Dive in Puerto Galera, Cebu or Apo Island

[rjjj111]

I have been diving in Puerto Galera/Sabang before. I am thinking of going else where if the diving is better. What about off of Cebu/Mactan Isalnd or Apo Island? Which is a better place of the 3 places?

I would like to swim in huge schools of fish if possible and I love sea turtles.

Any suggestions? thanks.

 

[clgsamson]

You'll find more schooling fish in balicasag island in bohol, Jacks in marine sanctuary and barracudas in black forest dive site .

 

[rjjj111]

do you have any URLs of places in the area that go to the places you mentioned?

which of the places you mentioned would be the best to swim with schools of fish?

what marine sanctuary are you talking about?

 

[clgsamson]

google Balicasag Island/Bohol or search here in SB. Marine Sanctuary is actually the name of the site in Balicasag. Three main dive sites in Balicasag island off Panglao Island in Bohol; Diver's Heaven, Black Forest and said sanctuary. Bohol is right next to Cebu and can be reach by ferry boat (1 1/2 hour trip) or by air, Manila to Tagbilaran, Bohol.

 

[Karl_H]

I'd say PG is the best option for overall variety, but there more schooling fish at Apo Island. Turtles would probablly be Apo Island, although you're pretty likely to see them at either.

Mactan would be the best option if, erm, it rained and the diving was canceled? In all seriousness Mactan has okay diving, but I don't think I'll be making the trip from Manila to Mactan for diving again so I definitely wouldn't recommend coming from further afield!

For big fish schools I'd definately agree with Caloy and say Balicasag is worth a visit, the Black Forest dive is one of the best in the PI.

I've not yet been lucky enough to visit there (yet!), but most people would recommend Malapascua, if you're keen on Cebu that would be a better option than Mactan - although I'd say it would be quicker to get to Bohol (Balicasag) than Malapascua from Cebu airport

If you're here for a while I'd recommend trying out two areas, probably out of Malapascua, Apo Island and Bohol (the Balicasag and Cabilao Island sites are amazing, other Bohol sites are so-so to good). All three of these options are easily accessed from Cebu.

Karl

 

[rjjj111]

what is the best way to dive Apo Island and Bohol? what town should i leave out of? where do i stay, what hotel? what outfit should i dive with?

is the Black Forest dive in the Balicasag and Cabilao Island sites?

 

[Karl_H]

what is the best way to dive Apo Island and Bohol? what town should i leave out of? where do i stay, what hotel? what outfit should i dive with?

is the Black Forest dive in the Balicasag and Cabilao Island sites?

Easiest way would be to fly directly to Cebu and catch a ferry to either Dumaguette (for Apo) or Tagbilaran (for Bohol), or if you're flying to Manila catch a flight from Manila directly to either Dumaguette (for Apo) or Tagbilaran (for Bohol).

There is a regular (and relatively short journey) ferry between Dumaguette and Tagbilaran to get you between the two.

For Bohol the easiest place to stay is on Alona Beach - there's lots of threads on here about dive ops and hotels - just go back a few months and you'll find seveal threads Pretty much all Alona dive centres offer trips to Balicasag (about 1 hr from Alona by boat) or Cabilao (about 2.5 hours by boat) - both are normally done as full day trips. Alternatively you can stay on Cabilao itself, or even on Balicasag, both have resorts but I'm not sure on the details. I'd recommend diving with Bohol Divers Club on Alona beach, although the accommodation isn't great so a better option would be to stay at Isis Bungalows (next door to Bohol Divers Club) - googling either will give you more details.

Dumaguette has several resorts, pretty much all of which will make daily trips to Apo Island (weather permitting), or once again you can stay on a resort on Apo Island. Dumaguette also has good diving so would be well worth checking out in addition to Apo while you are there. Once again lots of info on this is recent positions so just look back a few weeks for Apo Island and Dumaguette info. I stayed at and really enjoyed Atmosphere in Dumaguette (again gooling atmosphere dumaguette will give more details), but there's plenty of good resorts to chose from there.

Hope that helps!

Karl

 

[jbb]

Dumaguette has several resorts, pretty much all of which will make daily trips to Apo Island (weather permitting), or once again you can stay on a resort on Apo Island. Dumaguette also has good diving so would be well worth checking out in addition to Apo while you are there. Once again lots of info on this is recent positions so just look back a few weeks for Apo Island and Dumaguette info. I stayed at and really enjoyed Atmosphere in Dumaguette (again gooling atmosphere dumaguette will give more details), but there's plenty of good resorts to chose from there.

I heartily recommend diving off of Apo Island if you don't mind a quite evening. A school of jacks on the east side of the island. Stay at least a few nights then you could go to one of the resorts near Dumaguette for other dive sites offered in the area.

I see you dived in Davao. I'm thinking of going there and General Santos, how was the diving?

 

[jigo]

i agree its a toss up between bohol and dauin/apo island. black forest in bohol's balicasag island for jacks and cudas, jacks and better chances of turles in both dauin and apo island in dumaguete. i heard there are lots of white tip sharks in gato island in malapascua but i havent been there yet.

 

[rjjj111]

OK, what if i do both? Apo and Bohol? would i be wasting alot of travel time trying to see both in a short period of time?
question is.........

would it be better to just see 1 location and dive it 2 days or go to both locations and dive each location 1 day each?

what do you think?