NurseNomad
Registered
Hey Scubaboard folks,
This is a long one...
We are trying to choose a location for great diving in October. We have about 2.5 weeks. Budget, thinking $4000 max, $3000 would be better, this would be total for 2 divers. We've never been to the Philippines, but saw the article in an old Dan magazine about Anilao and thought, yes please! However, it looks like February-March is considered the *best* time of year- that's a double-edged sword because high season usually means high crowds too and I absolutely, positively hate crowds. Of course, balancing that with good weather and wildlife viewing conditions is the trick.
On a side note, although we each have nearly 70 dives in the logbook, these have mostly been places with very easy diving: Key Largo, Bonaire, Curacao, and, guided, in Rarotonga and Aitutaki. You have to be trying hard to get hurt diving in Key Largo in August (no storm, obviously) where the max depth is often like 20-25 feet and the currents are zilch. Two years ago we spent ALL the money and went to Wakatobi in September (yes, it was in fact amazing). We thought we would do 5 dives every day...turned out we (really, me) found the currents terrifying. I had my first experience with a down-sucking current that yanked me out and down about 25 feet in a few seconds before I could fight free and nobody, including the guide or my dive buddy spouse, even noticed except for the OTHER guy in the group who also got caught in it. (He was one of those twats with $10 million of camera equipment who would literally tear up the reef trying to get his shots and not even notice or care, that isn't really relevant but god I hate those people). The currents didn't stop us doing the guided boat dives but we gave up on any unguided shore diving except at the heart of slack tide. Clearly, a lot of this is basically having no skill whatsoever with currents, but yeah, this is a long way to ask, how are the currents? How deep is most of the diving? Because Wakatobi advertises itself as "easy diving," which I'm sure it is compared to someplace like Komodo, but it was anything but easy for me. (I know the strong currents are exactly what make the life thrive so at the best dive sites in the world. I just can't handle them!)
If you wouldn't recommend Anilao/PG for good October weather/wildlife/lack of crowds/easy diving without strong currents, I would love to hear any suggestions. (Warm water only until I can someday afford a drysuit, I'm a wuss). We considered the Caribbean, mostly seemed way too chancy with the hurricane season getting worse and worse every year, and the safer bets for hurricane season, Bonaire and Curacao, we dove last year. We considered Australia, the South Pacific, too expensive. Red Sea, my impression is that it would be very crowded that time of year. Thought about Indonesia, worried about not being able to handle strong currents. Obviously, in each of the big categories we may be overlooking somewhere specific that would actually be perfect. We're really hoping Anilao/PG will fit the bill, but are hoping for wise words from the community first. Thanks in advance!
This is a long one...
We are trying to choose a location for great diving in October. We have about 2.5 weeks. Budget, thinking $4000 max, $3000 would be better, this would be total for 2 divers. We've never been to the Philippines, but saw the article in an old Dan magazine about Anilao and thought, yes please! However, it looks like February-March is considered the *best* time of year- that's a double-edged sword because high season usually means high crowds too and I absolutely, positively hate crowds. Of course, balancing that with good weather and wildlife viewing conditions is the trick.
On a side note, although we each have nearly 70 dives in the logbook, these have mostly been places with very easy diving: Key Largo, Bonaire, Curacao, and, guided, in Rarotonga and Aitutaki. You have to be trying hard to get hurt diving in Key Largo in August (no storm, obviously) where the max depth is often like 20-25 feet and the currents are zilch. Two years ago we spent ALL the money and went to Wakatobi in September (yes, it was in fact amazing). We thought we would do 5 dives every day...turned out we (really, me) found the currents terrifying. I had my first experience with a down-sucking current that yanked me out and down about 25 feet in a few seconds before I could fight free and nobody, including the guide or my dive buddy spouse, even noticed except for the OTHER guy in the group who also got caught in it. (He was one of those twats with $10 million of camera equipment who would literally tear up the reef trying to get his shots and not even notice or care, that isn't really relevant but god I hate those people). The currents didn't stop us doing the guided boat dives but we gave up on any unguided shore diving except at the heart of slack tide. Clearly, a lot of this is basically having no skill whatsoever with currents, but yeah, this is a long way to ask, how are the currents? How deep is most of the diving? Because Wakatobi advertises itself as "easy diving," which I'm sure it is compared to someplace like Komodo, but it was anything but easy for me. (I know the strong currents are exactly what make the life thrive so at the best dive sites in the world. I just can't handle them!)
If you wouldn't recommend Anilao/PG for good October weather/wildlife/lack of crowds/easy diving without strong currents, I would love to hear any suggestions. (Warm water only until I can someday afford a drysuit, I'm a wuss). We considered the Caribbean, mostly seemed way too chancy with the hurricane season getting worse and worse every year, and the safer bets for hurricane season, Bonaire and Curacao, we dove last year. We considered Australia, the South Pacific, too expensive. Red Sea, my impression is that it would be very crowded that time of year. Thought about Indonesia, worried about not being able to handle strong currents. Obviously, in each of the big categories we may be overlooking somewhere specific that would actually be perfect. We're really hoping Anilao/PG will fit the bill, but are hoping for wise words from the community first. Thanks in advance!
