First trip to Philipines -liveaboard and land based advice please

[Moray]

You can do both with Atlantis.

 

[Centrals]

Please enquire with the operators in both Malapascua and Southern Leyte(Sogod Bay) whether you can charter a boat to bring you over to the other side. This is quite expensive but will save you at least 8-10hrs of travelling. Hey man! You are on holiday afterall.
1. Manila to Tacloban and then to Southern Leyte. Southern Leyte to Malapascua. Finally Malapascua to Cebu and then Manila.
2. Manila to Cebu and Malapascua. Malapascua to Southern Leyte. Southern Leyte to Cebu(night ferry).

None of these two places can offer any night life!!!! You have to bring your own.
There are only an handful of dive resorts in Sogod Bay. Slightly more in Malapascua.

 

[pughio83]

Def checkout Sogod bay southern leyte. Excellent diving with muck macro reef walls and in match April probably still whalesharks around. No nightlife, couple bars restaurants only. Can explore land incl jungle, caves and can get ferry to other islands. Chk peters resort or Sogod bay scuba resort.

 

[Centrals]

Of course the whalesharks in Sogod Bay in Mar/Apr!!!! How did I forget to mention it.

 

[ocdiver1]

Interesting. May I ask why?

Heg, I just found the diving to be extremely, extremely average. Some turtles, few reef sharks, no macro, ok coral..just nothing spectacular and that you couldn't get a lot of other places, and not as good as so many other choices in the Philippines. And nowhere near the experience you'll have on your trips to Komodo and Raja Ampat. I've never been on the Atlantis, but I have stayed at both their resorts several times and I'd have no doubt the LOB is as top notch as their resorts are. If you come across the Explorer Fleet I'd avoid them, had a really poor experience with them.

 

[Heg]

Heg, I just found the diving to be extremely, extremely average. Some turtles, few reef sharks, no macro, ok coral..just nothing spectacular and that you couldn't get a lot of other places, and not as good as so many other choices in the Philippines. And nowhere near the experience you'll have on your trips to Komodo and Raja Ampat. I've never been on the Atlantis, but I have stayed at both their resorts several times and I'd have no doubt the LOB is as top notch as their resorts are. If you come across the Explorer Fleet I'd avoid them, had a really poor experience with them.

Are there other places in the area that you think may be worth diving? Or should we swerve it and maybe go back to Fiji again? I'd rather spend our hard earned cash in a place that we know will be great diving . Komodo is booked for August 2014 and raja for early 2015 , so this was going to be a 'cheaper' break . The Atlantis doesn't fit that category sadly, so this one has to be land based

 

[pughio83]

Like I said I think southern Leyte and Bohol or malapascua would fit what u want. Cost effective, great diving. Sogod bay has one of the best night dives in the world for macro IMO, plus u have the whalesharks. They have good viz, healthy walls, pure silt and black sand sites for wonder pus, mimics and fancy ghost pipes, hairy octopus even. Pygmy seahorses on fans, and it's plenty good drift and non drift reefs. And it's very cheap. My best ppines diving has been there, other than panagatan cays.

 

[EMG]

I highly recommend Puerto Galera. If nothing else a few dives before heading back to Manila. There is great reef around Sabang and a few nice ship wrecks in Sabang Bay. I've seen loads of turtles out there, nudibranch heaven, giant puffers, loads of frog fish, eels, cuttlefish and the occasional octopus.

That's my go-to dive spot. My favorite so far. Not a lot of big fish but a ton of small stuff to see and lots of dive sites.

 

[Heg]

Like I said I think southern Leyte and Bohol or malapascua would fit what u want. Cost effective, great diving. Sogod bay has one of the best night dives in the world for macro IMO, plus u have the whalesharks. They have good viz, healthy walls, pure silt and black sand sites for wonder pus, mimics and fancy ghost pipes, hairy octopus even. Pygmy seahorses on fans, and it's plenty good drift and non drift reefs. And it's very cheap. My best ppines diving has been there, other than panagatan cays.

Any particular area/accommodation/dive shop? Bearing in mind we want reefs /walls rather than muck

---------- Post added September 13th, 2013 at 02:11 PM ----------

OK. So Malapascua (Ocean Vida) looks great as does Atmosphere Resort in Dauin. Is this feasable as a two-centre trip? I'm asssuming we would have to fly bewtween the two? Or are we better to just pick one place and stay put?

 

[Centrals]

1. The Napantao Marine Sanctury and Limasawa Island are NOT to be missed in Sogod Bay.
www.whaleofadive.com
2. Fast ferry is more frequent from Cebu(Pier 1 or 4) to Dumaguete(4hrs). It will take about 7-8 hrs to make the trip from Malapascua to Dumaguete!
Don't know anything about Atmosphere but Liquid is highly recommended.