Recent trip reports for South Leyte / Peter's

[Patkilla]

@Centrals thanks for the note. Earlier in this thread was a trip report shared where Balicasag seemed to be preferred to Sogod Bay, and I haven't been able to find many other recent first hand comparisons. I would love to see the whale sharks in Sogod Bay but if the diving is relatively comparable to Balicasag and chance of seeing whale sharks is low in January then I'd look to what is better logistically for the trip. I would have maybe 3 diving days available here.

 

[Centrals]

If you believe the diving in Balicasag is comparable with Sogod Bay then go ahead. I wonder if that person has ever dived in Sogod Bay?
It is your holiday afterall.

S

Trip Report Thread 'Peter’s Dive Resort - Sogod Bay, 14 - 21 August 2025'

Aug 29, 2025

Background: My boyfriend (BF) and I are budget-backpacking-scuba diving SEA for ~8 months (3/8 complete). Our goal is to see as much healthy hard coral in the Coral Triangle as possible. We brought all our own gear (excluding weights & tanks of course), including full 3mm wetsuits, which we carry in 75L backpacks. The prices listed are for two people, unless otherwise noted. Apologies if the report is too long!

Sogod Bay: We had been in contact with a marine biologist who had dived a few sites here recently (~spring 2025) and had shown us very promising pictures of hard coral...

• sostil
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Philippine Paradise Divers

• 

The most recent trip report on Sogod Bay.
The last sentence said it all.

 

[Luko]

If you believe the diving in Balicasag is comparable with Sogod Bay then go ahead. I wonder if that person has ever dived in Sogod Bay?

I did dive both 2 years ago on the same trip : Balicasag was MUCH better in terms of life and fish schools (and I even missed a whale shark passing by).
I am not focused specifically on hard corals, but on whole aspects of sealife be it macro, corals and fish.
Sogod Bay corals should have been good 5-6 years ago, Napantao shallows or Medicare really suffered. Fish schools , where are they? Macro in "Little Lembeh", c'mon... quite poor...
Finally and TBH, Peter's dive operation management didn't impress me much (compared to where I've been diving in the Phils since 99 probably15 trips, moreover I take photos not just giving random opinions.).

On the other hand I read repeated "opinions" on Balicasag from a folk who says he hasn't been diving Balicasag for more than 10 years but still complains he once had problem with a contaminated air tank...Past is the past and so uninstructive for the present.

 

[Centrals]

Make sure the operator on Alona Beach pumped its own back gas!! PERIOD.
Diving at Southern Leyte is much better than Balicarag as far(1996) as I can remember. BTW, I have been to both places multiple times and my conclusion is NOT based on couple of trips.
Between 1996 and 2014, I had made 11 trips to Alona Beach and did 140 dives!!

@Luko
How many time you had been to Alona Beach and Southern Leyte? At least you know there is SCHEDULE for whaleshark watching!!!LOL.
You probably missing the breakfast ie. corn-beef or dried fish at Jollybee!! LOL.

 

[Luko]

Between 1996 and 2014, I had made 11 trips to Alona Beach and did 140 dives!!

Who cares about the past, divers want to know what is happening now not 25 years ago : they are not interested with the story of how Jacques Trottin got kicked out of the original Bohol Divers and that there was nothing but Trudi's small bamboo hut to eat outside.

I have been diving Alona since 2001 and for the record including 4 times AFTER your last trip Alona in 2014 (but more than that in between 2001 and 2013). You're history, buddy, nothing that you report is now first hand experience !

and btw, you only came back once in Sogod Bay after Odette which was a total dive changer, just like me we're on par with the current conditions on South Leyte diving, the rest is PAST and GONE. History again.
FYI I was in whale shark season -so said Titing who also told me it was extending to later in the year in the past years- they were seen regularly in the weeks before and after I stayed.

 

[Blackcrusader]

@Patkilla poster Centrals has not dived there for such a long time he has no clue about Panglao Bohol as it is now. There have been many changes for the better.

I prefer to travel as little as possible and stay in one place. Being able to fly to Panglao and be 15 minutes from a place to stay and dive ops from the airport makes it so much better.

I was meant to dive there last month but had to cancel my trip but a good dive buddy of mine was there.
He still very much enjoys the diving there with Bohol Divers Club. Seeing a whale shark means a chance encounter. Doljo is a local site I have seen whale sharks at.

I have dived in Bohol many times in the last recent several years with over 200 dives there.
I have seen whales sharks on each trip but I can say I have been lucky.

One one trip I saw a WS on a Monday Wednesday and a Friday in the same week. One was swimming along the wall near the main Alona beach. I have seen them except at Balicasag where I like to dive a few times a week. My last trip there was in 2024 though. As @Luko writes, overall the quallity of diving in Panglao Bohol with a few island trips to choose from plus local area diving I enjoy it a lot. Also there are some really good places to eat as well which is important to me.

I usually just stay in Panglao and do 10 - 14 diving days each trip. So my chances over 30 - 40 plus dives I get a decent chance to see whale sharks. I have wanted to dive in Leyte ( not yet done so ) but it seems to have deteriorated from posts I see. A typhoon has destroyed what Leyte was very special for and it takes time to recover.

 

[Centrals]

Who cares about the past, divers want to know what is happening now not 25 years ago : they are not interested with the story of how Jacques Trottin got kicked out of the original Bohol Divers and that there was nothing but Trudi's small bamboo hut to eat outside.

I have been diving Alona since 2001 and for the record including 4 times AFTER your last trip Alona in 2014 (but more than that in between 2001 and 2013). You're history, buddy, nothing that you report is now first hand experience !

and btw, you only came back once in Sogod Bay after Odette which was a total dive changer, just like me we're on par with the current conditions on South Leyte diving, the rest is PAST and GONE. History again.
FYI I was in whale shark season -so said Titing who also told me it was extending to later in the year in the past years- they were seen regularly in the weeks before and after I stayed.

LOL.
"Trudi" was not around in 1996.
Get the record right!!! Odette hit Philippines in Dec 2021 and you probably forgot travelling was NOT that easy all over the world. And I had revisited the place on 24 and 25 and will return on 26, not including the trip in 02, 12 and 14.

As for Alona Beach? It is HISTORY.
Some people like modern development as well as mass produced junk food eg. Jolly or McDonald.

@Blackcrusader
Where have you been in Philippines other than Alona Beach and Moalboal?
Where did you read that Southern Leyte was destroyed by typhoon eg. Odette in 2021 or Yolanda in 2013?
And you have stayed away from Moalboal since 2021? LOL.

 

[ScubaBackpacker]

I've seen a fair amount of discussion of South Leyte options, but not many recent trip reports. Am I missing some? I'm thinking of Peter's dive resort in late May of 2025 (post Tubbataha).

@Centrals thanks for the note. Earlier in this thread was a trip report shared where Balicasag seemed to be preferred to Sogod Bay, and I haven't been able to find many other recent first hand comparisons. I would love to see the whale sharks in Sogod Bay but if the diving is relatively comparable to Balicasag and chance of seeing whale sharks is low in January then I'd look to what is better logistically for the trip. I would have maybe 3 diving days available here.

I have been to both Balicasag/Alona Beach and Sogod Bay(twice) in the last two years. IMHO they are qualitatively different experiences. Alona Beach has tons of divers/tourists/restaurants/night life while Sogod Bay/southern Leyte has very few tourists/divers , usually only a boat or two on the dive sites,and virtually no outside the resort night life. The hard corals at Sogod are the best I’ve seen in the Philippines, or many other places, while the fish life at Balicasag
was livelier as long as other divers weren’t in the way. We used the hospitable Valm divers at Alona and would use them again. At Sogod we stay with Sogod Bay dive resort as it is smaller and has a reputation for better, more well prepared food, with long tenured staff members that are active in bay conservation/ reef restoration projects.

 

[d^2b]

I have to agree the hard corals in Sogod bay are very healthy (May/June 2025). The macro life is also very good, although that probably depends a lot on having a good guide. Other than some huge scorpionfish (one looked to be about 1m long), I don't remember too many large fish. There seemed to be abundant mimic octopus and wunderpus, and many broadclub cuttlefish. We mostly dove macro sites, but on the reefs we spotted quite a few turtles. We were there too late for whale sharks. We stayed at Peter's and the dive operation was great. The food was OK, maybe after two weeks we would have appreciated a bit bigger menu. We ate quite a few prepared lunches on the boat to get 3 tank trips in, and the kitchen kindly made us up bento boxes of noodles.

Sogod Bay, May 2025

tethera.net

 

[Patkilla]

Thank you all! Appreciate all the insights, it helped greatly with the trip planning