Diving and Living Philippines or Thailand

[captainbligh]

Will be taking a few months off and want to find the best place to take it but not only just for diving. Basically two factors:-

1/ Diving
Dont want to do a dive master higher course but would be open to Tec or any other combination of courses and fun dives

2/ Want to live in a decent enough condo ($500 a month budget) 1 bed and broadband, near entertainment, and relatively cheap to survive. Near a gym

Basically a detox session for 2-3 months combined with training and diving every day.

So far, Pattaya and Cebu seem to fit the bill but finding dive shops with "special" packages seem to be the limiting factor as everyone caters for newbies or dm, instructor courses
Many Thanks

 

[Centrals]

For tec training there isn't a better place than Puerto Galera in whole Asia.
Contact Captain Gregg's(Mark Cox), La Laguna Beach club and Dive Centre(Frank Doyle) or Tech Asia(Dave Ross). And if you are interested on GUE(DIR) then Tech Asia is the place.
Another place that deserved a mention is Subic Bay. Try Johan Dive Centre on Baloy Beach.
Malapascua off Cebu Island is fine but there is nothing to do in the evening. Too tedious to go to Cebu in the weekend. But perfect place for detox.

 

[captainbligh]

Thank you for the reply.
I would like to live in a decent sort of apartment so an urban environment by the sea seems to be best. Subic Bay, or Pattaya then.

 

[DevonDiver]

Subic Bay has a lot of options. I lived there for over a year. I had a modern, clean condo with air-con, internet, hot shower and appliances for less than $300 per month. The diving in Subic Bay is spectacular if you love wrecks. Outside the bay, there are 3 wrecks in technical diving ranges - with plenty more waiting to be discovered. The area of the old US Navy base in Subic is now a tax-free development and import zone - so you can get everything you need in the shops.

Inside Subic base (SBMA) there are up-class hotels and range of restaurants and bars. Down the road in Barrio Barreto, there are more typical beach and girlie bars. Olongapo town (outside SBMA) has a wide range of local shops and services. You can get an air-con bus to Manila every 20 minutes - the trip takes less than 4 hours.

There's lots of dive centres in Subic. Johans and Boardwalk offer tech training/diving (I do too, but I work freelance). Others are more recreationally centred. You can get DSAT, TDI and IANTD training courses there; including; advanced nitrox, deco procedures, extended range, trimix and technical wreck.

I have an article about the wreck sites in Subic here:

Subic Bay History and Ship Wrecks

 

[Centrals]

You will be surprised how developed Puerto Galera is.
Diving at Subic is very limited ie. wrecks and more wrecks. You have to travel to see nice corals. USS New York is certainly very nice especially if you are qualified to penetrate it. El Capitan is good for training while LST is good for couple of practice runs and no more. You might bump into the residence Bull Shark but I had never seen it on my regular visit to Subic. The Sakura Maru is at 54m and not very interesting while the Hell Ship and Siem Maru are literally pile of twisted metals. There are deeper wrecks outside the bay but you might need He to dive it. There are couple of deep wrecks up in La Union but...logistic.

Split your time between PG and Subic(do not forget to visit Angeles).

 

[captainbligh]

Thanks for the replies.
I need the apartment and the gym as well as being near a town. I have been to PG and liked the diving but its a bit too far away should I need urban life. I also need good broadband access.
So, it looks like subic. Is diving around Cebu (Macatan) not so good?
Also, Pattaya has everything but I heard that the diving isnt as good as Subic and PG. Is it cheaper in Thailand?

 

[Centrals]

Subic is much better than Pattaya as most of the wrecks are within 15mins by boat as for Pattaya.......it is a whole day affair.
Nightlife and food are much much better in Pattaya but if you want good diving then there is no contest. BTY, Angeles is only an hr away from Subic and this place can really rival Pattaya in terms of.......
Furthermore, if you are not tired with wrecks than there some more in Coron.

 

[Mucksavage]

PG, Subic, Pattaya? Good luck with the detox.