Philippine holiday

[budasub]

Hello everyone on the forum, I am trying to plan a trip to the Philippines for January / February 2016, I have 3/4 weeks of vacation, someone can suggest an itinerary budget, to be followed in the Philippines, I am looking at Puerto Galera and Boracay, I love dive both the macro and wide angle thanks for the info

 

[Centrals]

1. Both places are not renown for macro and the diving in Boracay is pretty average by Philippines standard.
2. Linking up these two places can be time consuming and tedious.
a. Flight from Manila to Caticlan
b. Overnight ferry from Batangas to Caticlan
c. Jeepney from PG to Calapan and bus to Roxa and finally ferry. You have to start early for this.

Anilao is well known for macro and can be reached from PG or vice versa for around 2hrs.
You should budget around US$120.00 per diving day for full board + 2 - 3 dives.
Anilao + PG + Boracay should keep you happy for 3-4 wks.
Alternatively, how about Visayas area?

 

[Mucksavage]

+ 1 for Visayas. Over land round trip flying in and out of Cebu. Malapascua, Moalboal, Dauin (Dumaguete), Siquijor, Bohol (Panglao etc) and back to Cebu. All locations have budget accommodation all the way up to what you can afford. Travel in between is relatively easy and no flights needed so no need for no fly times. Plenty of options for non diving activities though from canyoning to kayaking to sight seeing.

 

[budasub]

Thanks for the answers, I have to spend two weeks in the Visayas, which places do you recommend?

 

[Allison Finch]

Liveaboard in the Vasayas. I will be aboard the MV Atlantis Azores over Christmas and New Years. Then, I will be in Anilao. If you like macro, you NEED to go to Anilao.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We did Malapascua, Dumaguete and Maolboal.once in 3 weeks and it was fabulous.

BTW everybody we met said that the diving in Boracay was not nearly as good as in the Visayas and it was extremely touristy

 

[Centrals]

1. Malapascua and Southern Leyte(fly into Cebu City and out from Tacloban or vice versa)
2. Malapascua, Moalboal and Dumaguete(fly into Ceub City and out from Dumaguete or vice versa)

 

[budasub]

thank you all for the answers, I thought I go to Malapasqua one week and one week in Siquijor shall we?

 

[Mucksavage]

I think Siquijor is great and certainly worth a visit but as it is so close to Dumaguete / Dauin it would be a shame not to maybe split your week on Siquijor into 3 days there and maybe 4 days in Dauin where you can access all the amazing muck sites along the coast and day trip to Apo Island. The fast ferry from Siquijor to Dumaguete is just two hours so you could even dive later that day. Just my thoughts.

For Malapascua, feel free to PM me if you need help with that end. Disclaimer, I am the owner of Evolution with Matt.

 

[FT]

Evolution does provide a wonderful diving experience. +1 for splitting the rest of your time between Siquijor and Dauin. The latter will meet your interest in macro. What do you want to be able to do when not diving?