Questions on PG

[chivasdrinker]

Hi all,

I travel all the time to Phils from the US, and love to dive in PG on the weekends. I always have trouble getting from PG to Manila without spending a fortune, or cutting my time down on Mindoro. Anybody know what a good rate is for a private car from Batangas pier to Alabang or Makati area? How about the other way around? dont need much, just trustworthy driver, a/c, and a reasonable rate.

Anybody going there on the 22nd or coming back the 23rd?

Is there any group in Manila that groups together for the day and hits Anilao?

Lastly, anybody ever have any luck in negotiating with Atlantis on the cost of dives? I like to stay there, but they tend to be higher than others.

OK, enough questions for my first post...

Nitrogen level dropping....need to get to the islands soon...

 

[shugar]

private hires will really cost - there's this whole "provincial rate" that hits the owner/ operator's mind considering you're going manila-batangas VV...

it may not be appealing but have you considered public transport? it's real easy to commute to/from batangas pier and from there the ferry boat to sabang beach... of course you're limited by the regular ferry schedules although aside from the bangkas from sabang there are (supposed to be) fast craft leaving from muelle bay

a lot of the PPD (that's us, welcome by the way) are fair regulars in anilao - anything from weekends to day trips or both if we get a big enough group together... there's at least a PPD or two or three in anilao every weekend

atlantis? hmmmm... i think you have to be a dennis and book a room for 3 weeks straight or something to get a juicy discount... but atlantis is you-get-what-you-pay-for diving as far as service is concerned

Jag

 

[CODMAN]

There is definetly no deal to be had at Atlantis. They are very nice, but costly. You need to start shopping around if you want to start saving money.

As shugar said, the public transport to batangas pier is very convenient and cheap (350pp I believe). The only problem is traffic sometimes. But if you hop on the first JAM bus to batangas (5:30am I believe) like I did, you are out of the city before traffic starts and in Batangas in about 1h30min. The hop the first ferry to Sabang, and you can be in Sabang by about 10:00-10:30. Just in time for a quick morning dive! Private cars are obviously not the cheapest way to go...

 

[h2odragon1]

I agree with Sugar and Codman. If you take a taxi, or a for hire private car/van you'll PAY $$$$. if you take the bus to the Batangas peir, you'll save $$ Then, just find a boat at the pier to take you across to Sabang, or Puerto Galera itself.
My wife and I freewheel all the time and come up with some interesting stories. This 'freewheeling' will give you the true flavor of the Philippines.

 

[blue steal]

Check out Macdiver in anilao. Kiko has a couple of 12 passenger vans that are very comfortable. My understanding is that he makes the trip to Sucat and Makati 2-3 times a week and picks up divers.
Not sure of the details, but the last I heard he was charging P900.
I have taken the bus a few times to Batangas from Manila, no problem. I think next time I will buy two seats, one for me and one for my gear. Cost as I remember was about P190.
Hey, anyone stay at the el Galleon and dive with Asia divers? Hoe are they? I am heading to PG next April and would like to stay somewhere nice for 10 days..........and of course do a lot of diving.
Just returned from anilao, stayed one month, but could not dive all that much.

 

[sonar]

I paid 700 pesos from manila to PG with a real fancy bus with aircon includng the ferry. I had to be at 07.45 at a hotel. A roundaway ticket was 1200 I believe. The hotel was is in Malate. I think it was called City State Tower Hotel; not 100% sure though

I am in Sabang atm and the average price for single day stays seems to be around 1200 atm. I pay 500 a day for a really nice and clean fan room with a kitchen and a balkony (stay 2 months though). Another guy pays 600 a day for a fan room while he is only here for 5 days.

have a good trip

 

[chivasdrinker]

Hi all, thanks for the advice. I have taken the SiKat bus/ferry, and it is great (700PHP). Takes off from the city state tower hotel in Mabini, and it gets you in around lunch or just thereafter. Nice ride, and predictable. I have taken a local bus from the Batangas pier to Manila, but never from Manila to Batangas. Anyone know where I can pick the bus up going from Makati to Batangas? I am totally willing to travel in the early am to get to PG mid morning no matter which way, I am not bothered by public bus so long as it has a/c (but if you told me no a/c and it gets me one more dive, I would think about it).

Thanks for the heads up on Atlantis. I have never stayed anywhere else, as my company pays for the lodging (but the dives are my expense). I thought that maybe after staying there so many times, they were starting to expect that I would pay near full rate no matter what, but maybe that is their policy period. My trips there are usually 1-2 nights at the most.

As for Anilao, I will post my next "workation" dates, and see if any of you want to join for a 1-2 day trip.

 

[tboxcar]

Sometimes if I'm in a hurry and want to skip the Manila scene, I can usually a score a taxi to Bantangas Pier for anywhere from P2,000 to P2,500, sometimes well worth it especially if your sharing it!

 

[jigo]

Hi all, thanks for the advice. I have taken the SiKat bus/ferry, and it is great (700PHP). Takes off from the city state tower hotel in Mabini, and it gets you in around lunch or just thereafter. Nice ride, and predictable. I have taken a local bus from the Batangas pier to Manila, but never from Manila to Batangas. Anyone know where I can pick the bus up going from Makati to Batangas? I am totally willing to travel in the early am to get to PG mid morning no matter which way, I am not bothered by public bus so long as it has a/c (but if you told me no a/c and it gets me one more dive, I would think about it).

Thanks for the heads up on Atlantis. I have never stayed anywhere else, as my company pays for the lodging (but the dives are my expense). I thought that maybe after staying there so many times, they were starting to expect that I would pay near full rate no matter what, but maybe that is their policy period. My trips there are usually 1-2 nights at the most.

As for Anilao, I will post my next "workation" dates, and see if any of you want to join for a 1-2 day trip.

where will you be coming from? if from the makati area, you can hop on a bus to batangas from the bus stations in buendia cor taft ave. one terminal per bus company so lots of options on departure time and there usually is one that's about to leave.

for lodging, since the company is paying, how about staying at the PPD favorite? Out of the Blue Villas. choice of single bedroom to three bedroom villas. great view and nice rooms if you dont mind walking up the stairs. just below it are several dive shops: action divers, asia divers and sea riders. sea riders is probably the smallest operation but offers the best price and they schedule their dives to suit you instead of your having to follow the 3 dives per day sched most shops adhere to.