Liveaboards

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

tazcat

New
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Pusan, South Korea
Hi! I'm headed to the Philippines in Feb and I am having trouble finding info about liveaboards. I am hoping to find a liveaboard that will go to both Apo reef and Coron bay in order to fit in more in a short time. It seems like if we did these as separate trips, it will take a lot longer...right?

We are going to start in Puerto Galera - just wondering if anyone has any advice about how many days I should plan for this. Is 4 days of diving enough to get some good dives in? We will also be doing our rescue course during that time, so maybe we need more time?

Has anyone been to Donsol? Is it worth it?I'm worried it will be too controlled so that you don't get close to the whale sharks. I have been lucky enough to have swam around with a baby whale shark in Africa for about 30 minutes, I am worried I will be disappointed if I go to Donsol.

I have also been researching Subic bay and Anilao and La Union. Any of these worth a trip? One of my problems is I need to apply for a visa extension and I have heard it is hard to get in Manila so we are thinking of going to La Union to do it and they have some reefs there. Anyone know if you can extend anywhere else? Does this mean that all foreigners living in the phillipines go to Manila every 3 weeks?

We will be in the philippines for 1 month but 2 weeks will be in Boracay (have some non-divers in tow) where I will do my DM. Are there any good trips from there?

I am very excited about this trip - there are SO many places to go in the philippines, I'm having a really hard time putting a schedule together. So far we are going to land in Manila, do Subic bay or Anilao, head to Puerto Galera for the rescue course and good diving, then a 4 day liveaboard from Scubaworld, then take a boat to Boracay (is this easy from Mindoro??) And then fly back to Manila. If you think I've forgotten something for the first time in Philippines, I would love to get some feedback! (We didn't include Cebu...thought it would be too crowded, bleached and stretching our time out too thin..??)

Thanks!! this website is SO great! I'm so happy to have found it!
Carol
 
tazcat:
Hi! I'm headed to the Philippines in Feb and . . . have also been researching Subic bay . . . Any of these worth a trip?
Thanks!! this website is SO great! I'm so happy to have found it!
Carol
Carol I stayed inSubic, on Baloy Beach at http://www.subicdive.com and really enjoyed myself, but. . . it depends what you're looking for.
At Johan's it's mostly about wreck diving, but there are some nice reefs, outside the bay, inside has been cyanided and dynamited into oblivion.
That said, One wreck dive, the SanQuinten, had some of the most beautiful life I've witnessed to date and it's inside of the bay.

Tom
 
tazcat:
Hi! I'm headed to the Philippines in Feb... go to both Apo reef and Coron bay... We are going to start in Puerto Galera... Has anyone been to Donsol... I have also been researching Subic bay and Anilao and La Union... 2 weeks will be in Boracay

Thanks!! this website is SO great! I'm so happy to have found it!
Carol
now THAT, carol, is some itenerary!!! didn't think you were getting so much in from your PM to me earlier.

although it sounds like a hassle, basing all your trips out of manila is actually the best and most convenient. for example, if Phil Airlines did fly out of mindoro to aklan (where bora is) then it would be only once a day and maybe not everyday... that limits your options drastically but even if you took a ferry back from galera to batangas and back to manila, you still get 2-5 daily flights to aklan across 3-5 different airlines... if you time it correctly AND they're available, you can even (theoretically) leave PG on the 1st ferries out, hop a bus to manila, be there by lunch and take the after-lunch flight to aklan...

i think coron and apo are separate trips w/ a difficult chance to string the 2 together w/o a plane flight in between -- but again w/ the right timing (and a satisfied no-fly time) then you should be able to get back from apo, bus it to manila, grab lunch, jump the plane to busuanga and hop the liveaboard that afternoon... worst case you'll probably have to spend the night in manila -- the islands are generally 1 hour away from manila as a rule... give or take a little

but try the small charter companies just the same... Seair, Corporate Air, A. Soriano Aviation... they might have services from mindoro to aklan that i don't know of

i dont' think feb si donsol season just yet... as far as i know it's march to may... but when it's whale shark season you will NOT get dissapointed... a DM friend of mine went last summer and had something like 17(!) big animal encounters in 1 (or was it 2) days there

bora isn't the best of philippine diving but they say Yapak II is great...
the others, as i said, would have a lot to add to this... have a great one!

Jag

PS
need someone to carry your bags? i do a great massage! i work cheap! will dive for air and food... will do a lot for dive... and will do most other things for a combination of dive and money hehehehehe... the stuff my mama told me not to do? well... i figured i'd do that for money
 
tazcat, if you are going to the Philippines late enough in Feb to be there significant part of March you should look into a liveaboard doing a transition trip from Luzon to Palawan for the Tubbataha season. I think they normally make this run in March and they would normally stop at Apo Reef (the one off Mindoro) and Coron on the way to Puerto Princessa, I believe. I've never done one, but they usually have very interesting looking itineraries.

I did Apo Reef (off Mindoro) in early November and unless you did get on a liveaboard that was going past it on the way south, I would spend my time other places. Viz was fantastic and we did see a few sharks and a school or two of barracuda, but there is much better diving elsewhere in the Philippines.

Unless you are going to Subic for specifically for the wrecks because you are a wreck nut, I would give Subic and La Union a miss and consider flying from Boracay (or Manila) to Cebu. There is a lot of great diving that can be accessed easily (and cheaply) from Cebu...Malapascua, Southern Leyte, Dumaguete and Apo Island, Bohol and Balicasag Island....I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

On your question about visas, no foreigners don't go to Manila every 3 weeks (in fact most avoid like the plague). You can get that done easily in Boracay, as I recall immigration actually has an office down past Boat Station 3. You can also get this done in Puerto Galera, you should inquire with the dive shop where you are doing your Rescue course, they can help you sort it out.

One last one, yes, you should spend more time in Puerto Galera, if you are there only 4 days you will spend most of your time doing the Rescue course (especially if you haven't done first aid yet) and never get below 5 meters. The diving around PG is too good not to enjoy it. Who are you doing your course with by the way?

Have a safe, enjoyable trip.

Drew
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom