Diving near Asian capitals... please help!

[Scuby Dooby]

Hi Dea,

I can comment from personal experience on 2 of your destnations, Manila and Hong Kong.

OK, Hong Kong - Don't bother! i live here and have to say that the diving is absolute crap. Good visibility at most times of the year would mean 10 ft. On most dives I've made here you can't see your fins half the time. It's polluted, dirty, etc. but . . . . the boat rides have some absolutely amazing scenery!! If you really NEED to dive when you are here the suggestion for using ProDive is a good one.

OK, the good news - Manila!

I travel there quite often and it is where I do most of my diving. There are 3 spots within easy reach of Manila:

Puerto Galera
Anilao, Batangas
Subic Bay


PG - A fun and somewhat touristy area. I really like it here, good dives, fun places to stay, etc. If you haven't travelled in this region before I should warn you that it isn't exactly a 'glitzy' sort of tourist spot - some people think it is a bit run down / backpacker-ish. I really think it is fun though. Try southseadivers.com they are good guys and it's a place to start researching.

Transportation from Manila is pretty easy, you would usually take a bus / ferry combination, try the SiKat ferry service. The whole trip takes about 5 hours or so. It's a bit more expensive than Anilao but still quite reasonable.


Anilao - Not far as the crow flies from Puerto Galera but a very different scene. This is a much more local Filipino sort of destination. Again, diving is good but the nightlife is almost nonexistent. You typically stay at your resort and pretty much go to bed after dinner. No town center, outside restaurants, etc.

It is about a 3 hour drive south of Manila and lots of people just go down for day dives, a bit tiring but possible with a car. Public transportation to this spot is not so easy but the prices here are the cheapest you are likely to find in the Philippines. I go here quite often and usually go to the Aquaventure reef club, pretty sure they have a web page somewhere.

Subic Bay - Ex US Navy base, there are a notable number of wrecks in the area both from WWII and also the Philippine / Spanish (then American) war era. I can't give you first hand experience of subic - yet! I'll probably be going there sometime over the next 3 weeks so drop a line if you want to hear more. I do know people that say it is a fun place to dive, especially the wreck divers. It is also about a 3 - 4 hr trip by bus from Manila

Boracay - Someone above mentioned Boracay as a diving destination. A couple of problems though:

- It is not so easily accessible from Manila. It requires a flight and then a boat trip. (Possibly a long bus trip also depending on where you fly to). It is a beautiful Island, amazing beaches, lots of things to do, very etablished tourism (sigh, the old days . . . .). I sometimes go here with my wife and family who don't dive as a defininte compromise holiday .

- The diving isn't great. It seems that El Nino was very bad to Boracay. Dives 've made at shallow depths around the main beach (white beach), while I'm sure they were once beautiful, are now a graveyard. All coral dead, it is very sad. There is some really fun but quite challenging diving if you are willing to go deep. I did almost all my dives at a site called Yapak. All depths were over 110 ft. and we topped 140 twice in a few dives. Really, very beautiful if you are up to it though, a blue water descent and then suddely this huge 'mound ' the size of a few football fields appears out of the blue. Vertical walls around the outside of it go to well over 200 ft. all around

- It ain't cheap. this is the most expensive place I have been diving in the Philippines ( it isn't all that cold though, I've been in rainy season and the 'winter' and used a 3 mil shorty for all trips)

Other spots to check out if you have the time and money to travel are Palawan (Coron), Cebu, malapasqua, Bohol and I'm sure others I can't think of right now.

Good luck and have a fun semester!

Joe

 

[The Hamburger]

Dea,

When I said not great , I meant in compaeison with The Similan Ils. or The Maldives.

Viz. is normally 10-15m and the water is nice and warm.

There will be very few days during the year that weather will stop you diving.

When you look at those photo's the only ones from Pattaya are the ones labled Near & Far Ils.

So far Pattaya looks your best bet. Very easy to organize a single days diving , Get there and get back before 6pm.

Cheers

 

[Jonathan]

Sounds an interesting trip. If you only have limited leisure days then there are probably things more cost effective to do - all depends where they are taking you I guess.

As a diver whose home waters used to be the UK I think the diving is great here, but you are unlikely to see or experience anything special compared to some of you other destinations - well certainly not in striking distance of Tokyo on a day trip.

There is meant to be a chance to see hammerheads off the Southern point of Izu but that really requires a weekend trip and I have not made it that far myself.

I hope they don't just take you on the typical tourist trail, 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there and you get a real chance to experience your destinations.

Cheers
Jonathan

 

[happybuddha]

Your best bets for diving will definitely be in Thailand and the Philippines. Scuby Dooby is right about Puerto Galera, Anilao, Subic and Boracay in the Philippines.

I live in the Philippines and IMO PG has some of the best diving in the country. Unless you primarily want to wreck dive (which is about all there is at Subic) then PG is the place to go. Boracay is definitely not the place to go for diving.

If you need a buddy when you are in the Philippines give me a shout and I'll be glad to buddy with you if my schedule allows or help you locate a buddy.

 

[Dea]

Guys, thanks so much for such detailed answers!
I now have an idea in which directions to search and will try to make the best of it.

 

[mattiedread]

There is diving out of Hanoi (never been). But, I dove with a girl who was a dive master there and she didn't have anything positive to say about it... too much destruction from the complete and total lack of conservation laws. (Which, if you are a New Yorker like me, it will distress you how little people care about the environment, espcially in Cambodia).

There used to be a dude from New Zealand, the Gasman, who posted on this forum frequently. He had a nightmare as a DM in S. Korea... don't remember exactly what he said about the diving, but he didn't have a lot of good things to say about scuba in Korea.

Take the 6 hour boat trip from Phenom Phen to Siam Reap (Angkor Wat) and spend a few days there, if you have the chance.

 

[EODScuba]

Use search engine to find diving with Claude or Chez Claude in Sihanoukville. Contact him and see if they are diving. He is 4 hour bus south of Phnom Penh but is not a bad ride. Cheap also, only a couple dollar bus ride. Hotels are cheap as hell down there too. Not bad for a wekend. How many folks can say the were on the beahc in Cambodia let alone dove there. Last time I was there he was on vacation so I can not tell you any more then this. Have read a couple of great reviews of his services and the diving. Heard he has to boat out a bit to some islands though due to over fishing in close. Great little place on ocean though.

Should like Phnom Phen though. Kinda of a wild west feel to it. Good food at the Rising sun. Especially there big British breakfasts. There is a Casino even at both locals if that is your flavor. Most of the books, travelwise, are out dated. Even if written couple years ago. Things change fast there and are improving as well. I may be moving there in the near future so may see you there.