ScottVA
Registered
Hey folks! Long time lurker, first time poster.
I spent the month of February checking off a few bucket list items. I traveled from Dulles Airport, Northern Va (Korean Air) to Cebu. Stayed the first week at Tapanee Beach Resort in Malipascua. The resort is close enough to be convenient but far enough away to not be bothered by the party crowd on the main beach.
Dove with Mahubay Thresher Divers and have nothing but good things to say about them. Easy, convenient, the boats had plenty of shade and seating. I did Gato Island a few times, hard to get board of that dive location. Also did several reefs surrounding Malipascua and all were excellent. I did private transfers to and from Cebu Airport to Malipascua which the folks at Tapanee were happy to arrange for me, for what I consider to be a very reasonable price of 800 php each way, both private car and private boat.
The second week was at Coron and I stayed at Asia Grand View Resort which was again, close enough to be convenient but far enough away from the main strip to have some peace and quiet during the evenings. I dove with Fun & Sun Divers which is a great dive shop with large boats that have lots of shade and plenty of seating, (as well really great lunches prepared by the crew). Coron was considerably more crowded than Malipascua and is growing in leaps an bounds. Almost every block on the main strip had a new hotel construction project going on. Pretty soon that place will be even more over crowded than it already is... Better get there soon if i'ts on your list. And if it isn't on your list it should be. The wreck diving there is amazing!
Third week was spent in Alona Beach, Bohol, intentionally meant to be the more "relaxing" focused part of the trip rather than diving. I splurged on Henaan Resort and was very happy to stay at a five star resort for my last week. I wasn't expecting the diving to be great but my mind was blown at Balaicasag Island and surrounding reefs. Boy was I wrong! I dove with Go Scuba-Diving, Alona Beach, who had great boats with lots of shade and sitting room. I was surprised to learn that you need to book Balicasag Island a couple weeks in advance due to the strict limits on daily visitors to the Island. I got lucky and another diver canceled their spot so space was available for me on the next days boat.
Thanks to others who have posted here on Scuba Board I was able to plan my trip to the Philippines and make good choices for dive destinations. Check out my You Tube page for videos!
Malapascua:
Coron:
Balicasag Island and nearby Reefs:
I spent the month of February checking off a few bucket list items. I traveled from Dulles Airport, Northern Va (Korean Air) to Cebu. Stayed the first week at Tapanee Beach Resort in Malipascua. The resort is close enough to be convenient but far enough away to not be bothered by the party crowd on the main beach.
Dove with Mahubay Thresher Divers and have nothing but good things to say about them. Easy, convenient, the boats had plenty of shade and seating. I did Gato Island a few times, hard to get board of that dive location. Also did several reefs surrounding Malipascua and all were excellent. I did private transfers to and from Cebu Airport to Malipascua which the folks at Tapanee were happy to arrange for me, for what I consider to be a very reasonable price of 800 php each way, both private car and private boat.
The second week was at Coron and I stayed at Asia Grand View Resort which was again, close enough to be convenient but far enough away from the main strip to have some peace and quiet during the evenings. I dove with Fun & Sun Divers which is a great dive shop with large boats that have lots of shade and plenty of seating, (as well really great lunches prepared by the crew). Coron was considerably more crowded than Malipascua and is growing in leaps an bounds. Almost every block on the main strip had a new hotel construction project going on. Pretty soon that place will be even more over crowded than it already is... Better get there soon if i'ts on your list. And if it isn't on your list it should be. The wreck diving there is amazing!
Third week was spent in Alona Beach, Bohol, intentionally meant to be the more "relaxing" focused part of the trip rather than diving. I splurged on Henaan Resort and was very happy to stay at a five star resort for my last week. I wasn't expecting the diving to be great but my mind was blown at Balaicasag Island and surrounding reefs. Boy was I wrong! I dove with Go Scuba-Diving, Alona Beach, who had great boats with lots of shade and sitting room. I was surprised to learn that you need to book Balicasag Island a couple weeks in advance due to the strict limits on daily visitors to the Island. I got lucky and another diver canceled their spot so space was available for me on the next days boat.
Thanks to others who have posted here on Scuba Board I was able to plan my trip to the Philippines and make good choices for dive destinations. Check out my You Tube page for videos!
Malapascua:
Coron:
Balicasag Island and nearby Reefs:
