Palawan or Bohol?

[agirlcalledm]

Hi! I am new to this forum but I thot I'd just jump in w/my "dilemma". I only have two weeks vacation coming up in Nov & I am trying to decide btwn diving Palawan (not sure where or with who) and diving Bohol. As an aside, most of my family is from Davao and Cebu. I understand from my last visit in '06 that Palawan is the "best" island in the PI for diving ~ so I've been told...Please offer up suggestions as to dive sites, operators, resorts, etc...I'm limited on my time in the islands and would like to get the most out of my dive time as possible. I'm afraid that two weeks is simply not enough!

 

[shugar]

based on what the other guys here have experienced bohol is much much better - there's cabilao and panglao islands w/c have amazing diving...

it's also a 2-hour fast ferry to cebu if you need or want to visit family...

although i enjoyed my palawan dives (puerto princesa and coron) i'd say the stuff in bohol is much more amazing... i've been wanting to do bohol for a while now

Jag

 

[h2odragon1]

Bohol!
Great diving! My wife and I treated a few of our relatives to Cebu and Bohol last Feb. We have been to Puerto Galera, Dumagete, and Boracay. If you don't go to Puerto Galera, then go to Bohol. Your non-diving Family will enjoy the Chocolate hills and the Tarsiers, as well as lunch on the Loboc river.
Bohol is also not far from Cebu, just take the super ferry to Tagbilaren and then taxi to Panglao Is. It will not break your bank treating them, and your relative from Davao also are not that far away.They will enjoy the Beach while you're diving.

 

[Icecold]

how is the diving comparison between Boracay and Puerto Galera?

 

[agirlcalledm]

Hello again...do you folks feel that there are enough sites/varied sites to dive over the course of 10 days on Bohol? Is diving Malapascua a worthwhile diversion (time-wise) to make it over to that end of Cebu (I have family on Cebu)...Logistically, could this be problematic?

 

[chip104]

Is Palawan the best island for diving in the PI?....I dunno if I would agree with that statement since there are so many great places to dive here...but then again I've only dove in Coron (which was great and I'd go back in a heartbeat) and not the rest of Palawan. I'll be going to Puerto Princesa for the first time this coming weekend but I certainly know you will be able to dive Bohol in 10 days and still want to dive it some more. So my vote is for Bohol. From Alona Beach, I dove with Philippine Fun Divers. Philippine Island Divers comes highly recommended too.

and FWIW, my cousin had a chat with Christian Bautista and he said that he enjoys Bohol better than Palawan.

But then again if I had to choose the scenery to stay and wake up in for 10 days, I'd choose the beautiful wall cliffs and crystal clear coves of Palawan over Bohol.

I've trekked up to Northern Cebu from Cebu City, but not to Malapascua, only to Bantayan. But I will say that I'd rather do the commute to Bohol rather than Northern Cebu from Cebu City. It's a 2 hour fast ferry ride then a 25 min car ride to Panglao Island vs. a 2.5 hour bus/private car ride then a boat ride to the respective island. But then the diving is highly recommended in malapascua by many people here (I have never been).

Hope that provides some insight.

 

[pakman]

Hello again...do you folks feel that there are enough sites/varied sites to dive over the course of 10 days on Bohol? Is diving Malapascua a worthwhile diversion (time-wise) to make it over to that end of Cebu (I have family on Cebu)...Logistically, could this be problematic?

Logistically, can be done, but it does involve a lot of travel time to get from Bohol to Malapascua. You would be looking at a 2hr fast ferry to Cebu City. Then 3 1/2 hr drive to the Northern tip of Cebu, then 1/2 short bangka ride to Mapascua. Not sure how frequent the bus from Cebu are. The resorts can arrange private car and bangka transfer to malapacua but can get pricey for one person.

 

[shugar]

Is Palawan the best island for diving in the PI?....I dunno if I would agree with that statement since there are so many great places to dive here...but then again I've only dove in Coron (which was great and I'd go back in a heartbeat) and not the rest of Palawan. I'll be going to Puerto Princesa for the first time this coming weekend but I certainly know you will be able to dive Bohol in 10 days and still want to dive it some more. So my vote is for Bohol. From Alona Beach, I dove with Philippine Fun Divers. Philippine Island Divers comes highly recommended too.

and FWIW, my cousin had a chat with Christian Bautista and he said that he enjoys Bohol better than Palawan.

But then again if I had to choose the scenery to stay and wake up in for 10 days, I'd choose the beautiful wall cliffs and crystal clear coves of Palawan over Bohol.

I've trekked up to Northern Cebu from Cebu City, but not to Malapascua, only to Bantayan. But I will say that I'd rather do the commute to Bohol rather than Northern Cebu from Cebu City. It's a 2 hour fast ferry ride then a 25 min car ride to Panglao Island vs. a 2.5 hour bus/private car ride then a boat ride to the respective island. But then the diving is highly recommended in malapascua by many people here (I have never been).

Hope that provides some insight.

you're going to dos palmas?

i have a big bunch of students going there for a workshop... lai rallos i think gonna be there too...

my camera's gonna be there but unfortunately i won't :sad:

have fun!

Jag

 

[jigo]

diving at dos palmas was so-so. poor viz. really silted. nothing to rave about.

 

[xariatay]

Hello again...do you folks feel that there are enough sites/varied sites to dive over the course of 10 days on Bohol? Is diving Malapascua a worthwhile diversion (time-wise) to make it over to that end of Cebu (I have family on Cebu)...Logistically, could this be problematic?

Have dived Malapascua 07 & Bohol 08... Going bk to Malapascua in Dec. Will I go back to Bohol? Probably not within 3years... :11: Might try Cabilao though (see the other post, looking very gd)...

Maybe u might want to split your time between in Bohol just doing Panglao & Cabilao, might be easier...