Diving in the Phillipines

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Adrian Kelland:
Plenty of wrecks in Coron Bay, and some of the reefs are pretty good.

However the increase of pearl farms in the bay is supposedly causing poor visibility. When I was there nearly 2 years ago vis was only 10m at times. But this is better than I get for my normal diving, so it was still good.

Barracuda Lake is quite something, a layer of cold fresh water over hot salty water.

Adrian


Hi Adrian. I'm not so sure about the pearl farms causing poor vis in Coron Bay; I worked for several years for the biggest pearlfarm in the area and I noticed that the vis got worse whenever we had lots of rainfall (i.e. soil erosion from the islands silted up the waters). What I am sure of is that there are a lot of great divesites within the pearl farms, many of them relatively untouched. The farms do not allow fishing in the areas they occupy so there are *****loads of fish around. Unfortunately the farms also do not allow rec diving in those areas, so unless you work for them (which i was lucky enough to do :eyebrow: ) or have connections with their management, they're pretty much off-limits.
 
For anyone thinking of diving in Phil, heres my 10 cents worth.

You can take a minibus from Manila airport (2000 pesos) to take you (3 hour trip) to Subic bay. Stay at Johans (subicdive.com) and dive some really great wrecks (nitrox/trimix available). Approx cost US$75/day room and diving - typically 2 dives per day. Go into Subic at night for some drinks and to oggle the bar girls.

Or,

Fly seair (seair.com) from Manila to Busuanga (Coron) about 1 hour or so flight. They will meet you at the airport and take you to stay at Discovery divers (ddivers.com) and dive the great wrecks of Coron. Typically do 2 or 3 dives a day, Nitrox available. Approx cost is US$70/day for diving/accom and food.

Vis last week was around 10m at both Subic and Coron - I always enjoy the wrecks in both locations - vis was not a big problem in Coron - at least not last week.

IMO PG is overrated. Its damn cold and the currents can be very strong. OK if you like reef though - no wrecks. Mini bus from Manila airport to PG. Sabang is a dump.

Further afield you can fly to Cebu and bus ride to Malapascua - nice reef, wall and wreck

We have been going to dive in Phil for years and IMO if you like wrecks I would do Subic or Coron (subic has more nightlife - coron has none) Subic is a little easier to get to and doesnt involve flying so no lost dive time.


For reef - I have no idea
 
how cold is the water in PG? I'm going there nxt week!
 
Cold this time of year - for the philippines at least. I've been to PG a few times at Chinese New Year and the lowest temps I saw were 22 - most dives came in at 24 / 25 though. For me that is still 3 mil full suit territory, but just! The night dives were very chilly coming up though.
 
DrMike:
IMO PG is overrated. Its damn cold and the currents can be very strong. OK if you like reef though - no wrecks. Mini bus from Manila airport to PG. Sabang is a dump.

Gee DrMike I'll be in PG in 2 weeks and now feel deflated as hell. I'm not a reck diver but interested in nature and having a good time while I'm at it. I hope Sabang is not that bad...compared to what?

If the water is 23-25 celcius I don't think thats cold at all, your description on currents is a worry though.

But then again I'm used to much colder water, strong currents and 5 to 7m viz here in Melb so I hope I'll be happy and OK.

Anyone have anything good to say? Cmon DrMike it can't be that bad....I respect your opinion but is it really all doom and gloom?
 
I was in PG last year and did not think that current was a problem at all. However I did not get to do Canyon which current can be quite strong. Most dives were very easy drift dives and diving around Sabang wrecks did not have current at all.
Corals in some area were quite nice but if you want nice reef scene then Apo Island/Dumaguette is better. However if you like to hunt around for macro stuffs, PG is excellent for that. Water then was about 26-27C (July).
We had the resort arranged a van pickup for us from the airport in Manila so getting there was not a problem.
Sabang is certainly not for everybody. I don't care much for it myself although some people seem to enjoy those bars/nightlife. I prefer to stay on La Laguna Beach next door which is more quiet and does not have any of those bars.
 
I'm going to PG next week and I'm sure I'll have a great time. The description of the dive sites there sound great. I realise that it is going to be primarily small stuff but that is not a problem. The weather at the moment is about 29C which is quite acceptable as it is only about 5C and wet in the UK.

Hey Aquarius I might see you there. Where are you staying and who are you diving with?

Here is a link to the description of the dive sites. Click on Divespots Puerto Galera at the top of the page. Let me know what you think. Hope it has brightened you up a bit.

http://www.wetexpedition.co.uk/framesets/frameset-tauchen.htm


Regards

David
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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