In Mactan. Where should I Dive?

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Hi

I'm in touch with Scotty's dive center and they've provided me with a few options.

I can dive around Mactan for the cheapest price.
I can do 3 dives at Nalusuan Island & Hilutungan Sanctuary Adventure. This is slightly more expernsive
I can do 2 dives at Moalboal but appears to be a 150 minute trip one way. All day commitment. More expensive
I can do 2 dives in Oslob but same, all day commitment. But they guaranteed 'diving' with sharks. Most expensive.

Here is my situation. While I'm living in Asia now for a little bit, I will not get a chance to dive often. Every trip means family trip and I doubt we are making it back to the Philippines again. I'm willing to travel on the bus to the further sites and pay more if they are truly worth it. Whale Sharks are on my bucket list but I'm willing to forgo them if MoalBoal really is extremely nice (I'd love to see good coral and lots of fish). If neither is very special, I'll just dive around Mactan.

Do note that the majority of my diving experience is around the Caribbean with 27 of my 49 dives (in my life) in Roatan and Bonaire. Outside of the Caribbean, I've only done 11 dives (Thailand, Zanzibar, Catalina).

I'd love to hear your opinion on what I should try. Whale Sharks are my absolute crave but I'm all the way in Asia and really want to experience the diving I would constantly hear about Asia (aka nicer coral and abundance of fish). I doubt I'll make it to Sipadan, Palau or Indonesia either.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

oh in case someone was wondering 'why not 2 or all'. Its so my wife doesn't have to sit and take care of 2 kids. For family trips, I normally take out 1 day for my diving. So I get to pick just one place to go.

 

[Centrals]

The sanctuary is a must if diving in Mactan.
I prefer Moalboal than the whaleshark in Oslob. Your choice.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Hi

Thanks for your answer.

If I was to choose between the Hilutungan Sanctuary vs Moalboal, what would you suggest? My goal would be to see colorful coral and lots of fish (as you can imagine, caribbean is nice but you never see a shoal of fish unless you're lucky enough to see 40 to 50 blue tangs swim by.

 

[divefunatic]

Hi, Were you able to dive in Mactan yet or did you go all the way to Moalboal instead?

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Hi

I did dive in Mactan
A few interesting things but in general, just not worth the cost. I spent about 150 bucks for 2 dives. Way too much. Visibility was pretty average and there wasn't much to see down there at all.

I'll try Bohol next time.

 

[divefunatic]

Bohol is a good place to dive. Mactan is generally good, depending on how much expectation was set and for the price. I bet you would have not minded the experience have you paid only half if not less than half of what you paid for.

Keep safe.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

I think my biggest issue was the visibility. One of the dive sites was Konkiti. I could tell there were squid in the water. Ran into many mackerels and Clown fish but could barely see the color on them. For the longest time, I was clearing my mask repeatedly thinking I was dealing with fog but those diving with me had the same to say.

In general, I found a lot of lack of fish and coral.