Late September to mid-October is holiday season here in Israel, and this year all the holidays (Rosh ha-Shana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah) fall on mid-week, so it's a perfect opportunity for a longer vacation - and this time, I'm considering Philippines as opposed to my usual haunt in Thailand. I'm an aspiring photographer, traveling alone, looking for a balanced mix of macro/wideangle/pelagics.
Tentative plan:
I'm pretty set on Anilao and Malapascua, but not completely sure on the midpoints - for instance, I could dive the Apo Reef from Occidental Mindoro, or via a liveaboard from Puerto Galera rather than Coron; the Flying Dolphin III catamaran is considerably more expensive than DiveUNDA's Liberation bangka, but removing the transfer to Coron reduces the cost gap, and it looks like a much more comfortable boat. Likewise, I need to narrow down my choices for resorts at Anilao and Malapascua, although unlike airfare, where I need to buy early or risk paying extortion-level prices, I've got lots of time to do my research.
What's the best way to handle money? Some places can be prepaid online, but I'll still need a substantial amount of cash, and from what I'm reading, ATMs are pretty scarce and have low withdrawal limits. Fly in with a bunch of USD and exchange a litle bit to pesos at the airport for traveling cash, and the rest in Batangas, or change everything at the airport?
What lenses to bring? I dive with a Sony A6300 - for Anilao I'd obviously be using my 90mm macro, and I guess I will need to augment it with a +10~12 wet diopter, while for Apo Reef I'm guessing 10-18mm behind a dome would be the right tool, but what about Malapascua? I understand that lights and strobes are forbidden for diving with thresher sharks, and they don't always come very close, so I'm guessing 16-50mm in a dome? How many spare batteries to bring, i.e. how likely is it that I'd go more than a day or two without access to mains power for recharging?
Thanks everyone.
Tentative plan:
- Fly from Israel to Manila around September 25-27
- Bus to Batangas, then taxi to Anilao, do 4-5 days of muck diving - not sure what resort to pick; thinking about Anilao Photo Academy as it is geared for photographers
- Ferry to Puerto Galera, do a couple days 'normal' diving, maybe take a solo diving course (I see Frontier Scuba offering it), then outgas for a day
- Fly from Puerto Galera to Coron - it's a bit expensive, but a ride in that little Air Juan seaplane sounds like fun
- DiveUNDA liveaboard, either five or six days option - wrecks, dugongs, Apo Reef
- Outgas in Coron for a day, then fly to Cebu
- Bus + ferry to Malapascua, then four or five days diving with sharks, hopefully some mantas
- If time permits, do a day with whale sharks at Oslob
- Transfer back to Cebu City and fly back to Israel from Mactan-Cebu International on October 19th.
I'm pretty set on Anilao and Malapascua, but not completely sure on the midpoints - for instance, I could dive the Apo Reef from Occidental Mindoro, or via a liveaboard from Puerto Galera rather than Coron; the Flying Dolphin III catamaran is considerably more expensive than DiveUNDA's Liberation bangka, but removing the transfer to Coron reduces the cost gap, and it looks like a much more comfortable boat. Likewise, I need to narrow down my choices for resorts at Anilao and Malapascua, although unlike airfare, where I need to buy early or risk paying extortion-level prices, I've got lots of time to do my research.
What's the best way to handle money? Some places can be prepaid online, but I'll still need a substantial amount of cash, and from what I'm reading, ATMs are pretty scarce and have low withdrawal limits. Fly in with a bunch of USD and exchange a litle bit to pesos at the airport for traveling cash, and the rest in Batangas, or change everything at the airport?
What lenses to bring? I dive with a Sony A6300 - for Anilao I'd obviously be using my 90mm macro, and I guess I will need to augment it with a +10~12 wet diopter, while for Apo Reef I'm guessing 10-18mm behind a dome would be the right tool, but what about Malapascua? I understand that lights and strobes are forbidden for diving with thresher sharks, and they don't always come very close, so I'm guessing 16-50mm in a dome? How many spare batteries to bring, i.e. how likely is it that I'd go more than a day or two without access to mains power for recharging?
Thanks everyone.