maniguin and panagatan cays?

[Babydamulag]

LMAO!! I know her!! She is taken now.

 

[Hank49]

LMAO!! I know her!! She is taken now.

Tell her Hank, in Belize, said, "kamusta"? I think she'll remember me.

 

[CLA]

Thanks Hank. It's good to know there may be other ways to get to Maniguin. The liveaboard I mentioned was around half the price of 2bba liveaboard but also just 2 diving days instead of 4 or 5.

 

[Babydamulag]

In the future - We'll have a boat making the Maniguin Island (or Maningning Island) run from Culasi. We are looking to get a nice speed boat to make the trip in just over an hour. We had talked to Boston Whaler (after we got hit by the sticker shock and VAT) and have since changed our minds to look for a PI builder to construct our 25 (+) footer. We're looking at something with a big diesel or twin outboards (100 hp). The plan is to have a seaworthy boat for our customers and travel comfortably. The trip to Batbatan and Mararison will be a lot faster as well.

 

[Hank49]

Yeah, going from Culasi in amihan winds is easier. You get some rough water on the final approach to Maniguin but you're going cross wind. If you come down from Boracay you take a beating on the way home. But I'd like to have at least 26-30 feet of deep V boat (if you're talking non banka, like a Whaler or something similar) under me with twin 150s for that trip. You can get some pretty rough seas when the wind picks up. On nice sunny days too.

 

[Babydamulag]

Yeah, going from Culasi in amihan winds is easier. You get some rough water on the final approach to Maniguin but you're going cross wind. If you come down from Boracay you take a beating on the way home. But I'd like to have at least 26-30 feet of deep V boat (if you're talking non banka, like a Whaler or something similar) under me with twin 150s for that trip. You can get some pretty rough seas when the wind picks up. On nice sunny days too.

We had priced a Boston Whaler.......whew...those BW guys are proud og their boats. We started at $75K US. We have since changed to one of the PHILIPPINE fiberglass boat builders. Stand by for updates. I know exactly what you mean. Amihan from OCT to MAR is pretty powerful.

 

[Hank49]

Have you decided how to power the boat? We're kind of in the same situation here in Belize as far as availability of spare parts and qualified, warranty covering mechanics. For this reason many here stick with the 2 stroke Yamahas. 150 and 200 are very popular and they haven't changed much since the late 90s. They are as reliable as the sunrise if you maintain them properly but they do suck more gas. The fuel injected 4 strokes burn about half to 2/3 the gas but if the computer chip or anything breaks down....good luck finding a mechanic in Culasi, San Jose, Iloilo, Caticlan....?? And breaking down out at sea there would suck in Amihan winds. What's to stop you going south? Sombrero? Then open sea....

 

[Babydamulag]

We have looked at 2 options for boats. The folks at ALS MARINE build a nice 24 footer that has a transom that can take 2 50's. We thought to get one of those for close in dives and go with the 27 footer twin 100's for the away dives. This is yamaha country so....dunno. We have to play the hand out on cost vs maintenance vs parts. We will dive our bankas until the end of the year. No rush on buying boats yet.
The loss of engine power would result in an unscheduled visit to Palawan or worse!