Last minute trip - DM & OW

[Molotov]

Hi all,
I'd really appreciate your help in getting me out of a bit of an information overload.
Spent 3 days going through the interwebs and especially ScubaBoard and have ended up getting more and more indecisive.

I've a last minute trip I booked with the girlfriend flying into Cebu on the 1st of December until the 9th.
I'm a DM with around 300 dives around UK, Maldives, Indo, Borneo, Thai etc.; she's a complete novice we need to take through OW, nitrox and deep spec in an efficient manner. We are looking to do 2 locations ideally with some diving options in both - 1st more diving oriented (would consider dive resort location as at least some infrastructure would be great with a new diver), 2nd mix with non-touristy above water activities available.

My requirements re diving are as follows:

Somewhere with decent OW facilities - no factories, good student to instructor ratio, personal, on-site nitrox is a bonus. I don't want to interfere in the pool sessions but would look to join some of the open water dives. In an ideal world, somewhere with decent coral and good amount of fish as want to set somebody off to a good "excited" start.
!Ideal! - I can have her prepped on all the materials, videos, tests etc in advance so again, somewhere that can take advantage of that and be more efficient with time would be grand.
Range and Quality of diving - a local operator that wouldn't repeat sites too much and potentially consider requests, which I guess goes with the above "no factories"
Night diving quality and availability - would look to night dive every day if possible.
Ideal location would offer a mix of sites from an experience point of view so I've things to dive (I enjoy more challenging diving but also can have fun with macro) while she's learning and good enough beginner locations from a safety and comfort point of view.

Other requirement:
As mentioned above, I need to have a back up for the 2nd part of the trip which would have sufficient land based fun options. Somewhere with potentially 1-2 great sites I could sneak off to dive while doing other things would be great.

My challenges and what research has shown: (in no particular order)

Dauin/Dumaguete - potential for first part, potential resort options, reasonable travel (I believe) BUT unsure re range of diving for OW, unsure re local things to do out of diving, unsure re night diving (do like mucking at night at lot), unsure how easy I can go to Apo, Siquijor while gf is doing the course.

Malapascua - threshers for me BUT really dead outside diving from what people say, unsure re current number of fish and quality of coral for OW dives, unsure if travel is worth it.

Moalboal - easy resort options and some land activities BUT sounds like this went full commercial ? Worth not worth ?

Bohol - some interesting sites, sounds like a fair bit to do on land (worth it ?) BUT seems to sound like it's way overdeveloped (is this similar to Gilis in Indo or something like that ?)

Leyte - one I would like to do and has whale sharks for GF ... BUT I really don't know if a novice OW with nothing else to do would have a good time. If you know ways for me to sell this one please help as this does sound potentially good.

Currently considering leaning towards options of Dumaguete, Leyte and Bohol but just can't decide !

Help and advise much appreciated !

 

[Luko]

My requirements re diving are as follows:

Somewhere with decent OW facilities - no factories, good student to instructor ratio, personal, on-site nitrox is a bonus. I don't want to interfere in the pool sessions but would look to join some of the open water dives. In an ideal world, somewhere with decent coral and good amount of fish as want to set somebody off to a good "excited" start.
!Ideal! - I can have her prepped on all the materials, videos, tests etc in advance so again, somewhere that can take advantage of that and be more efficient with time would be grand.
Range and Quality of diving - a local operator that wouldn't repeat sites too much and potentially consider requests, which I guess goes with the above "no factories"
Night diving quality and availability - would look to night dive every day if possible.
Ideal location would offer a mix of sites from an experience point of view so I've things to dive (I enjoy more challenging diving but also can have fun with macro) while she's learning and good enough beginner locations from a safety and comfort point of view.

Other requirement:
As mentioned above, I need to have a back up for the 2nd part of the trip which would have sufficient land based fun options. Somewhere with potentially 1-2 great sites I could sneak off to dive while doing other things would be great.

My challenges and what research has shown: (in no particular order)

Dauin/Dumaguete - potential for first part, potential resort options, reasonable travel (I believe) BUT unsure re range of diving for OW, unsure re local things to do out of diving, unsure re night diving (do like mucking at night at lot), unsure how easy I can go to Apo, Siquijor while gf is doing the course.

Malapascua - threshers for me BUT really dead outside diving from what people say, unsure re current number of fish and quality of coral for OW dives, unsure if travel is worth it.

Moalboal - easy resort options and some land activities BUT sounds like this went full commercial ? Worth not worth ?

Bohol - some interesting sites, sounds like a fair bit to do on land (worth it ?) BUT seems to sound like it's way overdeveloped (is this similar to Gilis in Indo or something like that ?)

Leyte - one I would like to do and has whale sharks for GF ... BUT I really don't know if a novice OW with nothing else to do would have a good time. If you know ways for me to sell this one please help as this does sound potentially good.

Currently considering leaning towards options of Dumaguete, Leyte and Bohol but just can't decide !

Help and advise much appreciated !

My advice :
- Forget Moalboal : crowded, this is really the place for diving FACTORIES, Koh Tao like, TOTALLY commercial (check out one of my recent reports about some places in the Visayas) . Plus not many sites worth.
- Dauin is just crazy for night diving, some of the best I had there. Problem is that you need to like black sand and critters. there are also Apo island daytrips but Apo is not my favorite though.
- Bohol : you can find great diving on Balicasag but it's not the place you could go everyday, otherwise if you want a secluded place where your gf can learn diving on excellent walls you may try Cabilao (Sanctuary beach resort really pleased me with their flexibility, and there's almost noone else ) then onec she's certified take a 2hrs drive transfer to Panglao so you can dive Balicasag a couple of days and then take 2hrs ride on the ferry to Dauin for unbelievable muck and nightdives.

Again I suggest you read my report so you have a feel of these places, I might be biased but I really liked Cabilao Sanctuary and Azure in Dauin.
Visayas trip report : Cabilao-Alona-Dauin-Moalboal April 18

 

[borisphotosafari]

Mike's Resort in South Leyte is really nice. The dive sights we did were quite easy, coral and fish life was good. For you, a night dive under the pier is highly recommended. The shop wasn't busy but the boat went out everyday. Whale sharks are there only in season, I missed it in May. Not sure when whale shark start showing up in the area.

Malapascua, I dove with Thresher Shark Divers and I would recommend them. Very professional when I dealt with them, I have been there 6 times. there are lot of dive sites for OW. But you need advanced cert for Thresher shark dives at 5 am.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

This isn't the question you asked, but perhaps is one you might want to ask: Are you sure your girlfriend wants to go through OW, Deep, and NItrox? (Having seen folks who learned to dive, or tried to, because somebody else wanted them to, I can say it's not a great idea.)

That said, are you sure you want to have her try and push through 3 certifications in what will end up being 8 days since she won't dive the day she flies. Given time zone issues, that seems like a lot. Or will she do the on-line learning for most of it before leaving the UK? Even so, that seems like information overload for the tight time frame.

 

[D_Fresh]

Check out Asia Divers Dumaguete location. Asia Divers has been pretty top notch around the Philippines, good instructors, nitrox, and pool on site.

Leyte may actually provide more shore based activities than are obvious, especially if either of you are into history. There is some really good Spanish history from their colonization of the Philippines beginning in late 1500's, and WWII history, including Gen MacArthur's "...I shall return" proclamation.

 

[Tippytoes12]

I know that you are a DM , but in eight days after a long flight, I’m not sure that all of these certifications is the cleverest cunning plan.

We have been to the areas you mention several times and hands down Leyte is the very best. However while this is whaleshark season , and night diving there is wonderful there is not “a lot to do” topside , unless you don’t like chilling on a tropical beach in December. I have seen on Facebook that the dive shops are seeing whalesharks on most if not all of their trips so far this season. It can be combined with Bohol , there is a ferry from Southern Leyte direct to the northern part of Bohol. Dauin is also very very nice. Do factor in any delays due to bad weather , technical reasons , jet lag , illness etc etc .

Personally I would just go to one area and do one certification, but we all travel in different ways.

You will love the Philippines.

 

[Molotov]

Hi all,

Thank you all for the replies ! I'll answer bit by bit but first one question - opinions re vis post typhoon etc in much areas ? How poor will it be going into next week after one recently?

Luko - thank you ! I've read your post originally but gave it a more thorough look and review on the map and will probably look to finalise today. So So So helpful !

Boris - thank you as well ! What's your opinion re OW sites there vs other areas ? Threshers would be good but I would skip them for better biodiversity and overall feel of the place.

Seaweed & Tippy - I genuinely do appreciate the input and this went into consideration for the trip plan. My original idea was to break it down with OW in the beginning and anything further further as per her interest. What do you think re below:
OW 3.5 days - she will have read through materials but 3.5 days is pretty much what it will take anyway she will just have more time in the evening.
Deep - I believe we can log that virtually anywhere even just as a one off dive. She will have done the studying.
Night - Easy on demand.
Nitrox - now that actually may be an issue due to number of dives required but can be done in combination with the above.
Again, at no point does she have to do all/any of them and I've no interest in pushing her at all but the option is there and we have a 16 hour flight to read through materials ... (although she's already asked for OW stuff)

Tippy - Leyte seems amazing but I can't subject her to whole duration of the trip with nothing but diving so perhaps I'll try and combine with Bohol. Will look at map and routes now and probably try to book and speak to people today.

P.S. May be I'm prejudiced because of my own experience, but I did OW and AOW back to back with 3-4 dives a day (although fortunately also with a 1 on 1 instruction) and I do believe it's actually great to have them together. Especially if you can go right into practical skills specialties and do something like PPB, nitrous, deep, night and drift, which solidify your foundation. That being said, again, I know she may not want to do them so these are optional )

 

[Marie13]

Why does nitrox need dives? It should be academic only.

 

[Molotov]

My advice :
- Forget Moalboal : crowded, this is really the place for diving FACTORIES, Koh Tao like, TOTALLY commercial (check out one of my recent reports about some places in the Visayas) . Plus not many sites worth.
- Dauin is just crazy for night diving, some of the best I had there. Problem is that you need to like black sand and critters. there are also Apo island daytrips but Apo is not my favorite though.
- Bohol : you can find great diving on Balicasag but it's not the place you could go everyday, otherwise if you want a secluded place where your gf can learn diving on excellent walls you may try Cabilao (Sanctuary beach resort really pleased me with their flexibility, and there's almost noone else ) then onec she's certified take a 2hrs drive transfer to Panglao so you can dive Balicasag a couple of days and then take 2hrs ride on the ferry to Dauin for unbelievable muck and nightdives.

Again I suggest you read my report so you have a feel of these places, I might be biased but I really liked Cabilao Sanctuary and Azure in Dauin.
Visayas trip report : Cabilao-Alona-Dauin-Moalboal April 18

Also any PADI shops you know in Cabilao you would recommend ? I really don't care too much but have PADI materials and might as well keep her going with that

 

[Molotov]

Why does nitrox need dives? It should be academic only.

You have to perform tank measurements and dives to qualify.