Malapascua island or Panglao island???

[DocVikingo]

Hey, MickyV, how goes it?

Yes, silly me. Here's some pygmy snorklers diving with them http://www.sergeyphoto.com/underwater/donsol.html ; )

Be well,

Doc

 

[Mike Veitch]

Aha!!! better!!

i prefer small people!

and good to see you Doc... i tend to hang here instead of the other board these days..

.

 

[isurus]

I recall the sites mentioned by isurus with great clarity. Lighthouse is an outrageous night dive.

This is true. One tip I do have for Lighthouse and Monad Shoal is to pick your dive guide with care. After surfacing from one dive on lighthouse replete with cuttlefish, octopus, blue ringed octopus, bobtail squid, spawning mandarins and seahorses we were chatting about what we'd seen when a voice called out of the darkness "you guys saw seahorses down there!?!?! we didn't see anything". Our guide then took these guys down for a short second dive (its only about 7m IIRC) to show them all the stuff they'd missed!

 

[jonix]

Hey, MickyV, how goes it?

Yes, silly me. Here's some pygmy snorklers diving with them http://www.sergeyphoto.com/underwater/donsol.html ; )

Be well,

Doc

cool photos doc!

 

[Travelnsj]

Doc, Swisstrav, Isurus, Pakman....Where to stay?

I have looked at the Malapascua Exotic Beach resort and Cocobana Beach Resort. Your Suggestions?

Dive ops which to use? Thresher shark divers or Exotic dive operation. Your Suggestions?

I am a Palau diver....not that much into the small stuff.....but in you opinion(s)will I enjoy this diving?

Pakman is diving there right now....so I will be waiting for his report to make my a final decision. But your input will be appreciated.

 

[Zippsy]

I stayed at Malapascua Exotic Resort a year and a half ago and would recommend it. I definitely looked like the best place on the island and the dive operation was mostly professional and very good to dive with. Regarding the resort, I have nothing bad to say about that but you should remember that ANY restaurant on the island will take a while to serve food, particularly for large groups. Regarding the dive operations, (actually the boatmen), we lost our way back to the island one overcast night after a dusk dive and it took about 2.5 hours to do a 45 minute trip. A bit spooky that.

 

[jbb]

I have been to Malapascua 4 times in the last 3 years. I would recommend TDS. Exotic is a ways away from all the other places to eat and stay and I have reports that they get cranky when you don't stay, dive and eat with them. TDS can set you up at the Kuan Bar, Cocobana or even right next door depending on your budget or whether you want airconditioning. You get a nicer variety of places to eat nearby. There a number of very good restaurants on the island and it would be a shame not to explore them and the bars in the area. Don't forget to play Crazy Golf and get the low score for the month and be imortalized.

 

[pakman]

I'm sitting here waiting to get on a plane back home in a couple of hours. Give me a couple days if not tonite for me to collect my notes from balicasag (alona) and malapascua.as others have said each has pros and cons. But overall I give both 2 thumbs up and would go back. But if you don't mind the longer travel time and slightly less anemities (like fresh water showers...) Malapascua has a great mix of small stuff (lighthouse for mandarin fish maating!!) and of course the threshers and mantas on monad shoal. If you have a big group you can arrange day trips to some interesting wrecks and other further sites. I stayed at Exotic. Slight hiccups on my first day but great dm's (Tong did a great job spotting). Downside is their restaurant stereo must have subwoofer bigger than that of a NYC nite club... Kind of annoying when your trying to nap in the afternoon after the 5am thresher dive wakeup call... There were a number of european guests there who also complained about the constant thumping bass!

I found gato island disappointing. Vis wasn't good, coral disappointing but interesting critters in the rocks.

 

[silent running]

big stuff? not in the philippines! malapascua has the treasure sharks. early in the morning with the occasional manta comming by. besides this also small stuff and sharks at gato island. a wreck is also there. the island itself is small and layed back. kind of bounty feeling.

balicasag is nice too (best site in alona area - in my opinion)

alona beach is very special. restaurants and bars in the palm trees at the beach. very cool feeling.

safety: no concerne at all. it is absolutely safe there.

Hello swisstrav, I thought Pamilacan(sp?) AKA Manta Island was a much better dive site than Balicasag. Lots more fish, actually saw several families of Napolean Wrasse, some very big ones and the biggest Giant Trevally I've ever seen-5ft top to bottom. It's the only place I saw any large fish. Coral was very healthy too.

Didn't get to Malapascua, alas, no O2 for my rebreather. Alona Beach resort was very nice. Never felt any bad vibes in P.I., no real safety concerns, even in Cebu City. -Andy

 

[Travelnsj]

Pakman...I'll await your report on making my decision on Malapascua....I'm looking to go about the same time as you did this year in 2007....really interested in which was your favorite for the big stuff....and how was the weather?

Jbb...you seem to really like TDS. How far is Exotic from the Cocobana? and are the resorts similiar in quality? sorry to ask so many questions...but never been there.

Zippsy...I'll be in Singapore in a coupe of weeks via Bali and Timor. Suggestions on what to do for a day?...I'm staying at the Conrad.