Dumaguete/Apo ?s

[JonnieB]

Dive costs are cheaper...but accomodations (of camparagle quality [if can be found at your PI diving location), food, and land/air transportation costs are no bargain. Often for these, Malaysia and Thailand match or beat PI prices for similiar or better quality.

The cheapest diving in Thailand is at Ko Tao, about US $10-$12 per dive. Diving here is average and basically for beginners. Average prices in Phuket around $20-$25.

Accomodation is where Thailand really has PI beat. I stayed last week for a week on the Cape Panwa peninsula opposite Chalong Bay in a nice suite room (dining area, living area, large ocean view balcony (with table, chairs, and swing bench), large queen-size bed, bathroom with separate showeer and tub, for around $28 per night (including buffet breakfast. You can find basic but clean and comfortable accomodations around Phuket for $10-$15 per night. Clean and safe and tasty Thai food can be $1.00-$2.00 per dish.

PI diving is great but if I had only time/money for one country in SE Asia, I would go for either Thai or Malay.

really the dives are cheaper in those countries? How much is it per dive in dollars over at Thailand or Malaysia? Just curious for business reasons

 

[JonnieB]

No I have not dived Tubbatuba yet (though I almost did in April). I hear great things about that area. However, it is only divable due to weather two months of the year (I think April and May) and the poster said he was going in October. In addition, it is an advanced divers spot and it is not that easy to get to. You have to go through Manila to Puerta Princessa and then at least a day I believe to the reefs. The prices of the liveaboards may not be that expensive but the boats are not that nice either so you get what you pay for.

Live I say, diving in the PI is nice (any tropical place with 7000+ islands must have some great sites) and I go there often. However, I live in SE Asia and dive the sites in different countries in the area often. If someone asks for a recco for diving in SE Asia, the PI would not be my first choice. If you have dived Thailand, Malaysia, and Indo before, and want another place, then sure, I would reccomend sites in the PI.

I am just wondering if you have ever dive the Tubbataha Reefs or any of the reefs or islands in the Sulu Sea with Philippine waters?

 

[Spoon]

doing apo end of october cant wait

 

[Mr. Blues]

Thanks for your reply. Already did Thailand and enjoyed immensely. Malaysia travel is more expensive and I usually get screwed on a single supplement charge. Did southern Leyte last year and diving was excellent and actually a real bargain. This fall will be a dedicated scuba vacation and all the places I haven't dived are real costly (which is why I haven't dived them) I'm still shopping around and your feedback is appreciated.
.
Is this a dedicated SCUBA trip to SE Asia or are you going to the Philippines for other reasons and want to get in some scuba diving? If you can chose any country in this area, I would recommend Thailand or Malaysia over the Philippines. While the Philippines does have many good sites, travel, accomodations, and even costs are many times not competitive with these other countries. Even more, overall, the sites best sites in Malaysia and Thailand beat the Philippine sites (sorry to say, the overfishing and dynamite damage to PI reefs is too much to ignore). Since you are coming so far, why not go for the best in the area.

My reccos would be something like Sipadan/Mabul in Malaysia. Geat open water on Sipadan Island and superlative macro at Mabul/Kapalai. SMART Resort and Sipadan Water Village on Mabul are both good all inclusive resorts and cost about $750 for 4 nites/5 days diving. In Thailand, in November, you could base yourself in Phuket and do all the local sites there and also Phi Phi island too. Then move on over to Lanta Island and do Hin Daeng/Muang islands (One of the best sites in Thailand). You could also do daytrips or a liveaboard to the Similian/Richlue islands. There is also much finer dining and nightlife in Phuket than you will find anywhere in the Visayan Islands.

You can also see my previous Sipadan and Phuket reports on this site in the Asia forums.[/QUOTE]

 

[f3nikon]

No I have not dived Tubbatuba yet (though I almost did in April). I hear great things about that area. However, it is only divable due to weather two months of the year (I think April and May) and the poster said he was going in October. In addition, it is an advanced divers spot and it is not that easy to get to. You have to go through Manila to Puerta Princessa and then at least a day I believe to the reefs. The prices of the liveaboards may not be that expensive but the boats are not that nice either so you get what you pay for.

Live I say, diving in the PI is nice (any tropical place with 7000+ islands must have some great sites) and I go there often. However, I live in SE Asia and dive the sites in different countries in the area often. If someone asks for a recco for diving in SE Asia, the PI would not be my first choice. If you have dived Thailand, Malaysia, and Indo before, and want another place, then sure, I would reccomend sites in the PI.

Fair enough, yes the Tubbataha Reefs are very remote unlike the Similian and Phi Phi Islands off the coast of Thailand. It's is so convenient just to fly into the Similian and Phi Phi International airports and bypass Phuket and Bangkok altogether.

Not that I am comparing the Similian and Phi Phi Islands with The Tubbataha Reefs, since there is no comparision. Tubbataha Reefs is a UNESCO World Heritage Marine Park and has some of the highest diversity of marine life found anywhere on earth.

Oh and speaking of the Phi Phi islands, there are 10 times more limestone islands like the Phi Phi, off the coast of Palawaan, El Nido in the Philippines . With much higher cliffs, the "The Amazing Race" had film there last year.

"The prices of the liveaboards may not be that expensive but the boats are not that nice either so you get what you pay for."

Have you ever been on a Philippine liveaboard?

And yes I would not recommend the Philippines to most divers...this way I can enjoy that great dive site all to myself ! So I'll pay an extra dollar or two on meals and lodging, at least in the Philippines most folks (esp. the divemasters) speak English!

To sum it up, world class diving, knowlegdeable dive masters, english spoken and cold beer, what more could you ask?

Note: They may need to work on the cold beer part!

Dive Safe

Al

 

[JonnieB]

Mr. Nikon,

I think you protest too much. Like you say, Palawan itself is quite remote and Tubataba Reefs even more so. Like i said, it can only be dived like 2 months of the year. I am sure it is a great site and I know it is a UNESCO site (still probably won't keep out the Filipino dynamiters and cyonide freaks whoever). Sipadan in Malaysia is also a UNESCO world heritage site. Be that as it may, I still hope to get to Tubataba next year.

I think the original poster wanted to know about good SCUBA diving locations. I think he is a diver interested in underwater marine life in the SE Asia region, not a geologist looking for interesting and pretty topside rock formations. He also didn't mention anything about scouting out movie locations for the next James Bond film so the height of these rock formations may not be too relevant to him either.

Hotel and food costs are 10%-25% more expensive than comparable goods in Thailand. That is more than a dollar or two.

Good divemasters the world over know their sites well by definition. By this definition, most of the DMs I have dived with in PI, Malaysia, and Thailand are "good." The PI certainly has no monopoly on good DMs. Also, English is the second language in Malaysia also. Every DM and other staff I encountered there spoke English well. In Thailand, many Thai DMs speak English, but often not as well as PI DM.s for obvious reasons. There are also many foreign DM working in Thailand so any language can be occomodated.

So good diving can be found in any of these countries.

Fair enough, yes the Tubbataha Reefs are very remote unlike the Similian and Phi Phi Islands off the coast of Thailand. It's is so convenient just to fly into the Similian and Phi Phi International airports and bypass Phuket and Bangkok altogether.

Not that I am comparing the Similian and Phi Phi Islands with The Tubbataha Reefs, since there is no comparision. Tubbataha Reefs is a UNESCO World Heritage Marine Park and has some of the highest diversity of marine life found anywhere on earth.

Oh and speaking of the Phi Phi islands, there are 10 times more limestone islands like the Phi Phi, off the coast of Palawaan, El Nido in the Philippines . With much higher cliffs, the "The Amazing Race" had film there last year.

"The prices of the liveaboards may not be that expensive but the boats are not that nice either so you get what you pay for."

Have you ever been on a Philippine liveaboard?

And yes I would not recommend the Philippines to most divers...this way I can enjoy that great dive site all to myself ! So I'll pay an extra dollar or two on meals and lodging, at least in the Philippines most folks (esp. the divemasters) speak English!

To sum it up, world class diving, knowlegdeable dive masters, english spoken and cold beer, what more could you ask?

Note: They may need to work on the cold beer part!

Dive Safe

Al