Fuzzy Dunlop
New
Ahoy all
My friends and I will be travelling through the Philippines in mid-April, stopping at Donsol, Coron and El Nido.
I just wanted to get any diving recommendations (companies, sites etc) or any positive/negative experiences people have had diving in these sites.
As a bit of background, there are 5 of us in total and most of my friends have between 24 and 50 logged dives, and all have deep, night, nitrox certification. One of my friends is only new, however, has less than 10 logged dives, and only nitrox certification. Three of us will bring our own regs/computers, 2 will hire, and we will all hire BCDs.
Donsol - We have booked a full tour with Donsol EcoTours, which is part of Fundive Asia, which includes 2 days of whale shark snorkelling and 2 days of diving. Any thoughts on the diving in the area? I have heard there is a good chance of seeing manta rays and a possibility of hammerheads? How are the dive sites, in terms of challenge? I understand we may be diving in currents, and we may have to clip ourselves onto something?
Coron - We have not booked our diving yet, but will probably do one or two days worth of wreck diving. I have dived previously with the SeaDive resort, where we are staying, but also hear that Coron Divers is good? Any recommendations? Last time our dives were fine, but the boat broke down (which lost us a bit of time) and I felt that our dive profiles were perhaps a little close, although our guide was very helpful.
El Nido - We have not booked any diving yet, but last time I was there I did a couple of dives with Palawan Divers, who seemed very professional, and who took good care of their rental equipment. Any recommended dive sites? I note that the diving in El Nido does not seem to be held in high esteem compared to other sites in the Philippines...
Nitrox - I would prefer to dive nitrox if possible, but have some reservations about the airfills. Is nitrox use common, and trustworthy? Naturally I would want to double check the gas mixtures personally, but I wanted to see whether people had had positive experiences.
Finally, given the size/experience of our group, we would probably like to pay extra to have our own dive guide (or even an extra dive guide). Does anyone know how much this would cost and whether we should arrange this in advance? BTW, we all understand our personal responsibilities whilst diving, our obligations as dive buddies, and that we must keep track of our own dive profiles/deco times and be prepared to self rescue (if required). I have made everyone read the incidents/accidents forum to aid in preparation. Nonetheless, its nice to make have an extra set of eyes on us
Thanks very much to anyone who has made it this far. We are very excited about this holiday, and super keen to go diving.
My friends and I will be travelling through the Philippines in mid-April, stopping at Donsol, Coron and El Nido.
I just wanted to get any diving recommendations (companies, sites etc) or any positive/negative experiences people have had diving in these sites.
As a bit of background, there are 5 of us in total and most of my friends have between 24 and 50 logged dives, and all have deep, night, nitrox certification. One of my friends is only new, however, has less than 10 logged dives, and only nitrox certification. Three of us will bring our own regs/computers, 2 will hire, and we will all hire BCDs.
Donsol - We have booked a full tour with Donsol EcoTours, which is part of Fundive Asia, which includes 2 days of whale shark snorkelling and 2 days of diving. Any thoughts on the diving in the area? I have heard there is a good chance of seeing manta rays and a possibility of hammerheads? How are the dive sites, in terms of challenge? I understand we may be diving in currents, and we may have to clip ourselves onto something?
Coron - We have not booked our diving yet, but will probably do one or two days worth of wreck diving. I have dived previously with the SeaDive resort, where we are staying, but also hear that Coron Divers is good? Any recommendations? Last time our dives were fine, but the boat broke down (which lost us a bit of time) and I felt that our dive profiles were perhaps a little close, although our guide was very helpful.
El Nido - We have not booked any diving yet, but last time I was there I did a couple of dives with Palawan Divers, who seemed very professional, and who took good care of their rental equipment. Any recommended dive sites? I note that the diving in El Nido does not seem to be held in high esteem compared to other sites in the Philippines...
Nitrox - I would prefer to dive nitrox if possible, but have some reservations about the airfills. Is nitrox use common, and trustworthy? Naturally I would want to double check the gas mixtures personally, but I wanted to see whether people had had positive experiences.
Finally, given the size/experience of our group, we would probably like to pay extra to have our own dive guide (or even an extra dive guide). Does anyone know how much this would cost and whether we should arrange this in advance? BTW, we all understand our personal responsibilities whilst diving, our obligations as dive buddies, and that we must keep track of our own dive profiles/deco times and be prepared to self rescue (if required). I have made everyone read the incidents/accidents forum to aid in preparation. Nonetheless, its nice to make have an extra set of eyes on us
Thanks very much to anyone who has made it this far. We are very excited about this holiday, and super keen to go diving.
