Dive Destinations July/august

[wannafly]

I've been doing some more research and trying to take all of your advice into account. Now my idea is to directly fly to Cebu in order to dive Malapascua, Southern Leyte, Moalboal and all the other places you have recommended. My idea is to finish diving in the Visayas in Sipalay, from where I can easily go to Talisay and take a direct flight to Coron. After diving in Coron I'll head to PG and finally fly home from Manila.

Some more things I've been wondering about:
1) How does diving in Bohol compare to Panglao? In which of the two places should one stay ideally? The same goes for Dauin vs Apo island.
2) Does the weather (typhoon season) affect any of the regions differently? E.g. should I head to Malapascua (or any other place in the Visayas) as early as possible during early-mid July to benefit from better weather/diving conditions or is there no real difference within July/August?
3) Should I worry about pre-booking accommodation/dives in the most popular places (Malapascua, PG) or can I just show up since it'll be off season?

 

[Centrals]

Are you sure there is direct flight from Talisay to Coron? Which airline could that be? Sipalay is sitting on no man land ie. miles away from Bacolod or Dumaguete two cities with decent sized domestic airport.
1. Two main areas, Anda and Alona Beach, in Bohol and they are quite a distance apart. Alona Beach is the most developed and popular. Apo island is cheaper but you are restricted in dive sites selection. Operators in Dauin go to Apo regularly on demand.
2. The eastern seaboard(eg. Samar) is heavily influenced but typhoon can strike anytime so there is no real difference in Jul/Aug.
3. Jul/Aug is low season so advance reservation is not really necessary but it doesn't hurt if you enquire ahead. You can even try to reserve a place without paying any deposit!!!!! Plan ahead but make sure you have plan B or even C!!!
Connecting Southern Leyte into your itinerary is not easy. It is really out of the way. There used to be ferry connection between Ubay(Northern Bohol) to Maasin or Bato(Leyte). Check it out. There is also ferry(?) from Maya(entry port to Malapascua) to San Isidro(Leyte) and then by road to Ormoc and..... Look it up. There is night ferry from Maasin to Cebu City so you don't have to travel all way back to Ormoc for the fast ferry to Cebu City.
You will find travelling in the country is not that difficult but very time consuming.
Have fun.

 

[Dive Alegria Cebu]

i would recommend Cebu, there are many diving sites to explore

 

[wannafly]

I was referring to the airport in Bacolod! However on the google maps it seems to be north of Talisay, that is what created the confusion. The flight is offered by Cebu Pacific.

Thanks again for your advice Centrals! I am starting to think that I may have to cut one of the locations I initially planned to visit. I want to stay at least a week in Malapascua, Coron and PG since they sound like the best fits for my interests (mostly larger animals & corals, less macro&muck). So far I'm also planning to go to Moalboal since it is so conveniently located. In order not to stress myself out during the trip I think I should skip one of the following places:
1) Southern Leyte
2) Panglao / Bohol
3) Dauin / Apo Island
4) Sipalay City

I know that Southern Leyte and Sipalay are the most difficult to reach but with 7 weeks of travel time I think I have the luxury to decide solely based on where diving fits my interests best. Anyone has a recommendation as to which of the 4 places fits me least? Or am I worrying too much about the timing and I can actually manage to see all of them?

 

[Centrals]

1. The latest Cebu Pacific domestic schedule only show Manila to Coron. There is no other route.
2. 7 wks to cover Coron, Malapascua, Moalboal and PG + four others is a bit of a rush.
3. Sipalay and Southern Leyte offer the best corals formation in the country, not counting Tubattaha.
4. Dauin is for macro ONLY and the wall at Apo Island is quite ordinary as compare with Moalboal(Pescado Island) or Southern Leyte. However, they are en-route to Sipalay.
5. Connecting Panglao and Moalboal is not that straight forward. The sardines in Moalboal gets my vote.

My suggestion:
Manila as your port of entry.
Manila to Coron,
Coron to Manila and then to Tacloban for Southern Leyte. Private transfer is preferred on the last stretch if you want to make it in one day.
Overnight ferry from Maasin to Cebu City and then Malapascua.
Malapascua to Moalboal(start early 6hrs+ journey).
Moalboal to Dauin/Apo Island
Dauin to Sipalay( start early 7hrs+ journey) and then Bacolod(6hrs by bus from Sipalay) to Manila.
PG is only 3-4 hrs away(start early).
Private transfer is expensive. Public transport is cheap, plentiful but slow.

 

[wannafly]

Hi,

After a couple of stressful weeks I'm back at holiday planning and by now I already got my tickets to the Philippines! Very excited, so now I'm starting to plan things a bit more detailed.

So far I think I'll stick to the route that Centrals suggested, many thanks again! I'll probably put PG at the very beginning of my trip before going to Coron. I'll be travelling with new equipment and feel like I want to have a few easy dives before getting started on the wrecks in Coron. I'm also thinking about doing a Nitrox course in PG in preparation for the thresher dives in Malapascua.

A few questions about the transport systems:
1) I'm planning to take the Friday ferry from Manila to Coron. The ferry departs at 4pm and I am wondering if I can leave PG early in the morning and make it to Manila's harbor in time to catch the boat.
2) The flight from Coron to Tacloban has a two hour stopover in Manila. After reading several threads here I'm concerned about missing my connection flights.. Should I worry about that?
3) Assuming there are no big delays I'd arrive in Tacloban at 1.30pm. Is that too late to reach Padre Burgos by public transport? Since I'm travelling alone I'd like to avoid paying the cost of private transfer.

 

[Centrals]

1. 2GO ferry departs from Manila to Coron every Tue and Fri at 13:30. Which ferry company are you using? The first ferry from PG to Batangas is 05:30. You should be able to make the connection however......your choice!
2. The last time I took a flight from Coron to Manila, I gave myself 24hrs. Lo and behold the fligth was cancelled due to bad weather.
3. Never done this route before but from what I read the answer is YES. But it will be long and tedious. First you have to take either taxi or multicab(jeepney?) to Central Bus Terminal and then bus or van(V-hire) to Maasin, make sure it is passing Sogod and Malitbog. In V-hire there is NO ROOM for luggage so you have to pay for another seat. You will know the meaning of packed like sardines!!!!!!!!!! A Toyota High Ace van packed with 19 persons.

 

[wannafly]

Centrals you're making my life so much easier. In case you're in the Philippines during July/August I'll be sure to buy a round of beers!

1. You're right about the ferry from Manila to Coron, it departs at 13:30 (2GO). I'll probably talk to the dive shop in PG about their experience regarding travel times to Manila and then eventually leave a day early to make sure I catch the Friday ferry.
2. Cebu Pacific really has a strange policy. They offer a ticket Coron-Manila-Tacloban but apparently are not liable if I miss the connecting flight in Manila because the flight from Coron is delayed.. Really weird policy!

I looked at the second part of my trip to the Visayas and came up with the following. I'm relatively sure about spending 4-5 diving days in Southern Leyte (Padre Burgos) and 7-8 diving days in Malapascua. That leaves me with 7 days at the end of the trip and I think I'll skip Sipalay because it involves too much time getting there & from there to Manila. Instead I will divide the days between Moalboal and Dauin/APO island. This way I can catch an early Monday flight from Dumaguete to Manila (arrival: 10am) and be sure to catch my international flight from Manila at night (1am).

 

[Lemuzzon]

My two cents is give yourself as much time as possible to make any connection plane that is either coming or go to Manila. The airport is such a mess, the domestic flights get delayed ALL the time. Like out of the 5 times I flew within Philippines there were always at least 2 flights - sometimes including mine - that were drastically delayed.

My flight on Air Asia from Puerto Princessa to Manila was delayed so long I don't know if it ever arrived. I was going to miss my connecting flight home, so I scrambled to book another flight on Cebu Pacific. They charged us $350 each for the ticket, even though it was regularly a $40 flight. They knew exactly what they were doing. I would guarantee that Cebu Pacific saying you're not liable if you miss your connecting flight in Manila is for a reason based on past experiences. I would stay away.

 

[wannafly]

Okay your experiences made me reconsider taking the connecting flight Coron-Manila-Tacloban. It seems to be safer (and cheaper) to take the Sunday ferry from Coron to Manila and then a single flight from Manila to Tacloban. Is the GO2 ferry more reliable in terms of arrival times? Its scheduled to arrive in Manila at 07:30 and I'm wondering if I can take public transport to arrive at the airport for a flight at 12:00.