Hello,
we took a two weeks diving trip this January, visiting Malapascua and Anilao. We had visited Anilao before and liked it a lot, and chose Malapascua for a chance of pelagic fauna: threshers of course but also possibly tigers and mantas.
We arrived to CEB from Bangkok via Davao - Davao is a really tiny airport, but we were able to get there both cash and a sim card.
We landed at about 10 am and managed to catch the 11:30 bus. We arrived to Maya Port at 16:25, last boat was at 5 pm. They tried to charge the foreigners more (first 300, after some resistance 250 instead of 200), as there supposedly were not enough passengers. Eventually, they refunded us the 50, as more people showed up. A taxi arrived when it was getting dark, but we were already afloat and the captain refused to return. I am not sure if he knew his landing light,or however you call it, did not work, so we landed in the dark. The sea was a bit choppy and people got wet.
Malapascua, at least Logon, is an ugly village with quite a lot of trash lying around. The food we found is either bad, expensive, or poisonous (more on that later). But again, the Filippino food is not really something to write home about anywhere. We stayed in Hideaway Resort: cheap,clean and basic, large rooms with furniture for drying some gear, I would definitely recommend it to budget minded travellers.
We chose to dive with MBI. I do not have anything wrong to say about them, everything felt professional and very much customer oriented. Gear is new and in good condition. They are not the cheapest on the Island, but much cheaper than Evolution. They do not have nitrox (but could probably order it). Gear is included except for torches, so you effectively pay 250 extra for each night dive. I would recommend buying your own torch anyway, as it is much easier to find critters wit the light, even in the middle of the day.
Day 1: Kimud and Monad. Threshers are super easy to see, They came up very close. Second Kimud dive was worse, worse visibility, less sharks, more people. Flash is forbidden at Kimud, as threshers are easily scared. Tigers can be seen at Monad, apparently once or twice a week. We did not see them and the third dive was bland. We returned at around 2pm and did a a lighthouse night dive in the evening. The main aim is the mandarin fish. we ended up being in a circle of 12 or so divers around one outcrop for 20 or 25 minutes, it was all dark… We did see the fish, but the part of the dive after this was way better. We saw one cuttlefish, crustaceans, seahorses. I had a really good grilled squid at Avrill's for dinner (that is important).
Day 2: Gato Island. Nice diving, but not outstanding as far as the Philippines go. Two dives. In the evening we went to Evo Reef. That one one of the best dives I have ever done. The crustacean diversity was unbelievable, we saw some species I could not have even imagined. One cuttlefish and a lot of other critters. I had another Avrill's squid for dinner.
Day 3: I woke up in 2 am and my insides cleaned up so well I could have probably taken a colonoscopy in the morning (that is why the squid thing is important). This went on til the morning, when I got fever and spent the rest of the day in bed with 39°C. My wife did two local dives, enjoyed the macro.
Day 4: Luckilly I felt ok, so we did one afternoon dive at Lapu Lapu: A lot of seahorses, a few interesting nudis, good dive; and another night dive at Evo Reef. It was not as good as the first time, but still very good.
I missed 6 dives because of that damn squid. So many people were eating there, I really thought it would be ok. MBI only asked for 1000 pesos for my 6 and my wife's 2 cancelled local dives, which was very gracious. Also, MBI told us on the first night to be careful where we eat, that some people eat at the market and they end up like I did: The "market" are apparently the restaurants on the village square, even though it has nothing to do with an actual market.
We both enjoyed local dives more than the trips. Of course, threshers are special.
we took a two weeks diving trip this January, visiting Malapascua and Anilao. We had visited Anilao before and liked it a lot, and chose Malapascua for a chance of pelagic fauna: threshers of course but also possibly tigers and mantas.
We arrived to CEB from Bangkok via Davao - Davao is a really tiny airport, but we were able to get there both cash and a sim card.
We landed at about 10 am and managed to catch the 11:30 bus. We arrived to Maya Port at 16:25, last boat was at 5 pm. They tried to charge the foreigners more (first 300, after some resistance 250 instead of 200), as there supposedly were not enough passengers. Eventually, they refunded us the 50, as more people showed up. A taxi arrived when it was getting dark, but we were already afloat and the captain refused to return. I am not sure if he knew his landing light,or however you call it, did not work, so we landed in the dark. The sea was a bit choppy and people got wet.
Malapascua, at least Logon, is an ugly village with quite a lot of trash lying around. The food we found is either bad, expensive, or poisonous (more on that later). But again, the Filippino food is not really something to write home about anywhere. We stayed in Hideaway Resort: cheap,clean and basic, large rooms with furniture for drying some gear, I would definitely recommend it to budget minded travellers.
We chose to dive with MBI. I do not have anything wrong to say about them, everything felt professional and very much customer oriented. Gear is new and in good condition. They are not the cheapest on the Island, but much cheaper than Evolution. They do not have nitrox (but could probably order it). Gear is included except for torches, so you effectively pay 250 extra for each night dive. I would recommend buying your own torch anyway, as it is much easier to find critters wit the light, even in the middle of the day.
Day 1: Kimud and Monad. Threshers are super easy to see, They came up very close. Second Kimud dive was worse, worse visibility, less sharks, more people. Flash is forbidden at Kimud, as threshers are easily scared. Tigers can be seen at Monad, apparently once or twice a week. We did not see them and the third dive was bland. We returned at around 2pm and did a a lighthouse night dive in the evening. The main aim is the mandarin fish. we ended up being in a circle of 12 or so divers around one outcrop for 20 or 25 minutes, it was all dark… We did see the fish, but the part of the dive after this was way better. We saw one cuttlefish, crustaceans, seahorses. I had a really good grilled squid at Avrill's for dinner (that is important).
Day 2: Gato Island. Nice diving, but not outstanding as far as the Philippines go. Two dives. In the evening we went to Evo Reef. That one one of the best dives I have ever done. The crustacean diversity was unbelievable, we saw some species I could not have even imagined. One cuttlefish and a lot of other critters. I had another Avrill's squid for dinner.
Day 3: I woke up in 2 am and my insides cleaned up so well I could have probably taken a colonoscopy in the morning (that is why the squid thing is important). This went on til the morning, when I got fever and spent the rest of the day in bed with 39°C. My wife did two local dives, enjoyed the macro.
Day 4: Luckilly I felt ok, so we did one afternoon dive at Lapu Lapu: A lot of seahorses, a few interesting nudis, good dive; and another night dive at Evo Reef. It was not as good as the first time, but still very good.
I missed 6 dives because of that damn squid. So many people were eating there, I really thought it would be ok. MBI only asked for 1000 pesos for my 6 and my wife's 2 cancelled local dives, which was very gracious. Also, MBI told us on the first night to be careful where we eat, that some people eat at the market and they end up like I did: The "market" are apparently the restaurants on the village square, even though it has nothing to do with an actual market.
We both enjoyed local dives more than the trips. Of course, threshers are special.
. At the very end, almost on surface, we saw a starry night octopus. Unfortunately, my observation could not have taken too long, as I started having difficulties breathing and in three breaths ran out of air. My valve showed 40 bars. Luckily, I was at the surface already and the depth below me was maybe 2,5 meters. There were warning signs before, especially having 270 bars on the third dive's start. I did not know what it meant, now I have the experience. I am sure the staff knew something was off, they even spoke about it before the third dive, but nobody told me. 
. Matu was an ugly site, but with some interesting fauna, including ghost pipefish, and A LOT of white eyed morays. At night we finally (this was our third night) did Anilao Pier. We saw all 4 common cephalopod species: Sepioteuthis, a few Berry's bobtails, one tropical bottletail and, of course, a few coconut octopuses, which are the stars here. Also some bobbits and a few interesting gastropods. We did another dive here two days ago, on both dives we saw only one bottletail, so I am not sure how common they are. Both were still great dives. 
