New to Philippines and need help finding the best diving

[Ray Sultan]

I'll be in the Philippines for about 9 days or so at the end of April. I am traveling alone and have my advanced open water with about 20 dives. I want to make the most of my trip and see as many different reefs and wildlife as possible. I hear the thrasher sharks are really remarkable and are really primarily in Malapascua. I feel like if I choose Malapascua, I'm there for the whole trip because it's such a pain to get anywhere else.

The other option is splitting my time between Bohol and Dumaguette.

I'm trying to not spend a lot of money, and again, traveling alone so would love to have some friendly people around.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ray

 

[Centrals]

Bohol offers a much better top side attraction and Dumaguete has macro.
BUT Malapascua is a MUST.
Would the whaleshark at Oslob interests you?
Moalboal is pretty easy to get to.
Malapascua and Southern Leyte is a good combination but travelling between them are NOT that straight forward(public transport).

 

[Tippytoes12]

I have just got back from the Philippines where I spent 5 nights in Maolboal and 8 in Malapascua. The thresher sharks were truly amazing , on every dive we have multiple near sightings of 3 to 5 individual sharks. Whilst there other groups saw mantas , hammerheads and a whaleshark. The island is jaw droppingly beautiful and has a fantastic atmosphere. I also saw the whalesharks at Oslob which again was even better than I expected it to be.

Your plan of spending all of your time in Malapascua is a really good one , in only nine days you would not get a very long stay in two locations. It,s far better to just visit one spot and chill out there.

 

[eagerbeaver]

It's entirely possible to do 2 locations in 9 days and include Malapascua. It's all about how much you're willing to travel, and picking the right flights.

You can substitute Duma for Bohol, or you can move days around.

Day 1 - If you arrive into Cebu early one morning - for example there's a 410am flight from Singapore. This means you get to Malapascua by breakfast time, or at the latest to be able to dive at 130pm; and a night dive.
Day2 full day diving Malapascua
Day3 full day diving Malapascua
Day4 full day diving Malapascua
Day5 Leave Malapascua at 7am - head to Cebu. Ride OceanJet at 130pm or 330pm and be in Dumaguete for the evening
Day6 full day diving Duma/Apo
Day7 full day diving Duma/Apo
Day8 full day diving Duma/Apo
Day9 Travel to Cebu, leave Dumaguete early and you can be in Cebu city by 12noon easily.

Like Tipytoes says you can probably enjoy Malapascua for 9 days but also you can split it...either way will work.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Ray Sultan]

Thank you everyone! I'm pretty sure I'm just going to do Malapascua for the whole time because I would rather not spend time traveling when I could be diving! I've contacted Thresher Shark Divers for more info from them.

 

[eagerbeaver]

Thank you everyone! I'm pretty sure I'm just going to do Malapascua for the whole time because I would rather not spend time traveling when I could be diving! I've contacted Thresher Shark Divers for more info from them.

Ouch! :depressed:

 

[Sevenrider860]

Ray,

Check multiple shops on

Malapascua​

.

I suggest you add Evolution Diving Resort to the list (Evolution Diving Resort Malapascua, Cebu, Philippines ? Recreational and Technical Diving Specialists.). Or you could ask matt_reed in this very thread.

Brian

 

[Edwin T]

Hey Ray I'm going to the Phil. last week of April until May 17th.I'm from Bohol but I will be diving in Moalboal too(booked already).my parents has a house in Bohol and I will be staying there too if you"re interested let me know or PM me.we can just drive to the dive shop from their house.

 

[jbb]

You will want to have Nitrox certification if you dive for the threshers. The bottom is at 65-75 feet with nothing between that and the surface except the buoy line. Most shops have larger tanks for those who breathe heavy so the nitrox would still be useful for longer bottom time.