Planning first PI dive trip April 2019....

[Centrals]

Which one would I prefer: Balicasag( + Cabilao), Malapascua or Southern Leyte(Sogod Bay).
If you want to see thresher shark then it has to be Malapascua.
I have been to all these three places on several occasions and Southern Letye is head and shoulder above the rest.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Howdy Philippine experts! We have finally quit messing around and are planning our first dive safari to the Philippines! We've balked in the past because it seems like the PI can be a logistical nightmare to get around. By get around I mean 2 -55yr olds lugging 3 -50lb suitcases and at least 3 carry ons. I need help avoiding any pitfalls such as surcharges on flights and ferries, travel tips, etc.... Also, help formulating a solid strategy to minimize travel. Here's a quick snapshot of what I'm thinking right now....

24 day total April 1-24
Flight from LAX - Cebu- Puerto Princessa
7 day LOB - Tubbataha - Stella Maris
4 days El Nido - 6hr van ride each way... ugh! (This might get chopped if another better option comes up)
1 day fly from PP-Cebu

At that point I have to formalize the rest of the plan. I know I want to hit Sanctuary Beach Dive Resort in Cabilao (Thanks Luko!). When I hit that I'm not sure. The beginning of that leg? or to finish the vacation? So any thoughts on a logistically sound leg to this leg?? One that doesn't kill me...

We love it all, Pelagics, reefscapes, macro. Not fans of straight muck diving though. Wishlist? Whalesharks, Mantas, Threshers.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips!

Greg

I was in the Philippines for about the same time you were. We went mid April - early May 2018. We started with a similar itinerary:

Flew SFO to Manila, Manila to Puerto Princesa
Tubbataha Liveaboard (Discovery Fleet)
Puerto Princesa to El Nido by private transfer van
El Nido to Coron 4 day, 3 night dive safari
Flew Coron (Busuanga) to Manila, transfer to Puerto Galera by private car/bangka
Asia Divers/El Galleon for a week then returned to SFO via Manila.

My suggestion for your proposed itinerary, if you have the time, is to do the safari from El Nido to Coron so that you don't have to drive the 6 hours back down to Puerto Princesa from El Nido. You would have already done it once. (Daytripper Palawan is very good for private transfers.) Submariner Dive Center runs it and they have nitrox on board. Their DMs are very good. You stay in guest houses and little inns every night as you make your way towards Coron. AC is available if you book early. We did all dives on nitrox. You get to dive Coron and see the WWII wrecks along the way and then you can fly from Coron (Busuanga) straight to Cebu. I'd say that 4 days in El Nido felt like too many days - but we only had 2 full days where we were not diving and we chose to beach hop on a private bangka on both days. If you need a suggestion for a private bangka, we went with Tarawis and Benly, the owner, was very responsive and the price was reasonable.

 

[Maverick17]

Sounds like the EN portion is out, and rightly so. It's not worth it, IMO.

Note you're going during Easter, so the whole country will pretty much shut down for a few days. I don't suspect it will cause problems if you're in a resort/hotel, except maybe a few local restaurants around are closed. But I'd avoid any travel portion of the trip and try to be in one place for the Thur-Sunday of Easter weekend.

 

[Sideways]

Sounds like the EN portion is out, and rightly so. It's not worth it, IMO.

Note you're going during Easter, so the whole country will pretty much shut down for a few days. I don't suspect it will cause problems if you're in a resort/hotel, except maybe a few local restaurants around are closed. But I'd avoid any travel portion of the trip and try to be in one place for the Thur-Sunday of Easter weekend.

Thanks for the Easter heads up! I had read something about that in another thread. If I stick with the current itinerary we will be tucked away in the quiet resort at Cabilao for that week. Yeah, I mentioned the 6 hour El Nido van ride to my wife and got a prompt "Hell no" LOL.

Which one would I prefer: Balicasag( + Cabilao), Malapascua or Southern Leyte(Sogod Bay).
If you want to see thresher shark then it has to be Malapascua.
I have been to all these three places on several occasions and Southern Letye is head and shoulder above the rest.

Just to clarify.. "Head and shoulders above the rest" in what regard? I'm assuming diving? How so? Better reefs? More critters? I know it's been mentioned how crowded Alona Beach is and to clarify for us...that is OK. We don't mind crowds, except on dive boats . We will get plenty of quiet time in Cabilao. If we had more time we would do Malapascua.

 

[Centrals]

Everything. Even quieter than Cabilao because there won't be any outside visitors(day trippers for diving or whatnot). Where do you think the local go during a major public holiday eg. Easter?

BTW, it is whaleshark season(Sogod Bay) in Apr.

 

[Sideways]

Everything. Even quieter than Cabilao because there won't be any outside visitors(day trippers for diving or whatnot). Where do you think the local go during a major public holiday eg. Easter?

BTW, it is whaleshark season(Sogod Bay) in Apr.

I'm sorry, not sure I understand your message? I'm thinking during the Easter holiday Cabilao will be relatively quiet. Am I wrong?

 

[Centrals]

I'm sorry, not sure I understand your message? I'm thinking during the Easter holiday Cabilao will be relatively quiet. Am I wrong?

What made you think that Cabilao will be relatively quiet during Easter holiday?
Easter and Christmas are the two major public holidays in the country. And Pinoys also like to travel to see their beloved country. I have stopped travelling in the country over certain time of the year because of that.

The pebble beach in Sogod Bay is its own blessing!!!!!

 

[Sideways]

What I meant was I thought Cabilao might be less crowded than other areas like Alona Beach. Also if we were tucked in and not traveling during that week we would hopefully be OK.

 

[Bearkeley]

Sideways, sounds like you have a good trip planned. Very smart with spending more time in less areas. Cabilao Sanctuary’s Rates are high but worth it. They have easy relaxing, pretty dives, perfect after liveaboards and before heading back to reality. However, I wouldn’t expect to have a lot of variety with the dive sites...it’s a place to take things easy, topside and underwater.

The costs of the ferries are minimal...when you get off, however, be prepared to get a swarm of people offering to help with your bags and transportation to your lodging, but their rates are published, so even if it’s slightly more than what a local would pay, its usually not that much more.

If you are still considering options, I suggest you research balicasag vs Malapascua. I wasnt wowed by balicasag....nothing specific, but Malapascua (must go with Thresher Shark Divers if you go...private mooring ball with threshers so better chances of seeing them) offers something special. It’s been a couple of years since we were there, but plan to return this March. The island and if not too crowded, a day trip to kalamgaman Island is pretty cool. The drive from cebu isn’t bad....gives you a way to see the country and it’s on a paved road, all the way.

 

[Sideways]

Thanks Bearkeley! So let me ask this.... besides the Thresher's what does Malapascua offer differently than Balicasag? All I can go off of is what's written here and youtube vids as far as judging the different sites. Looking at LOTS of youtube/vimeo vids Balicasag seems to be better suited to our style of diving, Reef scapes, Schooling fish, macro. With of course the exception of the Threshers. Add to that, besides Balicasag we would probably hit a couple other sites like Doljo and Pamilican.