 40 dive sites which are easily reach and is a very popular spot. As quite an experienced diver, you might enjoy some of the more exciting drift dives or a couple of the deeper wrecks in the area.

You can find out a little more to compare the two from our dive guide if it is useful.

Dumaguete
Puerto Galera

Enjoy your trip.

 

[sonar]

Have been to PG; is awseome there. Like endless divesites on 5 to 10 minutes distance. Lot of variaty but no big fish (sharks, mantas) but lots and lots of other stuff. I dove with DiveDojo which was really awesome. Great staff, top gear. The store is not just for diving but also for hanging out after and before diving. Check it out (divedojo.com or .ph)

Heard good stories about Atlantis too though but its more expensive. You can get accomodation for pbb 400pesos a night in september in PG. Its probably the worst season to go diving there though. Its not monsoon but typhoon season.. The further south the worse the tyohoons hit in general

have a good trip

 

[gravity]

Dauin is generally out of the typhoon belt. My understanding it that it is typically several years between typhoons that hit southern negros. PG doesn't seem to get hit directly very often, but at least once per year there seems to be one close enough to cause several days of bad weather and rough waters. I think the typhoons tend to be worse the further north you go, not south. It seems like Luzon usually gets the worst of it. Please correct me if someone knows better about the weather than myself.
Do you want a place with a night life, partying, etc? then go to PG. Dauin is quieter. I prefer the diving in Dauin. I think it has better macro, but they are close enough in quality that you can make the argument either way.

 

[h2odragon1]

Puerto Galera has the most varied diving you can find in one stop.
Dumagete has Apo Is., some of the most dramatic macro you will ever see. Dumagete aslo has the Ducomi Pier. and some of the best muck diving in the world.
Puerto Galera can give you a good range of lodging, from good night-life, (Sabang beach), to quiet, ( Little and Big Laguna beaches).
As for extra days in Manila. you could visit Intrmuros, the old walled city, or go to Corregidore.
There is as much to see topside as underwater in the Philippines, and THERE IS A LOT TO SEE UNDERWATER!!

YOU CAN'T GO WRONG DIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!

 

[bobshreve]

I've been to Atlantis in Dumaguete and it is excellent. The food is good enough to be mentioned first. Their dive shop is first rate, and their DMs are also very good. I wasn't an experienced diver when I was there, so I'm not sure I appreciated it as much as I could have. Apo Island is excellent. Atlantis has trips to Siquijor or Sumilon, also, if you feel inclined. Dumaguete is also a short ferry ride from Bohol (Alona Beach on Panglao Island), which also has some excellent diving.

As h2odragon1 says, you can't go too wrong.

 

[Woodiver]

We’ve been to both resorts and they are very different. The resort at Dumaguete is very nice but very laid back. The rooms, staff and food were all great but the night life is very quite. Other than a few random resorts along the beach in Dauin, there isn’t anything else around other than private residences. Regarding diving, most of the diving at Dumaguete is mostly muck and macro but you will, with the help of the dive guide’s, find lots of critters. The dive sites are all within 5-10 minutes from the resorts other than the trip to Apo. Unless you’re a photographer, you may be bored. The Ducomi Pier was a great site but this was before the recent construction. Before the construction, Ducomi was both great for macro and wide angle. Apo has very lush coral gardens and are mainly wide angle dives. Getting to Dumaguete was easy after a long flight from the states, transfer to the domestic terminal, fly to Dumaguete and about a 45 minute drive to the resort in Dauin.
The atmosphere at PG is completely different from Dumaguete. The resort is in the middle of Sabang beach which has many shops, restaurants and bars along with other resorts. In the bay at PG are a couple floating bars, you won’t find anything close to this at Dumaguete. The resort is built on a hill, I think our room was about 125 stairs up from the dining room and one of the main walkways in Sabang goes right through the middle of the resort, between the restaurant and the dive shop and beach bar so peddlers are always trying to get you to buy something. I thought the overall diving was better in PG, especially if your group includes non photographers. Many more coral garden sites in PG and if you’re into nudibranch’s, they are all over the place. On our last day we had three dives and we saw Pygmy Seahorses, Coleman Shrimp, Thorny Seahorses and Emperor Shrimp on nudibranchs, not a bad day. Don’t miss the trip to Verde Island, it’s worth the extra money. Getting to PG isn’t as easy as Dumaguete, for us it was a 3+ hour van ride because of traffic and road construction to the ferry and the ferry takes an addition hour to Sabang. Remember this when making your flight arrangements. We had a 11am flight out of Manila and the ferry didn’t start running until day light so we had to leave a day early and overnight in Manila. We were glad we did this since the Manila airport was disorganized and it took more than an hour just to check bags.
We really preferred the Dumaguete resort but if they could only have the dive sites of PG, it would be prefect still we are not party animals and really didn’t like the vibe of PG. Since you have 1-2 weeks, have you considered splitting time between the two resorts? Just remember it will take most of the day to switch resorts. If you want to see shots of the type of critters, check out my woodiver15 site on Flickr.

 

[HSA CHUCK]

I used to have a dive shop in Hawaii,i would do two to four dive trips all over Asia but the Best Diving i found was in Puerto Galera.The resort that i found to be one of the best is Portofino Beach Resort. Portofino Beach Resort, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

 

[Pacifica Dive]

I'm in both places at least every 4 weeks.
PG is a party zone with good diving, Dauin is perfectly relaxing.
Dumaguete City is 30min away from Atlantis Dumaguete (in Dauin) and you can make it there to go to bars and restaurants.
Dumaguete has Mandarin Fishes right in front of the resort and Apo Island 45min away.
I take Dumaguete over PG any time - except you wanna party every night.

Food, Accommodation and Staff is in both places very good!