#Philipines+Palau Jan+Feb 2010 tips&advice needed#

[Topper1972]

Hi all!

January 2010 I embark on a 7 month round-the-world trip which should take me Phillippines/Palau-NZ/Tasmania-Western Australia/Northern Territory/Queensland-some Pacific Islands(possibly Fiji/Tahiti)-Easter Island-Chile/Peru...and then home again to the good ol' DK

I want to do loads of diving on this upcoming big trip...and as you can see my first destination will be the Philippines and Palau.

My mate at the travel agency wants to start booking the first tickets soon...so I think that I need start planning at least this first destination eg the Philippines and Palau.

I figure that I can set aside 6-8 weeks for the Philippines and Palau.
I primarily just want to do a lot of great diving there.

I am not an experienced diver...just a Padi AOW...and I will have about 100 logged dives at the time I come to the Philippines.

My interests...I would love diving some WW2 wrecks (not necessarily dive into them, though)...and diving with big fish like whale sharks and mantas would also make me very happy.

I rather like boat diving...and would love doing some weeks of liveaboard.

Budgetwise...I am a little budget conscious, but I should be quite okay for money...and having backpacked earlier in my life, these days any simple semi-clean hotel room of my own seems like 5 star luxury to me.

Any tips, advice and recommendations you can offer me on where to go diving and with what crew/firm would be dearly appreciated!

Cheers,

Henrik

 

[almitywife]

personally i would skip fiji and tahiti and dive instead the Solomons or PNG and while your diving Palau (ie, Micronesia) i would suggest Truk Lagoon.... these should give you the wreck fix your looking for

cheers

 

[jigo]

coron in palawan for wrecks. sogod bay for whalesharks, malapascua for tresher sharks and mantas. balicasag and apo island for schools of jacks and barracuda. apo reef for turtles and sharks. tubattaha for liveaboard with lots of big fish, turtles and sharks. unfortunately, you will be too early for tubattaha since the season starts in march.

 

[Topper1972]

personally i would skip fiji and tahiti and dive instead the Solomons or PNG and while your diving Palau (ie, Micronesia) i would suggest Truk Lagoon.... these should give you the wreck fix your looking for

cheers

Solomon Islands and PNG...interesting...how do you get there...are there flights from Cairns or Townsville?
Are there dive centers and/or liveaboards up there...and where are they based?

And Truk...domestic flight from Palau I suppose?

What is the best season (eg not the wet or stormy season) to visit Truk, PNG and the Solomon Islands?

 

[World Wide Diver]

Philippines can be a good place to be based to dive for good value (best in the World for the Coral Triangle). Coron is very good for wrecks.

Palau is great for diving and wrecks: expect minimum $110USD per day diving plus accom costs. Also, flight connections are expensive to/from there.

The PI's offers the best diving in the World at the best prices (currently). Take advantage of this and spend more time here before heading off to places where you will be charged lots of cash to see less than we have here.

 

[Topper1972]

coron in palawan for wrecks. sogod bay for whalesharks, malapascua for tresher sharks and mantas. balicasag and apo island for schools of jacks and barracuda. apo reef for turtles and sharks. tubattaha for liveaboard with lots of big fish, turtles and sharks. unfortunately, you will be too early for tubattaha since the season starts in march.

I know Palawan...but the rest of the places I must try read more about...luckily I have more than half year left until I go to the Philippines, so there should be time for some reading.

Tubattaha...is it due to marine regulations that you can only go there March-April-May?

I should be in the Philippines early January...and I can stay for maximum 2 months I think.
If we say 6-7 weeks just for the Philippines in January-February of 2010 what would be your suggested intinerary for me?

Please excuse my current very small knowledge about the Philippines...I promise I will read loads on your beautiful country before I visit it in January-February 2010!

 

[DevonDiver]

One easy destination, if you are arriving in Manila (or Clark International) is Subic.

We have some amazing wrecks (every serious diver should have the USS New York in their logbook). Only 200 pesos ($4) bus ride from Manila...and the dive sites are less than 15 minutes from our dive center door. You can get a nice hotel for around 1350 pesos ($28) a night, but there are cheaper options also. Diving is cheap, varied and memorable....

If you like WWII wrecks....we have a US Armored Battle Cruiser (the New York), complete with giant prop and turreted 8" guns...., several landing craft, a 'liberty ship', 2 Japanese Marus (including the infamous 'Hellship'). If you want something older...we even have a frigate from the Sanish-American war.

For marine life we have resident Bull Shark, Black Tip Reef shark, eagle rays...and I am finding new species of Nudibranch every day.

Happy to help with your trip planning in the PI

 

[Topper1972]

Philippines can be a good place to be based to dive for good value (best in the World for the Coral Triangle). Coron is very good for wrecks.

Palau is great for diving and wrecks: expect minimum $110USD per day diving plus accom costs. Also, flight connections are expensive to/from there.

The PI's offers the best diving in the World at the best prices (currently). Take advantage of this and spend more time here before heading off to places where you will be charged lots of cash to see less than we have here.

So...the Philippines would only be about 2/3-1/2 the price of Palau...when considering both accomodation and diving expenses?

Tubattaha...is it due to marine regulations that you can only go there March-April-May?

 

[clgsamson]

So...the Philippines would only be about 2/3-1/2 the price of Palau...when considering both accomodation and diving expenses?

Tubattaha...is it due to marine regulations that you can only go there March-April-May?

Tubattaha? the weather pretty much limits diving window from March to early early June.

 

[jigo]

i forgot to add sogod bay in southern leyte. its the season for whalesharks there in january to feb.