North and South (for Sheilamo) ..

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Wantonmien

Contributor
Messages
1,777
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Location
Philippines (Ex Taiwan & Oz)
# of dives
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Sheilamo,

I've copied your note from PHP forum - into this Taiwan forum, as there's a few of us diving around Taiwan who may chip in with some advise about diving Taiwan, but generally -

Say August through to September we get typhoons (not monsoons !) every few weeks, stirring up the waters, and making diving a no no sometimes, but if typhoon free, which will 99 % sure be the case in Feb/March -

- up North/East Coast, an hour from Taipei, May~October generally best time when water warms to say 28 C, there are some great dive sites if you get some local advice, whereas outside those months it gets a bit chilly and unpredictable, last weekend it was down to 23 C - so scaring away most of the warm weather divers we see up there, and Dec~March very very few diving up there.

- down South Coast at Kenting, water similar in summer month up at 28 ~ 29 C, (and stays warmer than up North) dropping s to say 20~23 C for a couple of winter months, though if sun is shining and weather is kind, can dive pretty much all year round, and last year I was diving in Kenting in November and January, in a full 3mm with great visibility, with decent sites.

- by ferry from South (Kenting) you can also get to Green island, and Orchid Island, where main business on the islands is diving.

For diving in Kenting, best bet is to drop Andy Gray (ambertiger) a line, he's an instructor diving in Kenting pretty much every weekend, and if fancying a dive in the South he'll sort you out. Andy also arranges dive trips with local groups out to the islands, Chinese New Year (Feb ?) I am booked on a trip to Green with him and a bunch.

Cheers


Wantonmien - thanks for all the ideas! I actually wanted to dive Taiwan but a colleague from Singapore said it's monsoon season and not likely to be good diving (but then again, Philippines isn't far so maybe equally challenging). I will be back in Taiwan in Feb or Mar; how are conditions then?

Really appreciate the ideas; need to book my flights to Taiwan this week so wanted to get my return location finalized. I'll check flights back to the US from Manila. Appreciate it!

Lastly - does Philippines require a visa for entry? Taiwan does not.
 
Some fine advice, Wantonmien -

All that I'd add are suggestions regarding language. If Sheilamo has neither basic Chinese abilities herself nor a close traveling partner who can fill in the gap, arrangements would be best made in advance.

At times travel can be a challenge ...
 
I will be in Taiwan Nov 19 for 3 weeks. I plan to go to Kenting for a day of diving. Are there any 'must-do' dive spots in Kenting? Am I better off with shore dives or boat? Also, is it expected that the water temperature will be around 20-23C during this time?

Thanks for the tips,
Phil
 
Phil, can you speak Chinese or Taiwanese? If not, that'll make things a little more difficult, but you can find some English-speaking dive professionals to help you out.

Generally speaking, the boat diving is usually better than the shore diving. Some of my favorite boat dive sites include Dulijiao (Independent Rock), Da Lao Gu (Big Old Valley), and Xiao Lao Gu (Little Old Valley). I've dived a few other good sites in the bay which probably don't have names that are shared among all the different boat captains. Some other sites like Maobitou and Jin Shui Kou can be hit or miss.

Good shore diving sites include Hou Hua Yuan (the Flower Garden, sometimes called Houbihu) in the bay, and Hejie a/k/a the Pillbox on the western shore. You'd be best off hiring a guide to show you where to find the shore diving sites.

Water temperature probably won't be below 24C or minimum 23C yet, but if you have a 5mm wetsuit or a full-body 3mm wetsuit with a hooded vest, that would be helpful.
 
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