Bohol, Dumaguete, and/or Moalboal?

[tannebil]

I going to Cebu in early December to visit distant relations and do some diving. I'll have time to dive 7-8 days. After reading the board, I think I'm down to either doing Bohol/Dumaguete or Bohol/Moalboal. Malapasqua seems to be the other option but I'm more into macro life and coral reefs than pelagics and the big draw for Malapasqua seems to be the thresher sharks and mantas. Plus, it's the opposite direction of the other three places (at least as

I also like a little night life as having a beer and a little social time is a fine way to wrap up a good dive day. I'm a basic OW diver with 150 dives. Not into photography, wrecks, or caves.

Which two of these three would give me the best variety of diving? Or should I just focus on one destination? Bohol-Dumaguete seems like a much shorter and easier trip than Bohol-Moalboal.

Thanks, Bill

 

[h2odragon1]

Bohol/Moalboal.
More macro that you like. Moalboal is quiet, no real night-life, but great diving and sunsets!!

 

[joebubbles]

Hi Bill,
Yes, giving Malapascua a pass is a good idea. It is hard to go wrong with Moaboal, Duma and Bohol. All three are very pleasant above and below sea level. Since you will be going to Cebu anyway, the connection between Moalboal and Bohol is not that bad. A private taxi from cebu to moalboal should be around 2500 Pesos or less and takes about 2.5 hours across some pleasant countryside. So you can be diving same day if you like. Getting to Bohol is easy, just take the OceanJet fast ferry from cebu city to Tagbilaran. (800 pesos and takes a little less than 2 hours). From Tag. you still need to take a taxi to Alona Beach (add another 500 Pesos). Balicasag Island is your best dive spot from Alona, but try not to miss at least a day trip to Cabilao. It is far but worth it since it can be argued that it has the best hard coral in the Phils. If you do go to Moalboal, a day trip to Kawasan Falls is a must. PS. I will be going to Peurto Galera in December. Enjoy!
oceanic2007's collections on Flickr

 

[bobshreve]

Sorry, I must have had too many beers, I sent it twice.

 

[bobshreve]

Hey Bill. joebubbles has a good description of the trip to Moalboal from Mactan or somewhere in Cebu, and getting to Alona Beach (Bohol) from Cebu. Dumaguete is a short ferry ride away from Bohol. (You need to check the weather -- ferries don't do well here in typhoons.) Dumaguete has relatively easy access to Apo Island, which has an incredible diversity of marine life.

There are airports in Bohol and in Dumaguete, but you can only get there through Manila. The easiest combination would probably be Moalboal (since you're already on Cebu) and Bohol. However, I think that getting to Apo Island and then to Balicasag Island would give you a good mix. There are often pelagics at Balicasag, and there are also many species of dolphins and whales around Bohol.

My experience with Moalboal was colored by the fact that there was a typhoon going on. It certainly doesn't have much nightlife. I thought that Alona Beach was nice, with some things to do.

Good luck.

 

[john_w]

Yep! my vote is for Moalboal and Bohol. I do recommend when and if you have time, check out Apo and even Palawan, both have a good diversity of marine life and great drift. I should warn you though, THERE IS NO NIGHT LIFE IN MOALBOAL!

Have fun!

 

[dirtfarmer]

I've never been to Moalboal so don't know about it. Duma/Dauin has great macro, Apo rocks!, some good pelagic there, great corals, no night life in Dauin ( unless you count sitting at the bar swapping dive stories) but if you stay in Duma proper you can find some. Bohol has great macro, some really good pelagic at Balicasag, and some decent nightlife, (ie bars on the beach). It's easy to get from Duma to Bohol and visa versa, unless of course there's bad weather.

 

[tannebil]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like I can't really go wrong.

 

[Karsten]

Panglau - S. of Bohol has great diving, particular of the close-by island, Balicasaq. Snorkling of B is fantastic as well. Lots of macro life, and occationally mantas and other big marine life. Dove with Sierra Madre Divers a local outfit, and probably the cheapest. They were very safety orientented. And even when I was the only diver signed up, they took me out. It is something to be the only person with the dive master. Decent lodging can be found for approx. 1200 Peso per night. Great night life with live music on the beach.

Moalboal - great diving (I forgot who I dove with). Snorkling is spectacular. In less than 6 feet of water I saw sea snakes, turtles, and an abundance of the usual tropical reef fish. 20 yards of the cost you can snorkle over the wall. Lodging in a cabin (30 yards of the cost) with aircon, hot water and regular toilets can be found for 700 peso/night. There is a van (10 persons, although 12 maybe crammed in there) service from Cebu city to Moalboal that should cost around 100 peso. Night life is pretty abysmal around the beach locations, but the town itself has a few places.

Somebody mentioned Sabang/Puerto Galera. This is absolutely incredible diving, the best that I have seen so far in the P. Dove with ABwonderdive - not the cheapest - but all their dive masters have natural fins. Lots of night life, but in my view hampered by the wide spread sex turism industry that dominates Sabang.

Boracay - The best night life. Do not bother diving.

I have chosen to dive of Palawan this comming January.

Cheers
Karsten

 

[cim72lando]

Hi Bill,

Bohol (Panglao/Balicasag), Cebu (Malapascua, Moalboal), and Negros (Dauin, Apo Island) are among the places I have been fortunate to stay and done some diving in the Philippines. You really can't go wrong with your choices. When you say you have time to dive 7-8 days, I presume you are not including travel time and therefore, going to 2 different places would be reasonable.
Divers who go to Dumaguete usually stay in Dauin (away from the Dumaguete city) as that's where most of the dive resorts are. Dumaguete is a decent size city (it has a big university established by American Protestant misionaries years ago) and do offer some lodging for the occasional diver who decides to stay there. Night life is of course available, together with congestion.
Malapascua offers both pelagics And macro life. In fact, my usual dive buddy who is in to macro only, is so crazy about Malapascua that we are going there for the 3rd time, in October. He never went for the Thresher Shark/Manta dive. I have to remind him there are 7k islands in the Philippines.
If you do Malapascua together with Moalboal, travel time may actually be shorter (as long as you have the resorts arrange your transfers) than Moalboal to Bohol that's because you don't have to follow the ferry's schedule and be at the ferry dock one hour before departure.
Cebu, Bohol, and Negros have other dive destinations that you and I have mentioned and it may be worthwhile for you to do some more Scubaboard or Google search.