Malapascua & Bohol in August?

[LaiLaiDiver]

Looking at doing a 2-week trip this August, split between Bohol/Anda (FloWer Resort) and Malapascua (leaning towards Thresher Shark Divers & Logon Beach Resort.)

We'd love to hear from others who have been to these places recently.

I'm a little concerned if we'd be getting enough variety between these two locations? Boracay's not really our pace; not looking to party til dawn, more looking for tranquility, beauty and solitude... on a budget - hence our selection of Malapascua. I'm a bit concerned however after reading somewhere that Malapascua lasks colorful reefs & numerous fish. I know the main draw is the sharks, but aside from that, is it still a beautiful place to dive, overall?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[xariatay]

We have only dived in 2 places in Philippines - Bohol & Malapascua. Diving-wise, we prefer Malapascua a lot more than Bohol. Near to Malapascua is Gato Island, it has soft corals & is very colourful!
Come to think of it, Malapascua was more colourful than some of the Maldives reefs we visited during the recent LOB... :surprised:
Maybe I'm more of a muck diver, the beautiful reefs could maybe amaze me for 15mins. My favourite dives & those that I could remember more vividly are those that new/amazing creatures (big/small) are spotted...
Anyway, both times at Malapascua, I chose to dive w Exotic...

 

[Gilligan]

Have you stayed at Flower Garden Resort before? I ask this because they have no beach access other than via the premises of Alona Tropical Resort or Alona Palm Beach Resort which they so state on their website. That access is not free as dining or pool use at one of those two resorts is required. Their website also states:
"Temporarily not possible. Distance to the Beach and Restaurants ca. 700m."
What that probably means is the access via Alona Palm is not possible because that resort is closing June 1. Some of their employees were on the beach yesterday evening handing out leaflets accusing the resort of closing as a means of union busting! That's a whole other story.

If you look at my Alona Map Flower Garden Resort is #5. To the best of my knowledge that road (Ester A.Lim Dr.) has no public beach access. So if you don't pay to use the pool or eat at Alona Tropical Resort's restaurant you have to go back up to the Provincial Road then down the main road to the beach then to the dive shop of your choosing.

Not to try and complicate this for you but if you have a motorbike rental you won't be able to go past an area between #21 and #65 on the beach access road as there is a manned checkpoint soon to open. They will only allow vehicles past with gate passes in hand. If you are not staying at a place past the checkpoint and one that has a parking facility, you can't get a gate pass. You would have to park in an area adjacent to the checkpoint and for a fee, then walk to the beach.

Walking to the beach from Flower Garden Resort via the Provincial Road then the beach access road will take a good 20 minutes or more.

And life in Alona Beach use to be so simple.

 

[Rogersea]

Great Map Gilligan, very helpful, wish I had it last weekend!

On the subject of whether those two places give you enough variety or not, you could always add a trip to APO/Dauin into your itenerary and or Moalboal. It is Very easy to get to Dumaguette from Bohol via a fast ferry.

 

[jlovold]

We really loved Malapascua when we were there in March/April.

We were diving with Evolution Diving (they are quite new), and I must say it is one of the best and most professional, yet personal dive-centers I have ever been to. (I required good logistics and workspace due to my rebreather), and the diving was really good too, in the right places. Gato Island, Chocolate Island, Dona Marilyn and Monad Shoal are really good recreational sites, and the "Pioneer"-wreck is a decent technical dive!

The PLACE to stay is "Mike and Diose´s". That is a really nice place, with clean, well furnished apartments, at a very good price. And they also have a very good breakfast!

 

[AndyT]

I spent 4 days in Malapascua in Oct last year and could happily have added a few more. There is plenty to see other than the Threshers. Some other sites not mentioned are Lighthouse (Mandarin fish on a night dive), Deep Slope ( cool macro stuff) and Laupis Laupis.

Some snapshots here - Malapascua Oct 2009 - a set on Flickr

We stayed at Hippocampus and were very happy - great food and accomodation.

 

[xariatay]

Wow, Andrew, new photos!!! Love that "sort of hairy" frogfish or? & this nudibranch! _A253982 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
The macro stuff at Malapascua is amazing!

 

[jbb]

Looking at doing a 2-week trip this August, split between Bohol/Anda (FloWer Resort) and Malapascua (leaning towards Thresher Shark Divers & Logon Beach Resort.)

We'd love to hear from others who have been to these places recently.

I'm a little concerned if we'd be getting enough variety between these two locations? Boracay's not really our pace; not looking to party til dawn, more looking for tranquility, beauty and solitude... on a budget - hence our selection of Malapascua. I'm a bit concerned however after reading somewhere that Malapascua lasks colorful reefs & numerous fish. I know the main draw is the sharks, but aside from that, is it still a beautiful place to dive, overall?QUOTE]

I am completing a trip to both those destinations just now - making my way back now thru Teipei. I dove with Philippine Fun Divers (PFD) - great crew. I stayed pretty budget place called Alona Groves for 700 php for a simple fan room and a short walk from PFD. Alona is really easy and fast to travel to. I took a direct flight to Tagbilaran and a 40 min. tricycle ride (250 php) to PFD. I really liked Alona for the more abundant reef fishes and corals along the beaches. I saw a lot of eels (white eyed, barredfin and a couple of snake eels I haven't seen before) which I feel means there are plenty of food (fishes) for them too. Balicisag was good for deeper wall dives and school of barracuda and jacks. Overall I liked the beach dives due to the macro opportunities like a anemone pipe fish and ghost pipe fish. You will often see mackeral swimming past if you look toward the blue water.

I dive with TSD on Malapascua as well since 2003 when the owners were managing another shop there. They draw a variety of travelers so I really enjoy meeting new divers from around the world to compare notes with. Bantigi is great for macro day or night and lighthouse site really puts on a great mandarin fish show - we even got to see a blue ring octo there. I actually saw there blue ring octos, one at Lighthouse and two at Bantigi on two seperate dives. I like Chocolate island for nudis and other macro with soft corals - unfortunately the harlequin shrimp moved away as they were there for a few months. Calangaman and Nunez are good coral wall dives on a day trip. You will be there during the typhoon season and Gato critters go into hiding during storms and high current periods. I recommend staying at Cocobana a couple of places down so it is easy to get to the early morning thresher dive boat. By the way the threshers were spectacular while I was there and they put on a great show I had the furtune to witness.

 

[LaiLaiDiver]

Thanks everyone for these informative responses! We actually just finalized our bookings and flights yesterday, so all is set! We decided to stick with the places I initially mentioned - we were tempted by Evolution, but decided in the end to go with Thresher Shark Divers. I'll be sure and make some notes as to the recommended dive sites and bring them along!

Thanks Gilligan for the detailed advice, but we're actually staying at the FloWer Beach Resort near Anda, on the other side of Bohol from Panglao. From what I've read, it's the quieter side of Bohol! The resort is right on the beach, and has it's own dive shop. I'm very glad we won't be at the one you mentioned, that sounds like an unfortunate situation and not a fun vacation - thanks again for warning us (and others) of it!

If anyone else has photos/suggestions to share, please keep them coming. We'll be leaving for the Philippines on August 13th.