Coron - discovery divers and accom

[Centrals]

I am inclined to suggest Dumaguete, Malapascua and then Southern Leyte rather than pitching Malapascua at the end.
You should contact Matt at Evolution about the ferry from Maya to San Isidro or Palompon to Bogo. Certain ferry schedule can be found in www.schedule.ph
A night ferry from Maasin will bring you to Cebu City in the morning for your connection to Manila.
WARNING: Some peoples are utterly against taking night ferry in the country because of the track record!!! Your choice.
I suspect the flight to Coron departs in the morning(?)
Whatever you do the travelling is exhausting.
BTW, you will find the public bus pretty old and small in Leyte Province.

 

[MA]

Thanks centrals. Evolution were pretty much full for the middle week. So malapascua would either be at the start or end of the Cebu section of the trip. I would've preferred southern Leyte to be at the end - further into whalesharks season . But anyway who knows what could happen, a typhoon might come through and spoil all my plans, so I'll try just go with the flow.

But would there be a reason to have malapascua at start and dumaguete at end? I'm still not 100% sure. That was my original plan. But I'm now flying in from Hong Kong so figured it was easier just to book a connecting flight via Cebu into dumaguete so start there. It's like an extra $30 than the Cebu only flight.

I'm allowing overnight stays in Cebu where I need to, just to avoid too much travel fatigue. I have time to rest and take my time. Any hotel recommendations? I was thinking something not too far from the piers.

 

[Centrals]

You can dive with Matt but stay somewhere else, he can advice you on this.

Dumaguete FIRST:
1. The direct flight from HK to Cebu by Cebu Pacific(5J) arrive around 12:35 too late to catch the connection to Dumaguete by Cebgo(DG 6517, 10:20). But you can catch either bus/ferry or ferry(direct) to Dumaguete, no big deal.
2. Via Manila. The first flight by 5J from HK arrive at 10:20, the 2nd one around 12:30. So plenty of time to catch the 15:00 to Dumaguete. However, given the punctuality of 5J I will take the 1st flight(0820). More expensive option.
Malapascua FIRST:
Same flight to Cebu City, bus from Northern Bus Terminal to Maya and finally private ferry across. By the time you arrive at Maya late afternoon, I would be very surprised if you can find any public ferry at that time.
Southern Leyte First:
1. Same flight to Cebu City, get the ferry ticket to Maasin by Weesam Express first and then kill your spare time at SM Mall. Look up the various options offer by different operators as Plan B. That stretch of water can be pretty ROUGH. Once I took a ferry(Super Cat) from Cebu to Ormoc but the boat had to return to port after about 30mins of sailing!! The fare was refunded and I took different ferry to Bohol!
2. Via Manila. Catch the connection to Tacloban and then a long overland journey to Padres Bugo. You don't save much time and the cost is a lot higher if you opt for private transfer.
That is the easy part.

You can put Malapascua at the end of your trip but there will be a lot of back trekking.

In Cebu City I used to stay at Diplomat but the cracks on the wall after the last big earthquake in Bohol(2013) has put me off for good.

 

[MA]

Thanks Centrals. Yes, that flight from HK was via Manila - my mistake!
I think you are right though. Given i actually want to end up in coron after this, I can save at least one flight and at least one overnight stay in Cebu by going to malapascua first. i was really just trying to mix up the diving a bit by switching order. (ie having dumaguete and anilao at either end of the trip). Thanks

I think it would be really nice to go during the low season so you can make it up as you go along!

 

[Centrals]

I think it would be really nice to go during the low season so you can make it up as you go along!

Absolutely and especially around Cebu City where you have the option of Bohol(my least favourite), Cabilao, Camotes Island, Dumaguete( or even Sipalay), Mactan Island, Malapascua, Moalboal and Southern Leyte to choose from. Time is the limiting factor.

If you are taking public ferry from Maya to Malapascua please be warned!! Those peoples hanging around are only interested in extracting as much peso from you as possible. Of all my travelling experiences over the country these lots rate at the TOP. To call them "W#$ker" is a compliment!! The best time to catch the unscheduled ferry is before noon when there are usually other passengers waiting to fill the boat.

 

[bill22]

When I was there last in April, I made a few trips off of Malapascua. Once to renew my visa and then a couple of times to go to the ATM. One of those return trips they came around and asked all the foreigners to pay extra so the boat could leave.

What they don't tell you is there is a queue. The boats leave every 30 minutes. If the boat doesn't get enough people to go, then they lose their spot and that boat goes to the end of the line. Then everyone waits for the next boat.

I refused to pay. Just smiled and told them I was retired and had plenty of time That I would just wait for the next boat. The other foreigners that were there all paid extra, the Filipinos paid regular price, and at the end he came back to me and said "okay, but please don't tell anyone". In the end they would rather have the regular price from me than zero if they have room. Realize that this is bluffing to a point so you may or may not get away with it... I called his bluff Chances are that as long as you're there early enough to make the last boat over, then you should be okay.

Having said this, if you get there in the morning as was suggested, then I doubt you'll have any problems