Seeking recommendations for diving spots / schools that are beginner friendly and have great reef.
So far, I have gathered the following spots:
- Puerto Galera
- Alona Beach - Bohol
- Moalboal
- Malapascua
With two weeks total for your trip, I would recommend just transiting Manila and going right to Puerto Galera, if possible, if that is your arrival point. There is lots of info in this forum on transport options if you search. PG has many dive resorts with all levels of training, and offers enough good diving in spots without current, and with critters and coral to look at as a new diver. Research the dive operators. I would choose one associated with a resort with a pool for training.
Frankly, assuming you arrive in Manila, I would skip Cebu and focus on Puerto Galera and Anilao (which is on the way to / from Puerto Galera and Manila) instead of trying to squeeze two other locations from your list in there with the travel and non-dive days factored in…but that is just me. It’s also very different diving, with a focus on little creatures and “muck diving”, not coral reef or wall diving in Anilao.
Remember, if you decide to fly in the middle of a two-week trip to the Visayas, or up to Manila from there, your dive days are going to be reduced by at least four for travel and off gassing. Possibly five, depending on where / how many other spots you decide to go. It’s a big country and travel takes time and energy.
Regardless where you go, you can do the pool parts / book / e-learning parts of your class in your home location. Then, have the dive resort your choose do your checkout dives, and fine tune your training to maximize your dive time versus classroom time. That is called a referral. The shop just has to be associated with PADI / NAUI (or whatever other certification organization you use), and you have to let the dive shop know ahead of time.
You will need a day to get to PG, and then not be able to dive your last day if flying to Cebu or wherever else. If I were you, I would stay there (or wherever your course is done) long enough to get your classes and cert done, and still leave 3-4 days for actually diving, as it is good and diverse diving there. I’d pick one area where you can drive or take a ferry to another spot and just focus on those rather than do multiple travel days on a two-week trip. So, either the Visayas end if arriving in Cebu, or the northern part Mindoro (PG) / Anilao if arriving via Manila. But, just my preference.
Of the other locations, all will have some shop or resort that will want your business, but Malapascua is geared for deeper shark diving, and not really ideal for what you need. The plateau the sharks get cleaned at is too deep for a newbie diver, and it would be intimidating for a brand new diver to jump in (while it’s still dark pre-dawn in what appears to open ocean) and then descend into the gloom with sharks circling below you...all while maintaining good buoyancy to get to the cleaning stations. Cool beach vibe on the evenings in Malapascua, and some great little restaurants. It’s also another full day to get there from Cebu city, and another one to get back to Cebu airport…with no diving last day if flying.
Moalboal can be good, has many shops, a few resorts and hostels, a hip vibe and the sardines are there…but there can be quite a bit of current at times. You would have to time your dives carefully. Some other nice dive types are available a boat trip away that shops would take you to. Travel time from Cebu city is about half of getting to Malapascua. Oslob (whale shark dives, not just snorkeling) can be arranged not too far from Moalboal on the days you go to / from Cebu city.
Mactan (near Cebu airport) has diving, and various dive shops and accommodations, but it has not seemed like my scene, and so I have never stayed there, and frankly don’t know much about it.
I do like Bohol, but if coming through Cebu rather than flying in, there is also travel time involved. I am not qualified to evaluate Alona, as I usually dive Cabilao Island when in Bohol. That can be accessed either from Cebu by boat (dive shops can arrange), or via the tourist areas of Bohol proper.
Dauin / Dumaguete is also reachable from Cebu by ferry, has lots of experience, long-established dive operators / resorts at various price points, and could get you to the really nice Apo Island wall dives in addition to muck / little critter diving. Could be combined with Cebu or Bohol, but of course requires travel time. Even splitting time between Puerto Galera and Dauin, for example, would be a full two weeks with a flight from / to Manila in between in either direction. That combo alone might be a good plan for you, actually, regardless which end you started from...
Hope this helps. You will get other views from folks here. Just weigh your options with what you are interested in and see your style of travel fitting with best.
Good luck and have a great trip.
