Planning a Trip To The Philippines

[Eco-Diver-Photographer]

Hello,

I'm heading back to US from Bali and I am thinking about stopping in the Philippines for about a week late July. From what I read, it looks like I may fly into Manilla, and then fly somewhere else. I'm concerned about baggage fees costing more than airfare (dive equipment and cameras), so somewhere cost effective and fun would be nice. We also want to explore the Philippines while not diving. Wreck diving is always good, but we like macro and reefs too.

I thought Puerto Galera is an option. But, I really don't know anything about the Philipppines.

This site looked interested but also looks remote. Valm Divers Bohol - The Best of Panglao Dive Sites

Ideas?

Kris

 

[cardzard]

Hello,

I'm heading back to US from Bali and I am thinking about stopping in the Philippines for about a week late July. From what I read, it looks like I may fly into Manilla, and then fly somewhere else. I'm concerned about baggage fees costing more than airfare (dive equipment and cameras), so somewhere cost effective and fun would be nice. We also want to explore the Philippines while not diving. Wreck diving is always good, but we like macro and reefs too.

I thought Puerto Galera is an option. But, I really don't know anything about the Philipppines.

This site looked interested but also looks remote. Valm Divers Bohol - The Best of Panglao Dive Sites

Ideas?

Kris

Puerto Galera is great diving we enjoyed our time there and Atlantis resort is top notch.

 

[staggsSevin]

You can skip any extra baggage fees if you go to Anilao (great muck diving—it also has very nice reefs) or Puerto Galera, as @cardzard mentioned. El Galleon/Asia Divers is also a top-notch outfit, as is Atlantis there in PG.

Both are within 2.5hrs - 3hrs from Manila by car (PG requires ferry/boat ride across from Batangas).

 

[Centrals]

Hello,

I'm heading back to US from Bali and I am thinking about stopping in the Philippines for about a week late July. From what I read, it looks like I may fly into Manilla, and then fly somewhere else. I'm concerned about baggage fees costing more than airfare (dive equipment and cameras), so somewhere cost effective and fun would be nice. We also want to explore the Philippines while not diving. Wreck diving is always good, but we like macro and reefs too.

I thought Puerto Galera is an option. But, I really don't know anything about the Philipppines.

This site looked interested but also looks remote. Valm Divers Bohol - The Best of Panglao Dive Sites

Ideas?

Kris

Anilao is your best bet if you like macro. A special trip to Verde Island is highly recommended.

Taal Volcano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Best wreck diving is in Coron.

 

[gng4life]

I agree also, Anilao is amazing for reef stuff. It's just a car ride to another province called Batangas. It's near Batangas City and it's really awesome. You can hire a car/driver in Manila for the day for a relatively fair price and they will take care of helping you with bags, getting back and forth, etc.

Puerto Galera is really nice but it's sort of a hassle to go because of the trip to Batangas port and finding a ferry to get over to the island. It's a little confusing at the port for first timers but can be done and it's not expensive.

Coron Island is the best for wreck diving, especially for shallow stuff and Subic Bay is great for some deeper wreck stuff. Coron is a plane ride for sure. You can take a ferry but it is really impractical. Subic Bay is north of Manila and if traffic isn't too terrible, you can get there in a few hours. Visibility isn't always the best but there are a lot things to see.

If you have any other questions, let us know. I should be there in a few days to do some diving but I will be leaving in early July. If I was there, I'd offer to meet up and do some diving with you. Good luck

 

[JonnieB]

Have you been to the Philippines before? If not, I'd make it an easy trip and just head down to Anilao or Puerto Galera. As stated, they're both just a few hours drive/ferry from Manila and both are world class diving (Anilao a bit more macro centric). The Mabini Peninsula, where Anilao is located, is a rocky cliffs shoreline and not a beach type spot, with the resorts built into the hillside. Puerto Galera is more a typical island beach dive spot. The resorts in Anilao are somewhat isolated from each other and any nearby towns and you generally book a dive and board package and dive, sleep, and eat at the resort. PG is more touristy, with many restos and shops allowing you more variety in eating choices and also some bars and nightlife if that's your thing. Anilao is more just a LOB on land...dive eat sleep repeat.

Another plus to diving either place is your not far from Lake Taal and the Tagaytay mountains, which are nice areas to tour either before or after your diving.

 

[diveUAE]

With just 1 week and flying into Manila it makes sense to pick Anilao or PG as they don’t require a flight. I haven’t been, but I haven’t read anything about exploring Philippines from these 2 bases, I may be very wrong, but they seem to be very dive focused. Just saying, that you may want to look into topside things to do, if that’s important to you.

I would not recommend more than 1 place iin a week. I thought traveling in Bali was slow, but in Philippines it’s even slower.

If you could fly into (or even just out from) Cebu it would give you other choices: Bohol is a ferry ride away and has a lot to do topside - you can also reach Bohol by plane from Manila.
Moalboal (about 3 hours drive from Mactan Cebu Airport) has the sardine school (rest of the diving is ok, but not great) but topside there’s some excursions like Kawasan falls.
From Cebu you can also reach Malapascua (about 5-6 hours from the airport) and dive with the Thresher sharks, Mala also has macro diving, but not a lot to do/see topside (it’s a very small island - no cars)
In a week you could maybe do Malapascua and Moalboal, but you’ll loose almost a day traveling between the 2.

Have fun planning

 

[Micko1974]

Hello,

I'm heading back to US from Bali and I am thinking about stopping in the Philippines for about a week late July. From what I read, it looks like I may fly into Manilla, and then fly somewhere else. I'm concerned about baggage fees costing more than airfare (dive equipment and cameras), so somewhere cost effective and fun would be nice. We also want to explore the Philippines while not diving. Wreck diving is always good, but we like macro and reefs too.

I thought Puerto Galera is an option. But, I really don't know anything about the Philipppines.

This site looked interested but also looks remote. Valm Divers Bohol - The Best of Panglao Dive Sites

Ideas?

Kris

Hi Kris, the website you mention is not a 'remote location'. It's one hour flight from Manila and the dive shop has an international airport 10 minutes away. Saying that, if you are worried about baggage and want to avoid flying, then Anialo has some awesome macro diving close to Manila. It's a photographers dream. You can also get to Verde Island from that area and the diving there is wonderful. Enjoy!