Planning first PI dive trip April 2019....

[borisphotosafari]

Malapascua, the day starts very early, 5 am. In the water before 6 am. But the Threasher sharks are worth it. Threasher Shark Divers, have their own mooring, away from other dive shops and good restaurants on the roof. I used them 4 times. Try staying at Tapanee Resort, book early, they get sold out. 2 Italian restaurants next to the resort. Well worth it.
Gato Island is a really nice day of diving. Frog fishes, saw hairy frog fish there. Sea horses, saw pigmy sea horse. Blue ring octopus and much more.

A few shots from my trip there in May.

 

[Bearkeley]

To be fair, we didn’t do a lot of diving at Balicasag...we went on the safari and dove around the different islands. It was nice, but based on what I remember, it was similar to Cabilao. Topside, it wasn’t really what my husband and I prefer....too busy for us. Malapascua, on the other hand, was pretty memorable underwater (reef sharks at Gato Island) and topside (day trip between dives to kalamgaman island....bbq lunch). It also gives you an opportunity to experience a quiet island with white sand beaches and how the locals live. Also one of the best sunsets we’ve seen. If you can’t fit it in this time, 5eres always the next time! Either way,sounds like you guys already have a great trip planned!

 

[Sideways]

First and foremost I want to thank everyone for their help! It's so awesome to have a travel support system like this. I ended up with 2 potential itineraries. One that was extended from the original 24 to 26 days. The second was a 28 day scenario. The 28 day was designed to include Malapascua for 3 days diving. At the end of the day though that was just not sensible. it would have included diving 22 days diving out of 28, over 60 dives. Plus the added travel time/destination. For us, being 55-60yrs hauling all our gear that's just too much. Especially during the hottest time of the year...LOL. Hopefully, we will fall in love with the diving in the Philippines and have return trips to do Malapascua and Southern Leyte.

SO! 26 days....

7 Day Stella Maris - Tubbataha
6 Days diving - Balicasag and Puntod wall, Doljo, and Pamilican Island
6 Days diving - Cabilao

So our next challenge is the internal 2 domestic flights we have to plan. If I'm looking at it correctly Cebu Pacific has flights that allow you 1 checked 30kg bag each. Which will leave us paying fees for our 3rd one @ 650PHP. If I'm incorrect please let me know! Also... With Carry-ons, will they allow an excess of the 7kg's allowed for a fee? If so how much is the fee? After that arranging the private transfers that we will need.

Thanks again for everything!!

Greg

 

[outofofficebrb]

First and foremost I want to thank everyone for their help! It's so awesome to have a travel support system like this. I ended up with 2 potential itineraries. One that was extended from the original 24 to 26 days. The second was a 28 day scenario. The 28 day was designed to include Malapascua for 3 days diving. At the end of the day though that was just not sensible. it would have included diving 22 days diving out of 28, over 60 dives. Plus the added travel time/destination. For us, being 55-60yrs hauling all our gear that's just too much. Especially during the hottest time of the year...LOL. Hopefully, we will fall in love with the diving in the Philippines and have return trips to do Malapascua and Southern Leyte.

SO! 26 days....

7 Day Stella Maris - Tubbataha
6 Days diving - Balicasag and Puntod wall, Doljo, and Pamilican Island
6 Days diving - Cabilao

So our next challenge is the internal 2 domestic flights we have to plan. If I'm looking at it correctly Cebu Pacific has flights that allow you 1 checked 30kg bag each. Which will leave us paying fees for our 3rd one @ 650PHP. If I'm incorrect please let me know! Also... With Carry-ons, will they allow an excess of the 7kg's allowed for a fee? If so how much is the fee? After that arranging the private transfers that we will need.

Thanks again for everything!!

Greg

Their system is not piece based, it’s weight based. If you bought 30kg prepaid, you can have as many bags as you want so long as a single bag is not in excess of 32kg. 32kg is their max per bag. That won’t be an issue for you. They can be strict with the 7kg but are lenient if it’s something expensive, fragile, etc. my camera bag was almost 18kg and they let me through each time. I was proactive in showing them and very kind about it.

FYI I would not carry on your regulator for flights where you go through Filipino security. It is technically not allowed though people will report hits and misses. Some people have been let through and some are forced to check it. It’s not worth the hassle. They see it as a blunt sporting object that’s dangerous in the cabin. *swings her regs like a lasso*

Sounds like a great itinerary to me! How many dives do you have scheduled?!

 

[Centrals]

Cebu Pacific Air
One piece ONLY unless you have pre-paid for 40kg. In this case you can check in two bags. If the 40kg is NOT enough then you can add "sport equipment" which is extra 15kg allowed for scuba equipment.
Another allowance if the plane is ATR 72 or similar.
They do carry out bag check(weight) on the gate occasionally. And I have seen excess luggage been put into cargo hold!!

 

[moorish8idol]

I am arriving a little late to the party but perhaps some of the info I share can be useful to others as well:

Re: looking for whale sharks. I did Southern Leyte looking for whale sharks at the beginning of Philippines diving trip and while I saw a few, that experience was dwarfed a million times by my experience at the end of my trip in Tubbataha. We saw soooo many whale sharks on our dives. I would say an average of 1 or 2 each dive, every other dive. And on a few times, it wasn't simple pass by like I experience in Leyte, but them circling around us for half of the dive! Hopefully you have a similar experience in Tubbataha as I did (I went the second week of April) - we had a lot of luck with the WS on the eastern side of both atolls though I am sure that changes. It might spoil you for the rest of your diving in the country though (as good as it is elsewhere, I'm glad I did Tubba last - also know some people that went on the Stella Maris and really enjoyed it). Also don't miss the hammerheads, mantas and a million other (sizeable) reef sharks.

I did four internal flights, all with PAL. I initially booked a flight with Cebu Pacific but they cancelled the flight slightly last minute and offered up a very unsatisfying alternative (they reimbursed me and I booked with PAL instead). PAL was early/on-time on 3 of the flights and devastatingly late leaving Puerto Princesa though this was blamed on Manila ATC so avoiding that airport often takes a lot of the hassle out of Filipino air travel (though not always!). The weight restrictions on PAL were unevenly applied. For my checked bag I was a few kilos over the limit and was only asked to pay extra on 1 of my 4 flights (it might have been because those other flights were not full, or just had a nice agent? no clue) though the cost was not a lot since they charge a certain amount of pesos per kilo over. The size of the plane had no bearing on this as the one time I got charged I was on the larger airbus 320 (versus the props I took). No one ever sized or weighed by carry-on bag but I use the more conspicuous duffel (versus a trolley).

Malapascua was great but the only diving that really impressed me was with the threshers. Kalanggaman is a great island to visit but I found the macrodives nearby to be underwhelming (but I also found Gato Island underwhelming and that is what people sometimes rave about). Its a very cute island though with a nice dive community so I'd recommend doing early dives and enjoying the rest of the day at the beach, getting massages and enjoying ocean-front happy hour! For next time of course...

 

[Sideways]

Their system is not piece based, it’s weight based. If you bought 30kg prepaid, you can have as many bags as you want so long as a single bag is not in excess of 32kg. 32kg is their max per bag. That won’t be an issue for you. They can be strict with the 7kg but are lenient if it’s something expensive, fragile, etc. my camera bag was almost 18kg and they let me through each time. I was proactive in showing them and very kind about it.

FYI I would not carry on your regulator for flights where you go through Filipino security. It is technically not allowed though people will report hits and misses. Some people have been let through and some are forced to check it. It’s not worth the hassle. They see it as a blunt sporting object that’s dangerous in the cabin. *swings her regs like a lasso*

Sounds like a great itinerary to me! How many dives do you have scheduled?!

I have 3- 50lb (22kg) So I believe then we will each get one checked bag included (air+Baggage option at ticket purchase) For my 3rd 50lb checked bag I'll have to pay the 650PHP extra bag fee. Is that correct? Also, with the carry-on, I sure hope I get the same nice folks you got! LOL. When you say proactive about informing them I'm guessing you let them know before they ask anything? My Carry-on will be cam, in housing with Monitor, lenses and External hard drive. My wife's will have lights/strobes, extra batteries. In our region of the world we are allowed 1 carry on and a personal item. Is it the same with Cebu? Also, I wonder if EVA Air is as lenient?

Cebu Pacific Air
One piece ONLY unless you have pre-paid for 40kg. In this case you can check in two bags. If the 40kg is NOT enough then you can add "sport equipment" which is extra 15kg allowed for scuba equipment.
Another allowance if the plane is ATR 72 or similar.
They do carry out bag check(weight) on the gate occasionally. And I have seen excess luggage been put into cargo hold!!

If my description above is not correct please let me know

I am arriving a little late to the party but perhaps some of the info I share can be useful to others as well:

Re: looking for whale sharks. I did Southern Leyte looking for whale sharks at the beginning of Philippines diving trip and while I saw a few, that experience was dwarfed a million times by my experience at the end of my trip in Tubbataha. We saw soooo many whale sharks on our dives. I would say an average of 1 or 2 each dive, every other dive. And on a few times, it wasn't simple pass by like I experience in Leyte, but them circling around us for half of the dive! Hopefully you have a similar experience in Tubbataha as I did (I went the second week of April) - we had a lot of luck with the WS on the eastern side of both atolls though I am sure that changes. It might spoil you for the rest of your diving in the country though (as good as it is elsewhere, I'm glad I did Tubba last - also know some people that went on the Stella Maris and really enjoyed it). Also don't miss the hammerheads, mantas and a million other (sizeable) reef sharks.

I did four internal flights, all with PAL. I initially booked a flight with Cebu Pacific but they cancelled the flight slightly last minute and offered up a very unsatisfying alternative (they reimbursed me and I booked with PAL instead). PAL was early/on-time on 3 of the flights and devastatingly late leaving Puerto Princesa though this was blamed on Manila ATC so avoiding that airport often takes a lot of the hassle out of Filipino air travel (though not always!). The weight restrictions on PAL were unevenly applied. For my checked bag I was a few kilos over the limit and was only asked to pay extra on 1 of my 4 flights (it might have been because those other flights were not full, or just had a nice agent? no clue) though the cost was not a lot since they charge a certain amount of pesos per kilo over. The size of the plane had no bearing on this as the one time I got charged I was on the larger airbus 320 (versus the props I took). No one ever sized or weighed by carry-on bag but I use the more conspicuous duffel (versus a trolley).

Malapascua was great but the only diving that really impressed me was with the threshers. Kalanggaman is a great island to visit but I found the macrodives nearby to be underwhelming (but I also found Gato Island underwhelming and that is what people sometimes rave about). Its a very cute island though with a nice dive community so I'd recommend doing early dives and enjoying the rest of the day at the beach, getting massages and enjoying ocean-front happy hour! For next time of course...

I know nothing is guaranteed in diving. That being said I'm banking on your Whaleshark scenario!!!! How unbelievable that must have been for you all! Interesting about the "Duffel" theory. My cam, housing, lenses and monitor are in a soft sided cooler over my shoulder. So we will see! I'm trying to remember If EVA weighed it on prior trips to Thailand and Indo. I think they did for Thailand. I also wear a Scott-e Vest. If need be I can load that vest with my 13" macbook, lenses and sola lights.

Like I mentioned earlier my biggest measuring stick to try to judge dive areas is of course youtube/vimeo. As the years pass and more folks are filming that's getting to be an even better guage. That being said, Looking at Malapascua under the water I'm kind of in the same mindset as what you observed.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Sorry, my mistake. I was wrong in my post about the piece/weight concept and after double checking their website, @Centrals is correct.

By proactive, I mean I open it up and show them before I even weigh it. I have a camera specific bag that opens to show all the padding and camera gear and ask if I can carry it on. I have flown many Asian airlines, both large and small. I flew EVA from SFO and they are also quite strict. They weigh the carry on and check in and give you a tag according to your class of travel or status.

 

[Maverick17]

If my description above is not correct please let me know

I'm slightly out of date on Cebu Pacific, but imho you are wrong. You have 68kg. You should upgrade one baggage allowance to 40kg, so you both have a total of 70kg and are allowed 3 bags.

The 30kg allowance, as said above, allows only one bag. So if you only have 30kg and 30kg between the two of you, the baggage rule that applies is for excess baggage, not the "30kg of luggage" amount. That 650php for 30kg is not the same thing as an extra bag fee. So you will pay 200php per kg for the extra bag.

 

[Sideways]

OK, got it ! Thanks all. I booked then upgraded mine to 40kg, and my wifes to 32kg for both legs, that added $66. I can live with that. So, If they do weigh the carry-ons will they make you take stuff out if overweight or allow you to pay a fee?