First trip to Philipines -liveaboard and land based advice please

[ocdiver1]

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

No, don't give up on the Philippines! Fantastic diving overall and in general really affordable. I think there've been some great suggestions on here echoing Malapascua, Sogod Bay, Bohol. But if you'd like any further advice, don't hesitate to pm

 

[Heg]

Thanks everyone. All of your advice is very much appreciated. I'm very much loving the look of Atmosphere but would rather have the option of some reef diving. If we choose Bohol , is there a dive shop/ resort that anyone can recommend?

 

[Centrals]

Alona Beach does has a choice of restaurants and resorts. But the diving around Balicasag and Cabilao, my opinion, is not as good as Malaspascua and Sogod Bay. 10 yrs ago only divers came to Alona Beach but they are playing second fiddle nowadays!!!
Established dive operators: eg. Atlantis(German), Genesis, Sea Explorers and Sea Quest.
No knowledge on Anda(Bohol).
I wonder if the ferry between Ubay(Northern Bohol) and Maasin(Southern Leyte) is still running?

BTW, the sardines(the wow factor) are back in Moalboal but not sure if it will still around in Mar/Apr next yr.

 

[pughio83]

Can recommend Sogod bay scuba resort. Bungalow by seafront with aircon, basic tho. Decent small restaurant with able tv and wifi with nice chairs over looking the bay. 3 dives daily with night dives at pier or elsewhere. Manila to tacloban cheap ad can get ferry onwards to second destination. Very quiet not much to do in evening. Alona beach as a second destination more restaurants. Bohol doing not as good but still v good. But lots to do on land.

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Thanks everyone. All of your advice is very much appreciated. I'm very much loving the look of Atmosphere but would rather have the option of some reef diving. If we choose Bohol , is there a dive shop/ resort that anyone can recommend?

Hi Heg

Atmosphere Resort does offer day trips out to Apo Island - for the reefs so its not all just muck. All of our guests who have stayed there have been 100% satisfied with the accommodation and service.

In Bohol the Sea Explorers outfit (Alona Vida) has a good reputation - or try a Sea Explorers Island Hopping which would be a good way to see more of the different areas - they have outfits in Malapascua, Bohol, Dauin and Cabilao.
Throughout 2014 they have a special anniversary dive package deal too

Enjoy!
Siren Fleet team

 

[Vcelson]

Ok , the Siren is out as they only have one space ( I could leave Hubby at home...:cool2so land based it wil have to be. Don't want to move around a lot. So Bohol maybe? or Puerto Galera? Does Malapascua have good reefs?

We were on the Siren for a Tubataha plus (13 night trip) in May and all of the dives in Tubataha were entirely like each other, the walls were so similar, we couldn't tell them apart, the tops all had Garden eels and not too much else. Seemed like the same white tip sharks were quite happily always there.....there were big schools of Jacks, and other fish, but it just didnt vary. It is a world heritage site largely to protect it from more dynamite....signs of which are everywhere...it used to be an importing place for Philippine Fishermen....two days would have been fine for both of us! Lots of talk about what they had seen on previous trips, but very little that was really good. The food was repetitive but only ok, and there were constant equipment failures...so water had to be conserved more than usual...the Big Screen TV looked impressive, sitting there mostly off.

We spent time in Puerto Princessa, Palawan, after the Siren trip, and the diving that was fantastic. Dugongs in the early morning, Whale Sharks (full moon they come right into the bay) and a very pretty reef right in the bay. I only dove 3 dives because our layover was unexpected, I dove with Moana Hotel Divers. Almost no western tourists, and the dive masters only had me to show around. There were a few interesting things I'd never seen before, including a green Giant Frog Fish sitting in Green leather Coral, a pure white stone fish sitting on the bottom looking like a good size rock, and jaw fish the size of a fist. Of course lots of reef fish. Palawan is not at all like the other places we had been in the Philippines, both culturally and sea life. We had previously visited Sabang, Anilao, Malapacusa, Duin, Dumagete, Bohol, which are all good for their sandy bottoms and small creatures. In Malapacusa we stayed at the Exotic Island Resort which was just fine....we dove 4 times a day and weren't interested in night life, but the food was good....though Internet only in the restaurant/Bar area....We thought the cost was high for what we got.

 

[ColdAsIce]

I can really recommend Dauin (south of Dumaguete). I did my OW there in dec. 2011 and my AOW there in may 2012... Amazing muck diving. And if you're in that area, a daytrip to Apo Island is also recommended.

 

[kwhkg]

Highly recommend OCEANA MARIA for tubataha trip

---------- Post added September 23rd, 2013 at 08:26 PM ----------

also malapascua = Evolution

 

[Fun & Sun]

I just came up with a calendar of our Fun & Sun dive safari from for 2014. In a nutshell, these dive trips runs are of different durations (from 5 days to 12 days) and cover most of the dive destinations of the Visayas (Cebu, Malapascua, Southern Leyte, Balicasag, Cabilao, Anda, Apo, Dauin, etc...). We do organize landtrips to Malapascua and Moalboal as well. pm me if you need more info. Cheers and happy diving !