Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, Southern Leyte & Whalesharks

[pakman]

Now, I might be diverting my Anilao/PG plans in Feb (17-23) to Southern Leyte. Should I spend all 5 days diving in Southern Leyte or are there any other nearby islands to explore?

Thanks.

Jovin-

There are lot of sites to explore around Sogod Bay (the bay itself is pretty large). I could image myself spending a week there on my next trip. Nice mix of macro stuff, walls, and of course whale sharks (which I guess are still in season in Feb). Plenty of stuff to keep a u/w photographer like you happy. Email Phil at Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. I'm sure he'll be excited to tell you about the variety of diving there. Other that Peter's next door, and supposedly a German owned shop in the next town, not aware of any other dive ops in Leyte.

 

[midwestdvr]

When is the whale shark season again?

 

[wahlaoeh]

hahahaha....

that was an easy one to divert...

I hope so... My friend, Kiko has helped to arrange everything for Anilao. Resorts in PG fully booked so we'll be staying at Aquaventures. Gotta to do day trips to PG if sea conditions allow. Also, we might not even be able to dive our favourite dive site, San Agapito. Bummer!! possibly i'm ahead of you for this one, Mike

There are lot of sites to explore around Sogod Bay (the bay itself is pretty large). I could image myself spending a week there on my next trip. Nice mix of macro stuff, walls, and of course whale sharks (which I guess are still in season in Feb). Plenty of stuff to keep a u/w photographer like you happy. Email Phil at Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. I'm sure he'll be excited to tell you about the variety of diving there. Other that Peter's next door, and supposedly a German owned shop in the next town, not aware of any other dive ops in Leyte....

Thanks, Mike. We'll see how things go. keeping my fingers crossed. Btw, do you by chance know what will the water temperature be like in Feb? Thanks.

Jovin-

 

[wahlaoeh]

When is the whale shark season again?

November to May. Extract from http://www.sogodbayscubaresort.com/DiveSites.html
but nothing is guarantee!!

Sunok is one of our most established dive sites but has become very popular with whale sharks at particular times of the year (November to May). We have been diving with them on a regular basis during the season. The whale shark follows plankton and jelly fish and for that reason we cannot promise they will be there all of the time!

 

[pakman]

Thanks, Mike. We'll see how things go. keeping my fingers crossed. Btw, do you by chance know what will the water temperature be like in Feb? Thanks.

Jovin-

Jovin,

Not sure what the temps are but I can't imagine it being that bad. I would guess 5mm if you're a warm water wuss or maybe 3mm + 2mm vest/hood.... There were a few dives where we hit some thermoclines... (but I don't think it dipped below 25 back then)

But then again, someone just said they had 20c in Anilao recently! ouch... and I thought HK waters were cold in the winter... brrr

 

[Mike Veitch]

27 here... 7mm

 

[wicked_innit]

wahlaoeh (btw- great name:14:made me laff),

to be honest if i went back again i would do my divemaster course there. thats how good the sites are in terms of mixture.The whalesharks were a bonus.There is another one and half hour away -boat trip to Napito (i think) which i can compare to verde island, PG.

There is another bay down the road , we passed a conservation centre Coral Cay (i think) which has superb soft corals with no currents. Most of the youngsters pay a fair wallop of $ just to map out the area and id new species. Its also good for OWD courses.

SBSR made our 2006 new year's so memorable that i guess there isnt anyone else i need to compare with in terms of value and da food(of course) ...with a biggish group 6-8+ you could prob take over the whole place and then it would be even more chilled out...

Planning a trip to Lombok,Indon. will give a trip report on that later part of the year..

happy diving !
Ian

 

[benchan]

wicked innit,

It's Napantao, not Nappy toe.

Planning a trip to Lombok eh? I thought your mummy and daddy were coming over to visit and you had no money?

 

[pauldub]

Hi Jovin,

There's definitely enough in Sogod Bay to keep you busy for 5 days! As Pakman said, the bay is pretty large and the sites offer a good mix of macro/wall diving. For reference, it took us an hour to get to/from Sunok each day (totally worth it! ), and supposedly the replacement boat we had was faster.

In fact, I think 5 days is not enough. That outstanding dives for me were at Voltaire's Rock (macro, just in front of SBSR), Burgos Pier (night), Ampo Reef (amazing corals, out near Coral Cay) and Sunok (whale sharks, and some pretty damn fine soft corals). And that's just a handful of sites we actually dove. You'll probably have favourites of your own!

The water temp was 27C when we were there. Because it was overcast/rainy, it felt quite chilly even for me, and I'm a biggie. A 5mm + cap combo might be wise. Hopefully you'll have nice weather. If you make it there have tons of fun and happy diving! And post pictures!

P.S. wicked_innit, I thought you were gonna look through my logbook! 'Napito'...geez...

 

[Babydamulag]

Whale Shark, Thresher Shark, and Hammerhead Shark are at Maniguin (Maningning) Island from FEB to MAY.