Liveaboard or land based?
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Fixed itinerary vs flexibility.Right, but you wouldn't be doing 20-ish dives in half a dozen locations along the route that way. It's the journey that counts, not the destination
You call your shot.
This is the deal that I took - it wasn't a last-minute sale on a specific trip, but rather a 40% general discount for a bunch of destinations across 2H19 - easily suitable for planning a trip even 6+ months out. Also, as I understand it, Siren is a fairly expensive luxury boat, with other less expensive alternatives available (for example, I can see Infiniti advertising $1439 for 7 days/6 nights in Visayas and Bohol through the end of the year right now). Again, at the full $4200 price, I would not have taken it either- but at $2k land-based vs $2.5k liveaboard, it was a much closer decision, and looking at liveaboards marketplace forum archives, it seems like WWDAS holds 40-50% discount sales quite regularly, so it can be incorporated into planning.
Real quick, find me a 10-day Siren trip for 4 in early 2020 for $2500.
It was a sale that lasted 72 hours. It is not a viable option for the vast majority of visitors.
If the Siren would sell all their spots on any 10-day trip for $2500 they would be booked solid for the next three years. But their business model requires $4200 for most of the spots. They are selling the leftover bits and pieces.
Yes, I haven't seen this kind of arrangement elsewhere. You can actually sleep on the boat in small bunks so technically it can be called a liveaboard. They say it will be like camping on a boat and that the land-based room will be more comfortable. From my location, I can fly EVA into Cebu City so the transfers are simpler. I had been planning a land-based 2 week trip with time spent in Panglao, Dauin, and Moalboal when I came across this. The transfers seem doable but getting detailed info online is difficult and each transfer kills a day of diving.
Obviously it's not available all the time, but they've sold spots at 40-50% off numerous times in the past, months in advance of the actual trips. Here you have an ad from Nov'18 advertising $2040 for 10 days in Feb'19, and here is an up to 50% off sale from Jun'18, and another from Sep'18. They had a big sale a month ago; if the pattern holds, there is liable to be at least one more before the year is out. Or you can do the same route around Cebu on the Dolphin for $2k for a 9-night (8 diving days) trip standard rate, no discounts or flash sales. Infiniti is currently advertising 40% off through the end of 2019, and 20% off for early 2020, before they transfer to Tubbataha, with plenty of spots open for any date you'd want. As I understand it, these Visayas trips leave and come back to a pier that's right next to Mactan-Cebu International Airport, so if you fly directly to Cebu, this saves a transfer.
keesmon
Contributor
So I did a two week trip earlier this year combining the Visayas Safari with 4 days in Malapascua.
Diving and lodging together was about $2000.00 including the domestic transfers.
We did:
Cebu-Moalboal by arranged transfer
2 days of diving Moalboal
6 days of Safari including Oslob, Panglao, Balicasag, Apo Island, Siquijor, Dauin, and some stuff on the way to Sipilay.
We then spent one day not diving getting from Sipaly to Malapascua, where we did 4 more days of diving.We arranged all transfers beforehand and bought packages in both Moalboal and Malapascua to take out the hassle.
Altogether we did 34 dives and had a really nice intro to the Visayas.
If i were to do this itinerary again, I would get off the Safari in Dauin, and make my way back from Cebu from there, before continuing on to Malapascua.
The Safari arranged through Savedra was exactly as ReefHound described, with the bonus for us that there were only 4 divers (including us) on the boat with a staff of 6. I would not recommend staying on the boat overnight though. The guest rooms on land are nice and it gives the crew and you a chance to be away from each other.
Diving and lodging together was about $2000.00 including the domestic transfers.
We did:
Cebu-Moalboal by arranged transfer
2 days of diving Moalboal
6 days of Safari including Oslob, Panglao, Balicasag, Apo Island, Siquijor, Dauin, and some stuff on the way to Sipilay.
We then spent one day not diving getting from Sipaly to Malapascua, where we did 4 more days of diving.We arranged all transfers beforehand and bought packages in both Moalboal and Malapascua to take out the hassle.
Altogether we did 34 dives and had a really nice intro to the Visayas.
If i were to do this itinerary again, I would get off the Safari in Dauin, and make my way back from Cebu from there, before continuing on to Malapascua.
The Safari arranged through Savedra was exactly as ReefHound described, with the bonus for us that there were only 4 divers (including us) on the boat with a staff of 6. I would not recommend staying on the boat overnight though. The guest rooms on land are nice and it gives the crew and you a chance to be away from each other.
How would you characterize the boat? Space for gearing up, dive deck, rinse tanks, power outlets, areas to spend the surface intervals in, dry storage space, food, etc? What did a typical schedule for a day look like? Are they filling the tanks onboard, or swapping them with a shore station every evening?
I'm interested in this, too. Any place to nap between dives? Do you leave all your stuff on the boat and just take an overnight bag? I've heard that recharging is best done onshore. I'd prefer they carry tanks and swap/refill each evening so that onboard compressor issues don't cost any dives.
keesmon
Contributor
So there's a picture of the boat here:
Diving Diving safari Beach resort dive shop Philippines Negros Sipalay City
The dive safari is by no means luxurious, but suited us perfectly.
There's two tables set up for eating, one covered, one open. There's two dive decks along both sides of the boat. Entry is a giant stride in between the boat and the outriggers. There's nets between some of the boat and the outriggers, which is great for lounging, depending on the ocean that day. There's a few thin mattresses that you can throw down anywhere, in the sun or shade.
Crew consists of a captain, and engine man, a compressor mechanic, a cook, a server, and then the dive host and a local DM. The dive host is usually western and takes care of all the on land stuff and communication with the crew if needed.
At the end of the dive day, the host comes along onto land and does the hotel check in, and then hangs out until dinner. Dinner is together with the host, at which point he goes back to the boat via dinghy. All you take with you is a day-pack with what you need for the overnight, though we stayed at some places for two nights, making it even easier.
Pickup is on the beach usually at 7AM.
There's a compressor on board and plenty of tanks, which the boat crew swaps out.
There is no place to charge anything on the boat, but we took our stuff on land at night and re charged without an issue. We also had an extra battery to charge speakers etc. in between dives if needed.
I would not recommend sleeping on the boat, as its basically mattresses in the hold, and I think the crew prefers to be without customers at the end of the day, so they can do what they need to do.
Diving Diving safari Beach resort dive shop Philippines Negros Sipalay City
The dive safari is by no means luxurious, but suited us perfectly.
There's two tables set up for eating, one covered, one open. There's two dive decks along both sides of the boat. Entry is a giant stride in between the boat and the outriggers. There's nets between some of the boat and the outriggers, which is great for lounging, depending on the ocean that day. There's a few thin mattresses that you can throw down anywhere, in the sun or shade.
Crew consists of a captain, and engine man, a compressor mechanic, a cook, a server, and then the dive host and a local DM. The dive host is usually western and takes care of all the on land stuff and communication with the crew if needed.
At the end of the dive day, the host comes along onto land and does the hotel check in, and then hangs out until dinner. Dinner is together with the host, at which point he goes back to the boat via dinghy. All you take with you is a day-pack with what you need for the overnight, though we stayed at some places for two nights, making it even easier.
Pickup is on the beach usually at 7AM.
There's a compressor on board and plenty of tanks, which the boat crew swaps out.
There is no place to charge anything on the boat, but we took our stuff on land at night and re charged without an issue. We also had an extra battery to charge speakers etc. in between dives if needed.
I would not recommend sleeping on the boat, as its basically mattresses in the hold, and I think the crew prefers to be without customers at the end of the day, so they can do what they need to do.
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