Cabilao: Polaris vs. La Estrella

[highdesert]

Greetings, all -

First time in PPD forum, as we are contemplating a possible trip your direction in November. Have never dived the Philippines. I've read threads saying Puerto Galera is a must do, but we like smaller, quieter areas, but with good diving. I believe Cabilao fits that description, no? Also, we would travel to the Philippines via Cathay Pacific, which flies to Cebu, nearby, and would prefer to minimize ferries & shuttles, both to maximize dive time and reduce travel cost.

Any thoughts about Polaris resort as opposed to La Estrella? Quality of lodging, food, dive operations? Polaris seems to cost a bit more (but also has hot water), but are there other differences? I like La Estrella's discounts for 21+ dives per week. We'll be there to dive; we do not need many other amenities besides a good bed in a safe room, decent food, and good diving. Of course, at the best possible price!

How would you categorize the major type of diving there? All macro? Some bigger stuuf, what? Also, are there good fast ferry connections from Cebu to Bohol/Cabilao? And would mid November be a good period to dive, in terms of the weather?

Thanks for any observations!

 

[highdesert]

OK, my humble and profound apologies! Just found a previous thread with exactly the same title as mine. I'll do my research there, not expecting everyone to respond again. Thanks anyway!

 

[rhadamantus]

La Estrella doesn't have 24-hour electricity and they cut it just when you need it- during the evening until early morning. but they are known to have the best spotter in the island (Bobet).

we stayed in Polaris last September though and found no reasons to complain: accommodation, food, and diving wise. jericho is our favourite dive guide--- diving there is just awesome.

browse through the past threads and you'd find more or less what you need. if you need more help, send me a pm.

 

[jonix]

ditto

 

[Diver Dennis]

We are headed back to Polaris in March for 5 days with the kids. Terrific diving and a great resort.

 

[Nemo]

Have been to Polaris recently - they do not have hot water (although they do advertise it), they do however, have a big swimming pool (the other resorts do not). The food was quit good (food is not included, so you could eat at the other resort or staying at the other restort, you could eat at Polaris). They also have good dive masters.

 

[Hammerhead]

Just got back from Polaris yesterday. I can second all the above views, and I'll be back as soon as I can.

 

[jigo]

pics pics pics!

 

[highdesert]

Thanks to all for your help! You guys belong to a really great, active, positive group here on SB. Could be worth the trip to PI just to meet some of you!

 

[chip104]

Thanks Highdesert.

I had the pleasure of staying 3 days in Polaris with Larry (THE hammerhead) and Zee (Zeeman). It was great diving and an excellent resort. As for the diveshop, we headed over to La Estrella and I found that I liked the setup of the dive shop over there better. Although I did like the speed boats of Polaris and the service. We had Jericho and Michael as our DM and both were very helpful, excellent spotters, and great to dive with. Jericho is the more laidback type while Michael is the fun upbeat type. I am told that pretty much all the DMs of all 3 dive ops (Sea Explorers being the 3rd) on Cabilao are great.

As maggie says, I like the 24 hour electricity of Polaris (essentially why we chose Polaris over La Estrella) and the resort was awesome. Try to search for a past report by Pakman, because he mentioned that La Estrella shut off the electricity in the middle of the night once (no more fan!). I don't think I took advantage of the pool or the relaxation area as much as I should have. And yes, as Nemo mentioned, they don't have hot water unless it is for your [swiss] coffee or tea.

To minimize transfers, if you fly into Cebu you can take a shuttle down to Argao and then take a boat over to Cabilao. Larry did this route (backwards).

Cabilao diving is pretty much all macro, macro, macro. Although we did get to see a school of great barracuda and I saw a Napolean Wrasse but we were told that they are not a common sighting anymore. Poor Larry and Zee had the macro lens for that dive. And you MUST do the night dive at the Lighthouse! That was my favourite dive - macro creatures galore! Blue ring octopus, baby cuttlefish, all sorts of crabs...

As for weather, it really is hit or miss. It is supposedly the dry season right now but we were hit with scattered rain and lightning for the trip. IIRC, November is the beginning of peak season when all the Europeans begin going to Cabilao so book soon! I really recommend going between May - August since that is the low season for the resorts and can have the resort and dive op pretty much all to yourself. We went last week and it was full of German tourists, and Zee mentioned that the service was different (his first time going was during low season). Shoot the resort an email and ask them about the weather in November and how busy it will be.

hope that helps.

edit: I'll be uploading pics today so I'll see if I can link some.