Philippines - Where to dive?

[raina79]

I've booked my flight to Phillipines - land in Manila on March 6th! YAY!!! I have 18 days, and want to spend about half that time diving, and the other half exploring and laying on the beach. Going places where there is great diving, but also other things to see/do would be ideal. I'm on a backpackers -medium budget. Would like to do it cheap, but don't mind splurging once in a while. Also want to go somewhere social with some nightlife, as I will be travelling alone.

I haven't been diving in 2 years, so I'm looking to start out with some easy, low current dives and work my way up to more challenging dives. My plan WAS to fly to Manila and head straight to Mindoro, but have read afew posts about Puerto Galera having some pretty strong currents. I have done a lot of drift diving, and don't mind mediocre current. I was throwing around the idea of catching a flight to Cebu, and now I'm thinking maybe I should do that first off.....

How does diving in Moalboal and Malapascua compare to PG?? Are there some nice, easy drift dives? What about Alona Beach in Bohol? I'm just really stuck on which places to go, as I only have 18 days. Any suggestions out there?

 

[deepdiver2005]

I go to the philippines every year to dive, both recreational and technical diving. Mostly during December as the water is cool and a 3mm is more than you will need (sick and tired of worm waters of the Red Sea).
I sugjest you start with Anilao in Batangas, only two hours drive with alot of budget hotels. some even have their own dive centers.
If your looking for sand then Borakay is the place to be. I have never seen anything beter when it comes to postcard picture like beaches. Diving there is pritty good too. Puerto Galera is a place if you want to dive during day time and a great night life. Remember "no drinking and diving" lol.
Im sure you can find all the info you need on the net.
Happy diving:14:

 

[solanabezo]

For Anilao, e mail Mischelle Magmanlac, Mabini Tourism Officer at shell_tourism@yahoo.com
for more information of resort rates and facilities.

 

[jonix]

you can easily do several sites in anilao in a day or two then head for PG via batangas pier. beaches...boracay is good. am thinking go for anilao, pg, then head south via ferry from Calapan, Mindoro to Caticlan (Boracay is just a few minutes away from Caticlan Jetty)...that would be a cheap way to go (a little more time consuming though).

anyways, let's wait for the other PPD peeps for inputs

 

[shugar]

I've booked my flight to Phillipines - land in Manila on March 6th! YAY!!! I have 18 days, and want to spend about half that time diving, and the other half exploring and laying on the beach. Going places where there is great diving, but also other things to see/do would be ideal. I'm on a backpackers -medium budget. Would like to do it cheap, but don't mind splurging once in a while. Also want to go somewhere social with some nightlife, as I will be travelling alone.

I haven't been diving in 2 years, so I'm looking to start out with some easy, low current dives and work my way up to more challenging dives. My plan WAS to fly to Manila and head straight to Mindoro, but have read afew posts about Puerto Galera having some pretty strong currents. I have done a lot of drift diving, and don't mind mediocre current. I was throwing around the idea of catching a flight to Cebu, and now I'm thinking maybe I should do that first off.....

How does diving in Moalboal and Malapascua compare to PG?? Are there some nice, easy drift dives? What about Alona Beach in Bohol? I'm just really stuck on which places to go, as I only have 18 days. Any suggestions out there?

seems boracay is your major option but diving isn't the best the philippines has to offer and it can get expensive (don't know exactly what medium budget is in $$)

i'll kinda have to echo jonix suggestion: PG and/or anilao 1st, that way all you're thinking (and spending on) is primarily diving

then you can spend the latter part of your trip (e.g. 6 days) in boracay where you can still dive and spend until your cash reserves run out - the party and nightlife in boracay is great especially in march as it's already the summer season here

hope you have a blast!

Jag

 

[raina79]

I would also like to go to North Luzon and check out the rice paddies, so sticking close to Luzon would probably be the best. If I spend some time diving in Anilao, PG and Boracay would it be worth a few days side trip to Cebu to dive Moalboal or Malapascua??

Are there nice beaches in Anilao? Can anyone recommend a cheap-ish place they've stayed at there?

Thanks for all the advice!!

 

[Ben_ca]

No real "Beaches" in Anilao.. it's mostly rock.... a pebble beach sort of. What they lack in Beaches most resorts make up for with patio's and verandas for you to relax in and lay out.... I wouldn't worry much about the currents in PG. Just let the divemaster know what your experience/comfort level is and they will pick sites based on that.


Check out Balai and Solana both are very nice places.... I'm not sure about the prices but to me (US based) they were very reasonable

http://www.balai-resort.com/
http://www.divesolana.com/

 

[chip104]

hey rain, sorry I didn't reply sooner - I totally missed this threads.

For a mixture of night life, diving, and rates, I'd reco Puerto Galera. If diving is secondary to beach-going, I'd reco you stay at white beach (which has the best beach there IMO) cause the beach in Sabang is horrid. However, the night life in white beach is more chill compared to sabang. Since you're travelling alone, maybe you'd enjoy the night life better in Sabang. another option is to stay at small la laguna, which is about a 15-20min walk to sabang and has a decent beach. Don't worry about the currents. A lot of dive sites there don't have as strong currents as the ones mentioned here (ishbaby went to some nice laidback sites there)

Of course, the night life in PG won't be as good as boracay, but if you want to head up to the rice terraces, it'd be better to stay in PG than go to the Visayas Islands (but I'd definitely reco the Visayas - it depends on how much you're willing to spend. Airfare will cost about $75 canadian to cebu or kalibo).

About Anilao - the diving there is a macro photographers paradise. doesn't really have the big fish you'll find in PG. But the diving there is amazing. The only problem is what Ben says: the beaches there are really just rock and pebbles. But you can always hop into a bangka to go to eagle point beach or sombrero beach (minimal entrance fee). Not only, the night life there is...well, it depends on the diver company you'll be with but for the most part non-existent. If you want to check out the diving, maybe do 3 days in PG, 2 days in anilao.

Just wondering, how much backpacking do you want to do compared to diving? And will you be renting equipment here or bringing your own? I'm just wondering as well, what's your 18-day itinerary (maybe I could throw in some ideas)?


Other things:

FWIW, if you want to go up to the terraces, you might as well stop in Segada (hanging coffins) La Union for some surfing (small surgers only) and Baguio (highest city in the mountains). from manila, take the overnight bus the rice terraces/segada. Stay there for the day, then take the bus to La Union where you can spend the night. Next day you can spend the entire day surfing/beach-going/possibly diving <-anyone know if they run dive ops there? Then spend another night there or take the bus to Baguio and spend the night there. Next morning, go around the city and take the bus back to manila. There're 3 nights for ya.

If you wanna check out the visayas, i'd reco cebu. You can head into the city for the night life, the beaches are great, but the rates will be a little higher. But you can also head out to bohol where the diving is arguably some of the best in the PI and the beaches (like alona) are decent. And bohol also has the chocolate hills and tarziers that you can see during your SI.

boracay is another place to go, but you'll have to travel quite a fair distance if you want to go somewhere else by land (Roxas = 3hrs, Iloilo = 6 hrs). Jonix had a great idea of heading to boracay from mindoro and you can fly out from there once you're done.

One thing that keeps coming up here about Malapascua is that it's void of freshwater. Brackish at best.

If you have anymore q's, just fire away.

Hope my info helps! If you do decide to go to anilao, maybe I'll be able to take a day off and go diving with ya. I'm always looking for excuses to head down there!

 

[iris_ice]

white beach, puerto galera - they have almost everything you want there for a pretty decent price: beach, snorkeling, diving, night life

 

[raina79]

Hey,

Thanks for all the tips. I've been reading a bit more and this is what my itinerary is starting to look like.

Arrive Manila 4:55 am. Same day get on a bus to Batangas and try and get out to Puerto Galera. Spend 3-4 days.

Head to Boracay. Spend 4-5 days.

Fly from Boracay to Palawan (Coron) and do 1-2 days with afew wreck dives.

Fly to Manila. Head up north to the rice paddies. Spend 2 days doing that.

If have left over time head from Manila to Anilao and spend a few nights there diving and relaxing before hometime!!

Of course, this may all change......I'm pretty flexible on days.