February 2019 itinerary help

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nOntario

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Looking ahead to 2019. Planning 3 weeks in the Philippines.
We are advanced divers and have dived much of the Caribbean, Thailand and Raja Ampat.
Asia diving is fantastic compared to the Caribbean!
We like quite locations.
Looking for advice about the locations we have picked. We like to dive 2 dives in the morning and then take the afternoon for relaxing and exploring. We also need to pace the dives for ear protection.
Here is the rough plan-
Fly from Manila to Cebu.
Ferry/drive to Anda, Bohol for 6 days.
Ferry/drive to Dauin, Negros Oriental for 6 days.
Ferry/drive to Moalbaol, Cebu for 7 days
Drive back to Cebu airport - to Manila- home. This is a circle trip, nice a clean.
Would there be enough variety in the dive locations that we have picked?
Would it be worth deleting one of the locations and adding the Puerto Galera, Mindoro area instead? If so, what would be the best way to combine this with the rest of the trip?
Any advice wold be helpful.
Thanks so much.
nOntario
 
Seems like some unnecessary travel for that trip. Why not Manila to Cebu to Moalboal (or skip Manila altogether and fly direct to Cebu City) since you're already on Cebu. Back to Cebu City and take the ferry to Bohol---two hour car ride to Anda. Back to Tagbilaron City on Bohol and take the ferry to Dumaguete and then be picked up by your resort. Go to Dumaguete airport and fly back to Manila. I personally liked the diving on Panglao Island (Balicasag Island-but it is touristy) better than Anda but Anda is quiet if that's what you're looking for. Dauin is very quiet too and you have your choice of muck diving in front of Dauin or reef diving at Apo Island--best of both worlds.
 
Hi nOnario,
If you wanted to add Puerto Galera to the trip then it's best to do from Manila. It takes around two hours drive from the airport to Batangas pier then just over a one hour ride to get to Puerto Galera by boat. You can use private or public transport for this. The water is chilly here in February around 22-24c so you might bring a 5mm if you get cold.

If you do decide to change kindly have a look at the website for Scandi divers.
www.scandidivers.com

You can have a look at some of the great marine life that we have on our 40+ dive sites here.

Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.
Cheers Kris
 
Seems like some unnecessary travel for that trip. Why not Manila to Cebu to Moalboal (or skip Manila altogether and fly direct to Cebu City) since you're already on Cebu. Back to Cebu City and take the ferry to Bohol---two hour car ride to Anda. Back to Tagbilaron City on Bohol and take the ferry to Dumaguete and then be picked up by your resort. Go to Dumaguete airport and fly back to Manila. I personally liked the diving on Panglao Island (Balicasag Island-but it is touristy) better than Anda but Anda is quiet if that's what you're looking for. Dauin is very quiet too and you have your choice of muck diving in front of Dauin or reef diving at Apo Island--best of both worlds.


Thanks for your reply. Let me explain further. We would fly directly into Cebu, ,just connecting thru Manila. That is the best way to get to Cebu from Canada. What I like about the circle route, is that we fly out of the same airport- much cheaper rate than a 1 way ticket. Would the locations I suggested have a variety of diving? Not all muck diving? Thanks again.
nOntario
 
The locations you are considering are fantastic , we have done variations of that route several times. However Malapascua has the Thresher sharks and a beautiful beach. Personally I would drop Anda and go to Malapascua, although Anda is very beautiful too. The thresher shark dive gets you back at about 7.30 am , so lots and lots of time afterwards to chill out. I went to Anilao in February and loved it , but the water was very very cold at about 24 degrees celcius.

Best fishes x
 
Thanks for your reply. Let me explain further. We would fly directly into Cebu, ,just connecting thru Manila. That is the best way to get to Cebu from Canada. What I like about the circle route, is that we fly out of the same airport- much cheaper rate than a 1 way ticket. Would the locations I suggested have a variety of diving? Not all muck diving? Thanks again.
nOntario
Your dive sites are fine--mix of muck and reefs. Its just your travel routes that have me a little concerned--there are faster ways to do that plan to visit those sites. If you're going to Anda first (Bohol) after landing in Manila why not just take a flight to Bohol instead of flying to Cebu and then a ferry to Bohol? Just seems easier also to make Moalboal your first site to dive if you fly into Cebu City since you are on the island of Cebu already. Then you can take the ferry to Bohol, then the ferry to Dumaguete and then a flight from Dumaguete back to Manila. Or like I said earlier--a flight from Manila to Tagbilaron City (Bohol), ferry to Dumaguete (Dauin), ferry to Cebu City to go to Moalboal then back to Cebu airport to Manila. I'd personally go the Moalboal, Bohol, Dumaguete then flight back to Manila route. Where are you staying in Anda?--I've been there three times--stayed and dived at Blue Star and also stayed at J & R Residence--J & R is one of the best places I've ever stayed in the Philippines. BUT they do not have a dive shop--but they will arrange to have you picked up and taken to one--I think they are paired with Amun Inni Resort for their customers to dive now. J & R has a lovely beach--Blue Star has none but they do have lovely views from atop the high cliffs from some of the rooms. I've stayed at Mike's Beach resort in Dauin twice--small place and really quiet with a great dive shop and great people running the place.
 
I would def drop Anda and go to Cabilao instead if you want to stay closeby Bohol.
One of the good things with Cabilao is that depending on the resorts you select, they can arrange transfers from Cebu City without the hassle of taking a ferry, just a 2hrs drive to Argao and a ride on the resort speedboat from Argao to Cabilao just in front.

7 days in Moalboal is a VERY VERY long time !!!, I would rather spend 4 days in Alona Bohol in order to dive Balicasag as mentioned, that you CANNOT miss, eventually just spend 2 days in Moalboal on the way back from Dauin..

Have a look on my trip report I wrote beginning of may, it may give you some ideas on diving and going through the Visayas..
 
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I would def drop Anda and go to Cabilao instead if you want to stay closeby Bohol.
One of the good thing with Cabilao is that depending of the resorts you select, they can arrange transfers from Cebu City without the hassle of taking a ferry, just a 2hrs drive to Argao and a ride on the resort speedboat from Argao to Cabilao just in front.

7 day in Moalboal is a VERY VERY long time !!!, I would rather spend 4 days in Alona Bohol in order to dive Balicasag as mentioned and that you CANNOT miss, eventually just spend 2 days in Moalboal on the way back from Dauin..

Have a look on my trip report I wrote beginning of may, it may give you some ideas on diving and going through the Visayas..
Yes seven days in Moalboal is a VERY long time. The diving in Anda is just so-so but Balicasag Island off Panglao is worth the effort. Haven't been to Cabilao but it's surely an option I'd consider instead of so much time in Moalboal. As much as I like Anda for it's laid back vibe I sure wouldn't go out of my way to dive there again with so many other great places to dive in the Visayas.
 
I'd drop moalboal and go to malapascua...
Fly into cebu, transfer to malapascua back to Cebu
Ferry to Tagbilaran transfer to Anda
Ferry to Dumaguete transfer to Dauin
Fly Dumaguete to Cebu and connect to international (or could overland it but it takes about 6 hrs)

Reasons...
Anda is quieter than moalboal and has some fabulous dive sites, with great critters like pygmy seahorses and blue ringed octopus.
Dauin is fabulous critter diving and you have access to Apo Island for corals and turtles
Malapascua offers a bit more variety with thresher sharks, couple of wrecks and critters too

personally i found dives in moalboal to be quite dull 9dived there in 2013 and 2015). Pescador was ok with some giant frogfish and the sardines but didn;t think it was all that special in comparison to dives and marine life in the other places mentioned above. Balicasag is good but busy and Panglao imho is pretty tacky tourist = certainly not the quiet you are looking for.

I'm also planning a trip in 2020 to combine Anda and Dauin - Magic Oceans Resort and Atmosphere Resort (just 2 weeks for me though, otherwise i'd add either malapascua or anilao)
 
Anda is quieter than moalboal and has some fabulous dive sites, with great critters like pygmy seahorses and blue ringed octopus.
Anda is quiet indeed ! .... if you like somewhere NOTHING happens and that's not even convenient to walk around.
I dived Anda in 2016 as well and thought their divesites where pretty far from fabulous compared to anywhere around Bohol from Cabilao to Balicasag. YMMV but I clearly wouldn't recommend burying yourself with a stay here for pygmies that can be seen almost everywhere in the PIs or BROs that you can also see on a nightdive in Alona.

personally i found dives in moalboal to be quite dull 9dived there in 2013 and 2015). Pescador was ok with some giant frogfish and the sardines but didn;t think it was all that special in comparison to dives and marine life in the other places mentioned above. Balicasag is good but busy and Panglao imho is pretty tacky tourist = certainly not the quiet you are looking for.

You can add that Moalboal (which I dived in 2001, 2010, 2013 and 2018) is also home to gigantic spanish dancers and probably what is the most colorful coral wall in the Philippines, I wouldn't call that "dull" in my book (which on teh contrary applies to Anda)... but I do agree that the place is not what it used to be in terms dive centre quality. However it's still probably one of the highlights in the PIs.

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Are we talking diving? With Balicasag (that I dived last in 2014, 2016, 2018), I don't feel Panglao has not enough lodging options to miss what is probably some the best divng in the Visayas. Plus if you want to have local food you can always hire a cab to go downtown Tagbilaran while in Anda there is no option other than being clustered in your resort.

Do you want to miss these scenes underwater from Balicasag?

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