xrcjdx
Contributor
sorry for the very late reply but as your trip is not until january maybe it will be useful as a supplement to what has already been said.
i am assuming your international flight is in and out of manila. as mentioned, you can get extraordinarily cheap flights by u.s. standards on cebu pacific. consider using cebu city as your diving hub. you might miss the 1 php sale by holding off purchase of your tickets until your plans are firm, but if buying 2 weeks in advance a $14/$15 flight each way ($30 round trip) to cebu city is usually easy to snag. you should know that cebu pacific seems to make a significant portion of their money on fees. and there is a relatively substantial terminal fee (by philippines standards) added for both manila and cebu city, so with all fees, taxes, and 20 kg of luggage your $30 round trip fare comes to between 80 and $90. that said, it is still a smoking deal by any stretch. if it was me (and it often is!) i would get out of manila at the first opportunity and head to cebu city.
from cebu city you have many cheap options to peter's in south leyte (ferry/bus), alona in bohol (ferry/taxi or multicab), dumaguete (bus/ferry/multicab), or moalboal (bus/trike). 2 locations in 3 weeks (or even 3 locations) is easily doable and you will be pleasantly surprised at how cheaply it can be done. i don't think you will have any problem with the diving, and you will get a lot of them in. that said, if you hit it right/wrong there can be some fun/scary currents in bohol. but bohol in any event is the most expensive of your options, and the one i would give a pass on.
not mentioned was apo island. there is some fantastic, world class diving on the west (lee) side. your best option is to stay at liberty's. the snorkeling off the beach is awesome. with your dive count up around 50 by this time you will be ready to take on the big drifts on the north moving to the east of apo. an adrenaline junky is born! liberty's can explain the best and cheapest option for making the public ferry. hint - it involves a ceres bus for small pesos followed by a very short downhill walk (or trike) followed by a cheap ferry and drop off directly in front of liberty's. i would give dauin a complete pass - it is not what you seem to be looking for.
sooooo if it was me, i would high-tail it out of manila (the sooner the better) to cebu. make my way to peter's. it is a great place all the way around and i would be shocked if you did not fall in love with the place. you will find the moose and squirrel on your exploratory walks (5 minutes to the south, same side). it is your dinner and night option (you will see half the guests take their dinner and drinks there.) head back to cebu and then to dumaguete and liberty's - which also has dorm rooms. (flying from cebu city to dumaguete is a great and cheap option as well, though your baggage weight is somewhat limited because it is a small plane.) consider a few days in moalboal on the way back, time permitting (and it should - you can make it from dumaguete to moalboal between breakfast and lunch). head back to cebu for the trip home.
whatever you decide to do, you are going to love it.
rc
i am assuming your international flight is in and out of manila. as mentioned, you can get extraordinarily cheap flights by u.s. standards on cebu pacific. consider using cebu city as your diving hub. you might miss the 1 php sale by holding off purchase of your tickets until your plans are firm, but if buying 2 weeks in advance a $14/$15 flight each way ($30 round trip) to cebu city is usually easy to snag. you should know that cebu pacific seems to make a significant portion of their money on fees. and there is a relatively substantial terminal fee (by philippines standards) added for both manila and cebu city, so with all fees, taxes, and 20 kg of luggage your $30 round trip fare comes to between 80 and $90. that said, it is still a smoking deal by any stretch. if it was me (and it often is!) i would get out of manila at the first opportunity and head to cebu city.
from cebu city you have many cheap options to peter's in south leyte (ferry/bus), alona in bohol (ferry/taxi or multicab), dumaguete (bus/ferry/multicab), or moalboal (bus/trike). 2 locations in 3 weeks (or even 3 locations) is easily doable and you will be pleasantly surprised at how cheaply it can be done. i don't think you will have any problem with the diving, and you will get a lot of them in. that said, if you hit it right/wrong there can be some fun/scary currents in bohol. but bohol in any event is the most expensive of your options, and the one i would give a pass on.
not mentioned was apo island. there is some fantastic, world class diving on the west (lee) side. your best option is to stay at liberty's. the snorkeling off the beach is awesome. with your dive count up around 50 by this time you will be ready to take on the big drifts on the north moving to the east of apo. an adrenaline junky is born! liberty's can explain the best and cheapest option for making the public ferry. hint - it involves a ceres bus for small pesos followed by a very short downhill walk (or trike) followed by a cheap ferry and drop off directly in front of liberty's. i would give dauin a complete pass - it is not what you seem to be looking for.
sooooo if it was me, i would high-tail it out of manila (the sooner the better) to cebu. make my way to peter's. it is a great place all the way around and i would be shocked if you did not fall in love with the place. you will find the moose and squirrel on your exploratory walks (5 minutes to the south, same side). it is your dinner and night option (you will see half the guests take their dinner and drinks there.) head back to cebu and then to dumaguete and liberty's - which also has dorm rooms. (flying from cebu city to dumaguete is a great and cheap option as well, though your baggage weight is somewhat limited because it is a small plane.) consider a few days in moalboal on the way back, time permitting (and it should - you can make it from dumaguete to moalboal between breakfast and lunch). head back to cebu for the trip home.
whatever you decide to do, you are going to love it.
rc
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I could easily spend a week there are more! The diving on their house reef is quite good. I would think the snorkeling would be good also.
