Month of January, 2018

[DaveAZ]

Hey!
I will be flying to Manila and staying for the entire month of January. I'm in the process of booking a hotel, and
I'd like to do some diving while I'm there. I am PADI certified as a Rescue Diver and I have +/- 100 dives. (I'm lazy about logging, so I really don't know how many.) I am making this post with zero research whatsoever regarding the Philippines, and I have not used this website in ages. A non-diver friend invited me, and I bought plane tickets on a whim.

My first question is, what do I need to dive there? Is my PADI cert card enough?
I don't care about guided or group dives, but I would like to at least find a dive buddy for basic safety reasons.
My next questions is, of course, where should I dive? I'm a big fan of shore diving, but I also love large sea life and am willing to get on a boat for it.
If there are good websites to do research, or if I should be searching this forum, feel free to point me in a direction and to tell me to do my homework and come back

Thanks!

 

[Freewillow]

PADI CERTIFICATIOn , perfect.

I dived in Anilao, very close to Manilla. Shore dive possible on most hotel's "house reefs". More macro and small fishes, but HUGE variety.

I also went on a safari on Islands south est of Cebu: great also: four islands with tranfer on a dive boat and local hotels .

 

[dirtfarmer]

Large sea life huh? What do mean by that?
There are 2 places for whale sharks one is Sogod Bay and they are in "season" then. The other diving in the area is pretty good with some nice reefs and macro action. The other spot is kinda a zoo atmosphere where they feed them in Oslob.
Then you have Thresher Sharks in Malapascusa also.

The PI has some outstanding macro diving in Anilao, which also has some nice coral sites, but Anilao is mostly about macro critter diving. There is Puerto Galera for reef diving both close to Manila.
I would suggest you browse thru some of the posts here and glean some information and then ask about some specific locations as there are quite a few.

 

[DaveAZ]

Sogod Bay and Malapascusa are a good start!

I guess "Large sea life" is the opposite of macro and reef diving. I have been spoiled by the amazing reefs of Curacao and the rest of the Caribbean, and am hoping to find something different. Wreck diving isn't for me, though.

I have only done one shark dive (Cara A Cara Roatan) and have never seen a whale up close in the wild. Diving with sea lions in San Carlos MX has been routine, and I guess that still qualifies as large life to me. I'm impressed by giant grouper, too. Even the dinosaur-sized lobster and crabs on the RMS Rhone in the BVI's impressed me greatly. The leatherback sea turtles on my certification dives 25 years ago are still a fond memory. Huge manta rays... I don't know why exactly, but there is much more wow factor to large stuff for me than finding a seahorse. Octopus will always amaze me, and I'm good at spotting them, but I don't need to go across the world to see things that are routine locally. I think I'm rambling, lol.

 

[dirtfarmer]

The reefs in the Caribbean pale in comparison to the ones in the PI, you will find way more color and even more macro critters.
I love big stuff and small stuff, and either the PI or Indonesia are my go to dive spots. Indo is typically more fishy than the PI but in the PI I would also reccomed looking into Puerto Galerafor reef diving.
I spent a 10 days on Malapascua a few years ago and yes it has threshers, and good macro diversity but lacks fish abundance.
Sogod has some pretty fishy sites and so far the whale sharks have been abundant

 

[Centrals]

With a month to spend I will go straight to Visayas.
Anilao and PG are good but you need to backtrack to Manila for the connection flight. Of course if you are adventurous, you can travel all the way from PG to more or less anywhere in the country by combination of land and sea!!
Malapascua and Sogod Bay are nice but linking them up is time consuming.
Take a look at a good diving map of the country, read some posts on SB and then you should have a rough idea of where you want to dive.

 

[FT]

There are whale sharks at that time of year in Donsol. You may only snorkel with them, not dive. Loved it. Unforgettable firefly river tour.
Disclaimer: have not been to Ticao Island, but it is nearby Donsol and should tick your boxes for larger pelagic life, including manta rays, as well as shore dives by the sound of it.
Look it up and see what you think.

 

[DaveAZ]

I am in Angeles City visiting a friend for the moment, and I feel like I flew halfway across the world to go to another Tijuana. My best plan of action now is to contact dive operations to find out what is currently actively being seen at locations, plan an itinerary and book transportation.

I'm hoping to snorkel with whale sharks, then travel to do six tanks over two or three days at a single spot with reasonable certainty of seeing manta rays, sharks, and other large life. I'd like to link the two somewhat easily with transportation. (As discussed, no interest in reefs or wrecks.)

My first plan was to grab a night bus from Manila to Donsol, then go to Tiko Island while there. I emailed a shop (Whaleshark Adventure & Tours BICOL DIVE CENTER) and got an honest reply that told me I missed the whale sharks there by a month and that other large sea life at Tico island is out of season. That shop are currently doing dives at Manta Bowl Shoal for chance encounters, but nothing consistent. That isn't worth the time investment to me.

Option 1: Sogod Bay Whale Sharks: Flights from Manila to Tacloban, Leyte are offered by Air Asia Zest,,Philippines Airlines or Cebu Pacific Air for $100-150 US round trip, plus a 3-4 hour bus ride on each end.
First question: is there a snorkel with whale sharks contact to confirm they are there?
Second question: what second location can I link to that meets my criteria?

Option 2: Oslob for Whale sharks. (Haven't figured out route.)
First question: is there a snorkel with whale sharks contact to confirm they are there?
Second question: what second location can I link to that meets my criteria?

This country could really capitalize on tourism if they had a tourist board webpage that provided travel information,contacts and could help plan itineraries. I may need to search more. This time investment without easy resources is a pain in the ass. I'm open for all advice.

 

[Tippytoes12]

You won't regret going to Southern Leyte. The FB pages of the shops are aying that there are plenty of whalesharks this year. Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, Southern Leyte Divers and Peters dive resort are all options.

You can get to Cebu via fast ferry from Southern Leyte , it takes three or so hours. Then Oslob is a bus ride away. Alternatively there is a bangka ferry from Southern Leyte to the eastern part of Bohol , which is a beautiful island. Anda is the main area for diving. If you go to Cebu , you can get to Malapascua easily from there..catch a bus to Maya. We also really liked Negros which is a boat trip away from Cebu. Dauin is on the Cebu side but Sipalay also gets fab reviews.

Hope this helps a bit !

 

[FT]

Southern Leyte then, for sure, for the whale sharks. Maybe other large life. Maybe. Guaranteed thresher sharks at Malapascua. Possibly a good season to try Apo Reef —contact Rags II for their short liveaboard trips.