Cebu plan for January?

[Centrals]

Only Dauin is muck but if you mix it with Apo Island then you should be fine.
If you are flying into Cebu directly then your itinerary is fine. But if it is through Manila then I would swap Cabilao with Sipalay.
MNL/CEB---Malapascua---Moalboal---Dauin---Sipalay---Bacolod/MNL.
Pity you don't really have time for Southern Leyte or even down to Davao or General Santos.

You will be given 30 days entry free visa on arrival. Weather can be unpredictable so you should give yourself some extra time for the unexpected. If you find yourself some extra time in Manila by the end of the trip, you can always travel to Subic Bay for a day or two of wrecks diving.
Have a nice trip.

 

[Mucksavage]

May is about the best month to visit the Philippines for diving. Except it to be pretty hot but with excellent conditions.

Malapascua - Thresher Sharks, Mobulla, White Tips at Gato Island, wall dives (Monad, Kalanggaman Island) so you can avoid muck diving for sure.

Moalboal - all wall dives. 3 days more then enough for me as dives are pretty similar. Sardines are great.

Dauin - muck dives on coast but day trips to Apo for hard corals, turtles etc. Certainly worth a visit as also nice location

Cabilao - will let others comment as have yet to go.

 

[billt4sf]

If you are flying into Cebu directly then your itinerary is fine. But if it is through Manila then I would swap Cabilao with Sipalay.

Why do you say that?

- Bill

 

[Centrals]

Why do you say that?

- Bill

1. Quality and variety of the dives. The SS Panay is one of the few wrecks in Philippines where artifact(gas mask of WWII vintage) can still be found. But the depth(40m) is a wee bit off putting for some.
2. Choice of the resorts.

The only -ve about Sipalay is getting there. It is long and tiresome by public transport, 6hrs+ from either Bacolod or Dumaguete, but dirt cheap.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Why do you say that?

- Bill

I'll add a bit, many of the reefs in the PI have been decimated by blast fishing, the Sipalay area have not been. Yes they have been overfished but the fish diversity is there just not in as great of numbers in areas of the PI that have been made MPAs. I'm currently in Sogod Bay and have had 3 dives in a MPA Napolitano, great coral health and super fishy.

But back to Sipaly specifics, I have said before that the food in the PI can be challenging, much is preprapared and frozen. At Takatuka you'll find none of that, they have a wide menu with flavors from all over the world, but it is all made from scratch. They even have a meat and cheese plate with 2 kinds of charcuterie and 3 kinds of cheese, and cornichons, and when we were last there we turned on cathy to making some house made quick pickled veg and she made some for us but dont know if she still is. And since your from Nor-Cal your probably dying right now for some Mexican style flavor, theirs tastes like mex food, their Thai like Thai, their Italian like Italian and so on. We stay there for 2 weeks and never eat anywhere else, the food is that good.

Some might not like the themed rooms but I enjoy some, I like the Nautilus decorated like the inside of a submarine and a nice private deck. My wife is an artist and we enjoy the decor. Oh and the sunsets are to die for, my wife and I have many fond memories having great sundowner coctails on the beach. And the beach is sandy and the ocean is very good for swimming.

Back to the diving, yes the Panay is a deep but cool dive, and most are current free! It's always refreshing to find sites that have healthy coral in the PI because you can find many that will shock you.
They also have a great pier dive Mad Max and I love it yes it's a muck bottom but the critter are all in the viable range and the pillars are cool with lots of soft coral on them. Reminds me of a dive site in Dauin now closed that a one time was rated in the 10 ten sites in the world. But don't panic most the sites are coral sites so no worries about icky small macro muck.

For your height and ability to spend what it takes for comfort take a private car from either Dumagette (the mountain route is shorter) or back to Bacolod. It's much faster and more comfortable. Centrals is an expert at getting around the PI cheaply though. Our last trip we had to renew our visa and our driver was indespensable in getting us around Bacolod to all the dam stops for pictures and copies and didn't even charge us more than the agreed upon price of $80.

 

[Centrals]

Anyone with 30 days should seriously consider this itinerary in either direction:
Sipalay(Bacolod), Dumaguete, Moalboal, Malapascua, back to Cebu City for the afternoon ferry to Maasin for Southern Leyte(Tacloban).
You can actually travel from Malapascua(not directly from the island) to Leyte without going back to Cebu City. But that would involve change of land transport in Leyte couple of times and very time consuming. BTW, I have no experience on this route.

 

[nokedli]

Hi guys, I'd like to know where can I buy some basic diving equipment like googles, snorkels, etc. in Cebu city

 

[Mucksavage]

Aquaventure White Tip
Asia Divers
Pacfica

 

[billt4sf]

Anyone with 30 days should seriously consider this itinerary in either direction:
Sipalay(Bacolod), Dumaguete, Moalboal, Malapascua, back to Cebu City for the afternoon ferry to Maasin for Southern Leyte(Tacloban).

Powerful arguments! We are looking into this. Arriving by air in Cebu City, how would we make our way to Sipalay as our first stop? Fly to Bacolod then private car? (We are not up for public transportation unless it is really good.)

- Bill

 

[Centrals]

Powerful arguments! We are looking into this. Arriving by air in Cebu City, how would we make our way to Sipalay as our first stop? Fly to Bacolod then private car? (We are not up for public transportation unless it is really good.)
- Bill

1. Alternatively would be through Dumaguete as "dirtfarmer" suggested. Your only concern is the flight schedule.
2. Forget about the bus which is very slow and some of them are even NON-AC! The only good one that I have experienced are those linking Manila and Baguio.