Philippines trip planning

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I'm surprised at the DMs in Seaview in Moalboal. I know the manager of the resort and the head instructor Koz, and that shocks me. Though I've never dove through the resort, they're also affiliated with Savedra and it was a really well run operation last summer. The DMs were fantastic.

I'll pass that along next time I talk to them, important info if their guides aren't doing much guiding.
Yes, I was really surprised as reviews are great and Magnus from Bongo Bongo told me we made a good choice and to say hi to Paul (hope I remember the name correctly as we never met him during our 4 days of diving)
Let me elaborate since not everything was bad:
The girls at reception/dive booking were great! Always asking if we had good dives and good at explaining the on shore set up.

Watched the instructors doing both DSD, refresher and OW certification and from what we could hear/see they were great at explaining theory and what comes next/showing the exercises on land. I do think they were letting new divers a bit down by not helping them bring the equipment to the boat during low tide. (The crew carried our gear to the boat, and I found it challenging to walk on the dead corals to the boat, can’t imagine why you want new/not certified divers to do it with equipment!) At high tide would be ok to carry their own to learn how to get aboard with equipment.

The crew on the boat were also helpful with getting the equipment on and off.

But dive guides were unenthusiastic. On our first dives our guide never asked how much air we had left or if we were ok - I thought it might be because he saw we were dive professionals, so figured we would let him know, but when our friend (aowd) joined he never asked her either. He also only told my husband about a change in the dive plan (in the surface, just before descending) and only signalled “safety stop” to my husband as well - at 47 minutes of diving, while we still had more than 100 bar). Our friend commented and complained about him to the dive receptionist and we got assigned a new dive guide. Suddenly the dive briefings also changed to include: “your guide will ask for your air …”.

Our new dive guide was a bit better and very helpful towards my SIL (I asked him to, since she’s 65 years old with about 70 dives and only started diving at 56), he kept close watch on her buoyancy and air, helping her get weights and bcd off in the water. We also got 60 minute dives.
 
Just updating for those following as my plans are almost set.
Starting 5 nites on Camiguin Island. Lesser known it seems, but maybe a hidden gem and beautiful island. At least one day will just be exploring and hiking. Then to Moalboal for 4 dive days. From there down to Santander for 4 dive days. Perhaps another hidden gem according to my friend - one of those days will be to Oslob. Then down to Dauin for 5 days. I was going to add Siquijor but decided to not go too many places on this trip and diving there would be similar to other places I'll go. So up to Panglao for 3 days since it is on the way back to Cebu - of course I could fly, but I thought I'd check out Panglao. Some reports are it was hit pretty hard in 2021, but recent reports still seem it is worth a stopover. Then I will make the trek up to Malapascua for 4 dive days before returning to Cebu to depart. So about 4wks total.

I am skipping Anda and S. Leyte as my agent (a local to Dauin) said they were both hit pretty hard by the typhoon.
 
I went diving in Sogod Bay 4 months ago. I didn't think there was anything amiss. It was great diving.
 
I am skipping Anda and S. Leyte as my agent (a local to Dauin) said they were both hit pretty hard by the typhoon.
You surely like travelling! Nothing wrong with that.
I have no idea where did your agent get the latest information from! S. Leyte has recovered pretty well when I was there LAST wk.
 
Trying to see too much...a lot of shuffling around...you'll be exhausted from all the travel and packing and unpacking. Also, due to weather and breakdowns, plane/ferry travel is often subject to delay and cancellation. Two or three spots are more than enough for a Philippines trip.
 
Trying to see too much...a lot of shuffling around...you'll be exhausted from all the travel and packing and unpacking. Also, due to weather and breakdowns, plane/ferry travel is often subject to delay and cancellation. Two or three spots are more than enough for a Philippines trip.
LOL.
Did you not notice the OP has about 4 wks to cover all those places and the distance covered is NOT great. I do not see any issue with his proposed itinerary. Perfectly doable and with time to spare.
BTW, have you ever travelled around Visayas by using public transport at all?
 
From there down to Santander for 4 dive days. Perhaps another hidden gem according to my friend - one of those days will be to Oslob.
I have dived Sumilon Island many many yrs ago and it was very very ordinary. Looking forward to your trip report.
Just ignore @JonnieB remark. You have plenty of time to complete your trip easily.
 
Just updating for those following as my plans are almost set.
Starting 5 nites on Camiguin Island. Lesser known it seems, but maybe a hidden gem and beautiful island. At least one day will just be exploring and hiking. Then to Moalboal for 4 dive days. From there down to Santander for 4 dive days. Perhaps another hidden gem according to my friend - one of those days will be to Oslob. Then down to Dauin for 5 days. I was going to add Siquijor but decided to not go too many places on this trip and diving there would be similar to other places I'll go. So up to Panglao for 3 days since it is on the way back to Cebu - of course I could fly, but I thought I'd check out Panglao. Some reports are it was hit pretty hard in 2021, but recent reports still seem it is worth a stopover. Then I will make the trek up to Malapascua for 4 dive days before returning to Cebu to depart. So about 4wks total.

I am skipping Anda and S. Leyte as my agent (a local to Dauin) said they were both hit pretty hard by the typhoon.
All 3 of the dive shops in Camiguin are good. TinTin from Volcan is one of the best DMs I've had, he sees and points out everything. That resort has really good breakfast as well, but I had mixed feelings about the foreigner owners.
Balai sa Baibai/Coraya Divers has the safest run operation. Roman is very knowledgeable and safety orientated. I dove with them and Volcan last year and had great experiences with both.
Camiguin Souldivers is a good mix of the two, more of an old school shop vibe. A little more relaxed. It's out of the way from the main town of Mambajao (towards the port) but it's been around for many years and has a good reputation. I went with them in 2019 to Mantigue Island (if you love turtles you need to go) and from what I recall it was another good shop.

Lots of options, and if you need any advice or have any questions about Camiguin let me know. I've been there 3 times and recently bought land there (building next year hopefully)
 

Back
Top Bottom