Second stop on Philippines trip in February

[Tippytoes12]

I am off to the Philippines in February for about two and a half weeks. I have decided on Malapascua and a short trip to Oslob if the whalesharks are still there. I can't decide whether or not to veg out in Malapascua for 10 ish nights and to really get to know the island , or to go to a second area

The flight from the UK lands in Cebu, so does anybody have any suggestions ?

My interests are not very sophisticated : pretty coral , cute turtles and whatever big things are around constitute diving heaven in my book.

Many thanks

 

[jbb]

I am off to the Philippines in February for about two and a half weeks. I have decided on Malapascua and a short trip to Oslob if the whalesharks are still there. I can't decide whether or not to veg out in Malapascua for 10 ish nights and to really get to know the island , or to go to a second area

The flight from the UK lands in Cebu, so does anybody have any suggestions ?

Well, you are very lucky to fly into Cebu for your trip because there are quite a few dive spots with a half days travel of the City. I like Malapascua a lot and it is my favorite dive destination in the Philippines. I have visited 14 times and like the variety of site types there. 10 days is not much time if you don't want to rush around. I try to keep my trips to one or two places tops in 2 to 2.5 weeks. I would recommend Alona Beach - Panglao Island in Bohol Province as a good half day travel from Cebu City. You can take a fast ferry from Cebu to Tagbilaran then a tricycle (300php or so) or taxi to Alona beach. I recommend Philippine Fun Divers. I am sure a number of folks will chime in for some of the other nearby dive places. You can check out my Flickr site, I have tagged photos for various dive locations in the Philippines, Malapascua, Alona Beach, Dauin, Apo Island etc. Enjoy, you should have a great time.

 

[Centrals]

+1 for Malapascua.
After Malapascua you can either try Alone Beach or Moalboal and finally Oslob.
But if you can allocate all your 2 1/2 wks on diving then m suggestion would be: Malapascua, Alona Beach, Dumaguete, Moalboal and Oslob. The ONLY backtrekking is from Malapascua back to Cebu.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Thank you both very much for these helpful replies.

 

[paolov]

while in cebu you can go to KAWASAN FALLS , CEBU for some cool fresh water dip.

 

[thankfulforlife]

10 days is not much time...i would go and stay the whole time in malapascua....top spot,otherwise,to much time driving around......takes half a day to get there from cebu,and half a day back,thats one whole day gone.....
there are many dive sites around malapascua to stay there easily 10 days....
my thoughts.....

 

[boggie708]

Last January I spent 3 diving days in Malapascua, 3 in Moalboal and 1 in Oslob. It took 1 day to get from Malapascua to Moalboal. I think 10 days is too much in one place there but just right for two places. Malapascua is definitely worth recommending as the first place. Never been to Alona Beach so cannot compare it to Moalboal.

 

[jbb]

10 days is not much time...i would go and stay the whole time in malapascua....top spot,otherwise,to much time driving around......takes half a day to get there from cebu,and half a day back,thats one whole day gone.....
there are many dive sites around malapascua to stay there easily 10 days....
my thoughts.....

Yes, that's what I meant to indicate. I would and have spent 10 days on Malapascua. It takes some time to get over jet lag and it's nice to have a dry day in the middle to recharge. Then I'm usually doing 3-4 dives per day to get to the sites, assess the critter activity and think about which one's I really want to get back to. It does take a week to get to some of the more remote sites such as Kalangaman Island or Donna Marilyn wreck unless there are a lot of divers with the shop when you are there.

 

[travelpro]

Another votes for Alona Beach and Malapascua. Great diving of course but I travel solo and like to be able to walk along the beach to different bars/restaurants and not be stuck at a resort or have to take a taxi some place. I will do both again in November. I would do 5 days in Malapascua and 3 days in Alona Beach...or something like that. I just think you need more time in Malapascua for the reasons mentioned.

I wasn't a fan of the town of Moalboal, compared to Alona and Malapascua. I just didn't like hanging out there. However, I did not dive Moalboal as I had a head cold. Instead, I did Kawasan Falls and the river trekking with Action Adventure Tours. Totally AWESOME!!! I was actually glad I could not dive...

Its so tough to pick a place...too many great places so little time.

 

[thankfulforlife]

we do have the rest of out lives....whats that about not enough time?
some great dive sites around moalboal

---------- Post Merged at 07:14 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:13 PM ----------

we do have the rest of out lives....whats that about not enough time?
some great dive sites around moalboal