too many great resorts to choose from, confused!!

[Big fish63]

basically it looks like there are so many places to go diving. its giving me a really hard time deciding where to go. i have allowed 18 days for my dive trip there, so 14 days diving and 2 days either side for flights, getting to the resort etc..

where is the best diving? should it all be resort based or are there advantages getting on a liveaboard?


i dont need luxury accommodation just somewhere quiet to retreat to.

arrive in manila (clark) on 5th of may. i will be travelling with one more person.

sooo, if you have travelled across the Philippines and done lots of diving in different locations could you please point me in the right direction..

your probably going to ask 'well what do you want to see?'. ... big schools of jacks/barracuda, mega fauna or nice muck dives/ macro are my thing.. something comparable to komodo or sipadan if it exists???

 

[Babydamulag]

Start at EVOLUTION and work your way north to PG.

 

[Big fish63]

thanks for the reply, i pretty much had malapascua pencilled in for week 2 and evolution looks like a great option. i will compare it to thresher shark divers.

i was thinking of heading to planet dive first in anilao. would you spend a week there?

 

[Big fish63]

also, pg?

 

[Centrals]

It will take you about 10hrs to travel from Malapascua to Anilao/PG. Given the similar amount of time, you can go to Moalboal and finish one or even two dives.......

 

[nelsondejesus]

3 days in Planet Dive will suffice. You could already cover pretty much all the best diving sites of Anilao during that period

 

[jbb]

your probably going to ask 'well what do you want to see?'. ... big schools of jacks/barracuda, mega fauna or nice muck dives/ macro are my thing.. something comparable to komodo or sipadan if it exists???

This subject gets beat to death in this forum and everyone certainly has their opinion as you shall soon find out. Clark is a bit out of the way for dive destination except Subic. I will preface my recommended options that I have not dived PG and only three dives at Anilao. But if you are definitely going to Malapascua I would try Alona Beach, Bohol or Apo Island/Dauin, Negros as other dive site options. Dauin has the advantage of being close enough to Apo (nice corals, school of jacks and some macro) for some boat dives there plus good muck diving at Dauin. Alona Beach has a lot of good corals on a slope with some smaller walls and close to Balicisag Island for some deaper walls, school of jacks. You can search my flickr photos for examples of what you can see at Malapascua, Apo and Alona. Both Alona and Dauin could be reached fairly quickly from Cebu via ferry or visa versa as you say Malapascua is second on your itinerary - I will usually try new places on my trips and then ride up to Malapascua for 5-7 days of diving - my favorite island. So you would have to drive from Clark to Manila and catch a flight to Tagbilaran (Alona Beach/Balicasag) or Dumaguette (Apo/Dauin). After either destination you can ferry to Cebu City and get a taxi/hired car for a 3-4 hour drive north to Malapascua. I would recommend the ferry from Dumaguette to Cebu City as the bus is a very dusty/tedious ride (5 hours - I know as I've done it three different times).