Cebu plan for January?

[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).
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.

OK, you guys convinced me (and, more importantly, the wife!). We are going in MAY to early June. Don't see a way to change the thread title...

We are trying for

Malapascua - 7 days
Moalboal - 4 days
Dauin - 7 days
Sipalay - 7 days

Dirtfarmer, I looked at Takatuka and almost gagged. Those themed rooms -- man, not for me. Some might not be so bad. I DO APPRECIATE your comments about the food. Right now were looking more at Easy Diving, but it's all so hard to decide since everything looks GREAT on the web -- yet our experience tells us otherwise. And food is important.

Anyway thanks REALLY for pushing us to get to Sipalay.

- Bill

 

[Centrals]

Liquid in Dauin now has 6 AC rooms. And Zoe gives one of the quickest reply I had ever experienced.

Make sure U2 dive Sogod Bay on your next visit.

 

[Luko]

Right now were looking more at Easy Diving, but it's all so hard to decide since everything looks GREAT on the web -- yet our experience tells us otherwise. And food is important.

Bungalows are nice, aircon with terrace overlooking the sea but man, you gotta love steps or ask them to put you near the restaurant/diveshop.
Food is good/OK, not something to write home about but clearly in the edible range, in case you don't like it you will have an impressive range of german sausages to order. The beach side arrangements are clearly one of their main assets : in between dives you will confortably lounge on your deck chair while lunch will not be more than 10 steps away ... I should mention the people there : I found the owner or the german managers really friendly guys (despite their german accent...).

I would recommend Easy diving to anyone. I had my first experience buddying with a one legged swede diver... I was worrying at the beginning when I noticed the guy removed his other fake leg then hopping to the Bangka to kit up, but he was perfectly handling the situation diving down to 40m.
I believe it would have been more difficult for him with current picking up but in the end that proves you Sipalay is not a current prone area and also that 40m is not that deep either.

 

[billt4sf]

Bungalows are nice, aircon with terrace overlooking the sea but man, you gotta love steps or ask them to put you near the restaurant/diveshop.
Food is good/OK, not something to write home about but clearly in the edible range, in case you don't like it you will have an impressive range of german sausages to order. The beach side arrangements are clearly one of their main assets : in between dives you will confortably lounge on your deck chair while lunch will not be more than 10 steps away ... I should mention the people there : I found the owner or the german managers really friendly guys (despite their german accent...).

I would recommend Easy diving to anyone. I had my first experience buddying with a one legged swede diver... I was worrying at the beginning when I noticed the guy removed his other fake leg then hopping to the Bangka to kit up, but he was perfectly handling the situation diving down to 40m.
I believe it would have been more difficult for him with current picking up but in the end that proves you Sipalay is not a current prone area and also that 40m is not that deep either.

So is Takatuka a better choice then?

We don't like steps ...our old knees tend to bark!

 

[dirtfarmer]

So is Takatuka a better choice then?

We don't like steps ...our old knees tend to bark!

You make the call, I think there is plenty of info.
Or should we make a spredsheet?

Sorry bill I couldn't resist, really I'm a nice guy, cranky factor is building though... I'll blame pre jet lag and post dive trip travel.Right now I really just want to be home.

 

[Luko]

Or should we make a spredsheet?

Hahaha... someone adds that column "no steps", 'some steps', "ESB steps"... how 'bout the food rating too?

Sorry I am making fun of you Bill , after all you deserve it : you're in Bali while I'm freezing in Paris.

 

[billt4sf]

We are looking at starting our "May" trip sometime between 7 May and 13 May, and continuing until 7 June or 14 June. -- Still a good time for diving?

Takatuka said:
Yes, it’s available in this date range. our restaurant is undergoing a major renovation from June 12 onwards and our dive center will be closed for rainy season break from June 1.

Takatuka is closed for diving after June 1. The statement "yes it's available in this date range" refers to accommodations only.

Easy Diving says:
we have also Delux Bungalows, with only small stairs, with terasse and sea view.

I'll put it all in the spreadsheet!

- Bill

 

[Centrals]

Why don't you ask Artistic on stairs as well?

 

[billt4sf]

Why don't you ask Artistic on stairs as well?

I don't like the look of the quality of the place. So hard to tell in pictures. I hate when they have lots of pictures of the pool and the (always-empty) beach, and few of the rooms and bathroom - lots of resorts do that. But what I did see of Artistic did not look good to me.

- Bill

 

[centraal]

Hi all,
I'm considering a quick trip to Cebu for 5 days or so, since I see a cheaper airfare than my usual Guam getaway. A lot of the suggestions in the thread seem to require quite a bit more travel beyond the main airport. I'm looking for something relatively close (same island, at least), comfortable and family friendly, with at least good diving, if not necessarily the best. Wife and I will be taking turns on alternate days, so we'd need either a guide or buddy as well. Any ideas? Thanks.