This was my first dive in the Philippines. Previously I have dived fairly extensively in Thailand, Australia and Eqypt and also in the Maldives.
We visited the small fishing town of El Nido - the gateway to the Bacuit Bay area. The town is hard to reach - either an expensive ($400 return) trip direct from Manila or a 7 hour van ride from Puerta Princessa or a long ferry ride from several other places. There are a couple of expensive resorts out in the bay ($360 a night) but we stayed in town for a very reasonable $40 per room with a/c. There were several cheaper with a fan only.
There are three dive operators in town. We chose Palawan Divers and we were very pleased with our choice. More on the other two later.
We had to rent all equipment because of the weight limit on the plane but it was all new Scubapro Regs and BCDs. Wetsuits were in good supply - and other stuff was fine. The dive centre is run by a professional French guy and his charming Filipino partner and they were very accommodating.
The dive industry in El Nido is still evolving and our impression was that there are more sites yet to be found. We did 6 dives over 3 days from Banca boats. Most of the sites have healthy coral gardens at 20m-5m with plenty of fish life and variety. We did a dive called The Tunnel - which as the name suggests was a 40m tunnel and pretty black in the middle - very cool. There are some great formations and the visibility was the best I have ever seen at 50m+ in places. The Divemasters were great and at the end of the second dive took us all off to see other snorkelling sites in hidden lagoons - just because they enjoyed doing it.
If you're lookingh for Pelagics, then El Nido isn't the place unless they can open up more sites outside the bay. But for beautiful safe (little current) and inexpensive diving it is superb. We paid $60 for 2 dives including lunch and all refreshments which included DMs. The boat boys did everything and there was no carrying or effort for the clients at all. How many other dive shops wait until you get back from the dive before they ask you to pay? At Palawan Divers they are very laid back.
The reports on the other two operators were not so good. I saw Sea Dog Divers take a small dingy (which they called a speedboat) out with 8 people and all the gear for 2 dives. There was almost nowhere to sit and almost no shade. A day on that thing would have been very uncomfortable. The other operator also had bad reports of compromised safety (the DM left the clients to go back to the boat) from a couple of clients who switched operators and were not happy with the kit either.
In summary and considering how cut-off El Nido is, Palawan Divers were professional and extremely friendly. They give good discounts to visiting intructors and their approach to safety and enjoyment was just right. My guess is that El Nido will not stay as a small fishing town much longer - so enjoy it while it's there.
Any questions - I'll try to help.
We visited the small fishing town of El Nido - the gateway to the Bacuit Bay area. The town is hard to reach - either an expensive ($400 return) trip direct from Manila or a 7 hour van ride from Puerta Princessa or a long ferry ride from several other places. There are a couple of expensive resorts out in the bay ($360 a night) but we stayed in town for a very reasonable $40 per room with a/c. There were several cheaper with a fan only.
There are three dive operators in town. We chose Palawan Divers and we were very pleased with our choice. More on the other two later.
We had to rent all equipment because of the weight limit on the plane but it was all new Scubapro Regs and BCDs. Wetsuits were in good supply - and other stuff was fine. The dive centre is run by a professional French guy and his charming Filipino partner and they were very accommodating.
The dive industry in El Nido is still evolving and our impression was that there are more sites yet to be found. We did 6 dives over 3 days from Banca boats. Most of the sites have healthy coral gardens at 20m-5m with plenty of fish life and variety. We did a dive called The Tunnel - which as the name suggests was a 40m tunnel and pretty black in the middle - very cool. There are some great formations and the visibility was the best I have ever seen at 50m+ in places. The Divemasters were great and at the end of the second dive took us all off to see other snorkelling sites in hidden lagoons - just because they enjoyed doing it.
If you're lookingh for Pelagics, then El Nido isn't the place unless they can open up more sites outside the bay. But for beautiful safe (little current) and inexpensive diving it is superb. We paid $60 for 2 dives including lunch and all refreshments which included DMs. The boat boys did everything and there was no carrying or effort for the clients at all. How many other dive shops wait until you get back from the dive before they ask you to pay? At Palawan Divers they are very laid back.
The reports on the other two operators were not so good. I saw Sea Dog Divers take a small dingy (which they called a speedboat) out with 8 people and all the gear for 2 dives. There was almost nowhere to sit and almost no shade. A day on that thing would have been very uncomfortable. The other operator also had bad reports of compromised safety (the DM left the clients to go back to the boat) from a couple of clients who switched operators and were not happy with the kit either.
In summary and considering how cut-off El Nido is, Palawan Divers were professional and extremely friendly. They give good discounts to visiting intructors and their approach to safety and enjoyment was just right. My guess is that El Nido will not stay as a small fishing town much longer - so enjoy it while it's there.
Any questions - I'll try to help.
