Sipadan, Palau or Bohol?

[wonbok]

Hi!

My scuba-specialist travel agent came up with 3 candidates - Sipadan, Palau, and Bohol - when I asked for a 5 to 6 day diving trip in early April on the following conditions.

1. It has to offer activities - if nothing else then at least good snorkeling - for non divers. There is an off chance that my wife will be pregnant by then, and she wants to stay away from diving if she get pregnant.
2. It has to be novice-friendly. My wife and I are novices.
3. We would prefer nice food and decent accommodations, although this may have to do more with the specific resort where you'd be staying than the island.

Based on the above criteria, my agent recommended Palau.
I hate second-guessing my agent, but I want to hear other folks' two cents on this.

 

[Albion]

Depends how novice is novice, Palau has some fast currents, the best dives sites require some reasonable skills IMHO. long time since i went there but dont remember any good snorkelling places, most dives were drop offs. Great diving though. You can go sea kayaking there which might be ok, other than that i dont know what else there is to do there

Sipadan diving more suited to novices, but again drop offs and the like so the snorkelling is not too hot, and accomodation / food there is pretty basic. An alternative would be to stay at Kapalai or Mabul which are about 20mins away by boat and the accomodation is a lot better and more shallow dive spots around them that would be ok for snorkelling (i guess) Other facilites err none

Bohol - never been

You dont mention where you are from so not sure if you are travelling big distances to get to these places.

 

[Zippsy]

hmmmm, Sipadan offers outstanding diving and:
1. good snorkeling, or more like floating. You just hang over the drop off and look down upon fornicating turtles, tornados of jacks, passing white-tips, monster bumphead parrotfish, etc. Other than that, there is a walk around the island [yawn], a game of pool [yawn yawn], reading books, chatting with other divers, and sun-tanning.
2. I dove with several novices there and they had no problems at all, except when the DM ditched us but I don't think that happens much.
3. none of the resorts on Sipadan are much beyond basic. I liked Borneo Divers, which I think is the best, but they just had A/C, a fan and a warm shower in an otherwise spartan room. The food was plentiful and nourishing but about what you might get in your basic Singapore hawker centre, i.e., decent but unmemorable.

Others can comment on Pulau and Bohol

 

[wonbok]

I forgot to mention.
I'll be travelling from south korea.
My wife and I are "openwater qualified + one dive" novice. That pretty much says it, LOL.

As to snorkeling, if the resort offer over-water bungallows, can't we just snorkel right off our room? (This is what i'm hoping for, instead of going out to the sea to snorkel.)
My agent is recommending Sipadan Village, which, from their website photos, looks decent and offer overwater bungallows

 

[scubashooter]

The Sipadan Water Village is not on Sipadan island itself but on another island called Mabul. It's a nice resort but you ride 20+ mins a day to Sipadan. You would save time and money but going to both islands separately ie a few days in Sipadan and a few days in Mabul and ask for the local diving package. Mabul is definitely more macro (little creatures) and not much coral life, with very easy diving and plenty of little things to see, snorkelling is decent at best.
Sipadan is walls and reefy dives with pelagic fish as the main attraction. There can be strong currents and bad viz but should be ok for novices. The area is a bit of a pain to get to having at least 2 connections to make then a 3 hr car ride then an hr boat ride.
Bohol is a nice compromise with decent fishlife (but not very pelagic, ie sharks etc) and nice coral reefs. The marine park area is also decent diving and is probably the cheapest of all 3 destinations to dive and visit. The best snorkelling of the 3 should be here depending on where you stay. A direct flight to Cebu and then some travelling car and boat is probably your route in.
Palau is better than Sipadan for pelagic life and there are a few snorkelling sites but nothing nice from the main island of Koror. You will need to check out the other islands like Carp, Peleliu and Angaur for snorkelling. The diving will keep you very busy but the resorts tend to be spartan and they do charge a premium. From Korea, it should be easy to fly in direct.
I would say your agent is correct that Palau is the best option. You just have to learn how to use a reef hook, use a safety sausage and learn to ride currents (the easiest part). I've had beginners getting certified 1 day and diving Blue Corner and Peleliu Channel (2 sites with huge currents) the next for their 1st dives after OWD, which I don't recommend but it happens!
Just choose your resort carefully and do plenty of research. You'll love the diving.

 

[Fredi]

I was in Bohol,Alona Beach late January .This is an exotic and quaint stretch of sparkling white sand beach,lined with dive centers,and resorts ranging from 5 star to backpacker type huts.This place is frequented mostly by Europeans and Americans divers .This is not a family type resort area but more suited for divers and snorklers.Many nice restaurants serving local food at great prices.Have a cozy,romantic and yet colorful nite atmosphere with many bars and restaurants right on the beach.Dive sites for novices to the experience are easily reach in a few minutes from shore.A 30 minutes boat ride to Balicasag Island(a marine santuary),provides great wall diving.Non divers can enjoy snorkeling there with lots to see.The house reef infront of the beach can be reach in less than 5 minutes by boat.I love Bohol,Alona Beach because of its rustic,casual,good prices and very friendly locals.The boat crews even carry all your gears to the boat and back,You exit the water by handing all your gears to the boat crews,without having to haul tanks and all up the ladder yourself.This helps some senior divers and those with a back problem like me.A $5 tips a day to the boat crews will make their day.There were 3 days where i was the only divers on the boat and they will still take me out,at times with 2 divemasters accompanying me for the dive.What a deal!I will return oneday.I also heard Moalboal in Cebu is much like Bohol.I've dived Thailand,but I think Bohol is more suited to my taste.Good luck to you both.

Hi!

My scuba-specialist travel agent came up with 3 candidates - Sipadan, Palau, and Bohol - when I asked for a 5 to 6 day diving trip in early April on the following conditions.

1. It has to offer activities - if nothing else then at least good snorkeling - for non divers. There is an off chance that my wife will be pregnant by then, and she wants to stay away from diving if she get pregnant.
2. It has to be novice-friendly. My wife and I are novices.
3. We would prefer nice food and decent accommodations, although this may have to do more with the specific resort where you'd be staying than the island.

Based on the above criteria, my agent recommended Palau.
I hate second-guessing my agent, but I want to hear other folks' two cents on this.

 

[kraken]

I've done both Bohol (Alona) and Sipadan. Sipadan has better diving because of the turtles and stuff, Bohol much better accomodations and you can do a few ( I mean few) non-diving things while you are there. I stayed at the Alona Kew in Bohol, liked it a lot. The superior rooms up by the pool were great. Service was good. I dove with Vernon at Baywatch, not a 5 star shop, but 5 star service, he will go out with just two divers. I stayed at Borneo Divers Lodge in Sipadan, the rooms were basic, no AC in mine, but the service was great. Diving fantastic, and food so so. Based on what you are saying I think Bohol is a better bet. You will see schools of jacks, a few turtles and definately lots of macro.

Dont' forget to do the Tasier Monkeys, I normally hate that kinda stuff, but they were really cool. The chocolate hills are ok.

Never been to Palau.. hope to go one day. Just philippines is so cheap... 5 trips in 7 years

Send me Private mail if you want more details on Alona.

 

[f3nikon]

Bohol: Cervrea Shoals, anyone dive there lately? Need to talk about Bohol diving, planning a photo trip there next year.
Thanks. f3nikon@excite.com N. Calif. Diver

 

[slee416]

I'll be travelling from south korea.

If your travel agent is located in Korea could you pass along their contact info?

FYI the resorts on Sipadan are getting kicked off the island at the end of this year, so you will only be able to stay at nearby Mabul or Kapalai.

 

[Nemo]

I've been to all three, although Palau and Sipidan back about 15 years ago! Sipidan had great diving and snorkelling, but there would be nothing to do there otherwise, it's a very small island! Palau has excellent diving as well, but I'm not sure about the snorkelling near Koror, there is a bit of exploring to do on the island, but not much! Was in Bohol in February, great spot to relax and probably better for novices! Good variety of accomodation and food, friendly people, and good prices. If you've got a bit of cash to spend on a room, the Alona Palm Beach Resort is the most flash! A few sites you could check out are www.bohol.ph www.travelphil.com/internet_eng/index.html www.philippineshotelresort.com