Philippines: world's leading dive destination (?)

[Searcaigh]

Political mess , this could only ever happen in poor countries. It would or could never, every every happen in the UK or the US. In the UK the future is clearly mapped out for the next 50 years and everybody knows exactly the direction the country is heading in

And you didn't even mention the "B" word, good luck on Thursday.

@The Chairman

Pete, Cebu is easy to enter, although traffic in Cebu City is a PITA.

Last week we managed to get around the island fairly easy and take a ferry* over to Negros Oriental for some amazing muck diving and some of the healthiest corals I've seen in years around Apo Island.

* Landing Craft style, not sure if it was a left over from WWII but was pretty big.

 

[The Chairman]

some of the healthiest corals I've seen in years around Apo Island.

Apo island is absolutely the best reef I've ever dove. No caveat needed. It is amazing.

 

[bshort4]

I think a worthwhile tangent to ask...from the perspective of English-only speakers traveling to dive Raja Ampat (live-aboard I presume) or Komodo (live-aboard or land-based options), not just 'on the boat' but in terms of making one's way through airports, an over-night hotel if you get there a couple days early, etc...how 'easy' (or difficult) is our newbie American dive tourist likely to find it to communicate?

No plans soon, but one of those is on my hope-to-be-blessed-with bucket list. I've noticed the Philippines are closer, but I'd heard those 2 and Papua New Guinea were in the 'best coral reef diving in the world' category, and I hoped to hit one of the 3 before I kick off one of these days. So would be good to know. Thanks.

As one who had the same questions before I ventured to Komodo last year on my own for a week of diving I can say--you'll be just fine. I flew into Bali and spent the night at a hotel close to the airport. Everyone I came in contact there from the guy that picked me up at the airport for my transfer to the hotel (free by the way) and the person at the front desk--they all spoke passible English. Back to the airport for my flight to Labuan Bajo and everyone I came in contact with spoke some English--from the check-in gals at Garuda airlines to the announcements over the PA system in English also. Once in Labuan Bajo--taxi driver knew English when I told him which hotel I needed to go to and asked the price--50,000 IDR---every ride anywhere it seemed was 50,000 IDR lol. Made contact in town with my live aboard boat and settled my remaining bill--all in English--lots of ex-pats running many of the shows there from various countries. Stayed four days for some land based diving after the live aboard and never had a language problem---so the short answer is --you'll have little to no problems being just a English speaker. In the Philippines it will be rare to find folks who don't speak English--everywhere.

 

[Tripophobia]

Philippines is nice diving and great on Macro - I have just been to Moalboal and have seen cool things that we have not seen in Indonesia. Moreover, with the Threshers and Sardines you have some cool go-to spots. However, in general biodiversity, healthy reefs, sheer amount of fish it cannot match Komodo/RA (I have not done Tubbadaha though).

I would do Philippines again especially for short trips (did Moalboal for a long weekend from Shanghai) or if I get good value for money, but only looking purely at quality of diving, I would always prefer Indonesia.

From a language pov I don't see a significant difference, in Komodo everybody speaks English and Labuan Bajo is nice to spend a 2-3 days in a nice resort and strolling around town. For more days I would probably move over to Bali. It is hard for me to judge for Sorong as we didn't spend a night there but it did not look really appealing. So I would probably limit myself to a deco day at a nice resort and then move on.