Puerta Galera, PI

[azgetaway]

Hi All,

Just got back from 8 days and 7 nights of diving with Scandi divers, we had an absolute blast. It's typhoon season in the Philippines but we have family in Hong Kong and decided to roll in some diving with our visit, The water was a little murky from all the rain. This is my third trip to Puerta Galera and both trips before were beautiful blue water with 100'+ vis. I could see the surface from 80' but there was a lot of particulate and a greenish tint. We didn't let that spoil our time, for most of the seven days of diving we were just three, the DM, myself and my girlfreind. Our DM has lived on Mindoro his whole life and has been guiding dives for 20 years, he was an absolute joy to spend every day with, we had the ponga to ourselves, the boat skippers were capable and fun. Thanks to Scandi divers, the all inclusive package was perfect, the ocean beat up to our room at high tide, food was outstanding. We did a massage every day. Feel free to chat me up I love this place, I'm going back in slow season again I really like the slow pace and low volume of dive outfits competing for dive sites. Here's a 3min video of the highlights:



Let's go diving!

Scott

 

[BoltSnap]

Hi All,

Just got back from 8 days and 7 nights of diving with Scandi divers, we had an absolute blast. It's typhoon season in the Philippines but we have family in Hong Kong and decided to roll in some diving with our visit, The water was a little murky from all the rain. This is my third trip to Puerta Galera and both trips before were beautiful blue water with 100'+ vis. I could see the surface from 80' but there was a lot of particulate and a greenish tint. We didn't let that spoil our time, for most of the seven days of diving we were just three, the DM, myself and my girlfreind. Our DM has lived on Mindoro his whole life and has been guiding dives for 20 years, he was an absolute joy to spend every day with, we had the ponga to ourselves, the boat skippers were capable and fun. Thanks to Scandi divers, the all inclusive package was perfect, the ocean beat up to our room at high tide, food was outstanding. We did a massage every day. Feel free to chat me up I love this place, I'm going back in slow season again I really like the slow pace and low volume of dive outfits competing for dive sites. Here's a 3min video of the highlights:



Let's go diving!

Scott

First, I'd like to thank you for sharing this information and video. It came just in time as I am researching diving in the Philippines. I know about Scandi from their association with NAUI. I also know about Anilao. My understanding is that divers go to both locations because of the "macro" photography there. Is this accurate? Is it only macro, or is there an opportunity to see bigger marine life for wide-angle and fish portraits and coral reef scenes?

When is the best time of the year to go there with the best visibility, most marine life, calm seas, etc.? How is it different from the time you went there?


Sorry for asking you many questions. I know that I have to do more research online to know more about these locations, but your post was a great start.

 

[tridacna]

BM-Don’t forget a trip to Verde Island from PG. One of the best dives you’ll ever do. Definitely not macro. I think I saw more blue triggers in 5 mins than in all of my dives in the past 40 yrs. Quite spectacular.

 

[azgetaway]

Hey Botlsnap,

March, April May are the best months for Mindoro, Puerta Galera, per Scandi divers. The September diving is in typhoon season, so there's a risk you could get stuck there, there's a lot of rain which didn't bother us but it made the water a little green. There are thresher sharks but it's a big deal if you see them, there are coral reefs and muck diving, yes mostly macro stuff, I've seen mimic octopus, cuttle fish and lots of frog fish. I 2nd the Verde Island trip, most Puerta Galera dive operations go there one day a week. Here's some of the nudibranch I captured last week:

 

[BoltSnap]

We will probably go there during the kids' summer vacation, late May to late August. Is that a good time of the year to dive there? Also, do they have activities for the non-diving wife and young kids, 10 & 8? The kids would love to snorkel, but don't know about the wife

 

[azgetaway]

I don't know about non divers BoltSnap, I used to tell my kids "boring people get bored easily" LOL, but the city is SaBang and its an adult place, I wouldn't let my kids wander around there when they were young. The Scandi accommodations are pretty spartan, there's internet and a tv, they can snorkel in front of the resort. I can connect you with the staff if you want to talk: Bei Facebook anmelden . Marianne is a manager there and she can answer all your questions.

 

[azgetaway]

The risk is in the Sept - Nov months is a typhoon could really strand you there, I just noticed a super typhoon just passed through the PI yesterday, I would not want to be there when one of these storms moved through. https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/asia/typhoon-ragasa-china-guangdong-hong-kong-intl-hnk

Granted the Ragasa typhoon was once in a 100 year storm, praying for the people of PI that they find safety.

Scott Parsons

This channel tries to communicate the beauty of California underwater exploration punctuated with guitar compositions written and recorded in my home studio. In addition I add travel videos as Christina and I get the opportunity to explore the planet. Good health and wellness on you all. A...

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