Philipines

[alto]

My wife and I are going to the Philippines for 3 weeks and then to a week in Palau.
During out time in the Philippines we want also to dive few days, and we are looking for a recommendations where to.
I heard it possible to see whale sharks in Sorgon, Donsol, is Nov-Dec is good time to sea them?

 

[kraken]

I believe the whale shark season starts in December. I've been to the philippines 4 times even after visiting places like fiji (liveaboard), sipadan, honduras, mexico, and I keep going back. Here is a quick run down:

Anilao - easy to get to from Manilia, compentent dive operations (generally). Little or no big fish. Reef fishes on the farther out/deeper reefs are pretty good. You should see a good assortment of nudibranch (probably because no one has figured out how to prepare them for lunch...

Bohol - Can be great, like Pamilaian/sunken island the best. Lots of choices of who to dive with and places to stay. Avoid the house reefs, pretty torn up. Lots of sea snakes, good schools of jacks, turtles, 4 different frog fishes over a 4 day period.

Dumaguete(Dauin)/Apo Island - probably my favorite. I saw more "critters" here than any where else I've been. Devil fish, ornate ghost pipes, hairy frogfish, flashlight fish, schools of clownfish (really), turtles, juvi emperor angels, juvi sweetlips (the brown/white one), 2 different types of sea snakes. I could go on and on, saw quite a few of my "want to see" items here over 5 days. I'm going back for 18 days in Nov, 9 of them just to apo.

Moalboal - great deep wall at Pescador island. This is more of a resort town if that is what you are interested in doing. Diving was pretty good, better than Anilao, but not as nice as Bohol/Dumaguete. A lot of the diving is very deep, 150-180 is not uncommon based on my experience.

Malapascua - famous for thresher sharks, haven't been here but friends tell me it's pretty good if you see the sharks, otherwise... well lots of rubble from the dynamite fisherman.

Coron - famous for the wrecks, if you are into that I hear it's as good as if not better than Truk. I have not been to truk, so that is based on hearsay.

Stay away from Mindinao, good diving, but a lot of anti westerner feelings in various places. You would probably be ok, but the diving isn't worth the risk right now.

Palawan - diving is so so if you are not on a liveaboard out at Tubbataha.

As a general note, I noticed the trend towards deeper diving in the philippines compared with other locations. Don't be surprised if you stop at 130 while your DM heads to 150 with the rest of the group (happened several times).

Good luck, I hope you enjoy your stay.

Dave

 

[alto]

Thanks for the detailed answer, it's really helping me to start looking for information on the specifics place you mentioned.
We dives a lot in the north of Red Sea so we are familiar with one of the best (if not the best one) reefs corals and fishes in the world, I want to try to see more of the big creatures that there in the oceans that we don't have too many of them here, so my main interest is to see sharks, mantas and so on.
Any more information will be appreciated.

 

[alto]

I heard there are good dives in south Leyte an there are a lot of pelagic.
Any one dove there or knows more details?

 

[Porpoise2]

Hi,

Just thought I should clarify Dave's comments on the whale sharks. I was on Donsol in March this year and boy did we get our share of whale sharks!! we were on Donsol for a week and I think we had over 40 interactions (sightings) of the beautiful creatures. whale shark sightings are between March and April, though you should try not to go there over easter as you will see more boats instead of whale sharks...

Our next island was Cabilao, which is a small island west of Bohol. Try to book with sea explorers there and ask for Bobet, he is the best dive guide they have, who has been diving there for more than 10 years. Put it this way, he knows the underwater environment like his second home and can bring you to see everything there is to see there... look out for the pymy sea horses, the star gazers and the pegasus, and plenty more of fish... Cabilao is great for Macro stuff, and don't miss out on the night dive at Lighthouse... the best night dives we have ever had...

Last on our agenda was Malapascua to spot the Tresher sharks... we managed to spot them twice, although we were told that we were very very lucky as the sharks have been scared away from divers... not to miss out are the mandarin fish...

Hope you have fun there!!

Celine

 

[kraken]

Thanks for adding that info. I've always wondered about the whale sharks, most of the time I only hear about "great" sightings from the people pushing the trips. I've been tempted to do Cabilao for some time, I just couldn't work it into this trip, I hear the hammerheads are around december, the time of my next trip.


I got a lot of feedback on Malapascua, I'm spending 5 of the 15 days there.

 

[bmag]

Hi
You'll have fun in Philippines. No discussion of Philippine diving is complete however without considering Puerto Galera. Three hours from Manila (including a boat ride) excellent cheap hotels, great food , great dive shops and diving that rivals anything else in Phils and most anyplace else in se asia (except for tubbataha). Every place mentioned in the other posts is true but you need to consider PG. Easy to get to and once you're there it's even easier with many full service dive resorts. Most dives within 10-15 minutes ride from your place. Have fun

 

[joele]

i'm from the philippines and my avatar is a map if my country...
it is obvious that since the country is an archepelago, it's almost as if everywhere you look, you can find a divesite...
however, you seldom dive fresh water since there are not enough lakes to dive at...

anilao is the dive place most popular in the Philippines...
boatmen are very courteous and very helpful to divers' needs divers are very friendly...
resorts have great food...

not the whole of mindanao is unsafe...
Davao city and the Samal island have good divesites also...
and the island of Camiguin boasts also of some...

Tubbataha is good...
in fact, could be the best in the country...

we are also from Sorsogon...
yes, whale sharks (butanding in the local dialect) are most commonly found in Donsol...
however, they're usually seen during summer here...
that is around march to may...

when do you intend to go to tha Philippines?
if you need help with anything that pertains to our country and diving and diving arrangements, you may want to PM me or send me an email at joele@scubadiving.com
if you need my number, please PM me...

enjoy Philippines!

 

[jplacson]

I think Philippine divers are one of the most spolied divers in the world... we may not always have 5-star hotel resorts... but in even the cheapest places, the boatmen lug your rig to and from the boat for you. The only place you need to actually don your rig, and carry the tanks are right before the dive. Unless you do a shore entry, but even then, they carry it to the end of the pier for you as well, and help you don it in the water. :lol:

For boat entries, you remove your rig first, then they lift it out of the water for you as well.

 

[chipster]

I second APO Island, It is something to behold, You have to stay at Liberty's Lodge. The food and the tranquility of the place is amazing. Will be going again next time I am in the Philippines. Wife is from Bacolod , which is on the other side of the Island from Dumugette. About a 5 hour bus ride than 1 hour over to APO by Bonka boat.

What ever you do don't go to Borocay for diving, it sucks. The island itself is Paridise.