Top 5 Dive Locations in the Philippines

[DiverJW]

Shugar,

Love your icon there. Thanks for the info and will drop you and email when I get back to PI. Maybe we can get together for a dive sometime.

Jim

from what i've tried: (w/ 1 being the bestest)

5. scuba world swimming pool (wahahahaha)
4. white beach puerto galera
3. coron wrecks
2. anilao in general
1.75 sombrero island area, anilao
1.5 apo island in general
1. coconut point Apo Island

Jag

 

[f3nikon]

Ok, I just want to get an idea of what the members of this forum think is the best in the Philippines. Rank your top 5 locations in terms of your own overall diving experience. No need to mention specifics unless you want to. If you feel the need to add a #6, #7, #8, etc., feel free to. I'm just looking to get a general idea of favorites. Thanks for your participation.

1) Tubbataha Reef (North Islet) More like #1 in the world
2) Bastera Reef (Southwest of Tubbataha) BIG Fish, BIG Schools
3) Tubbataha Reef (South Islet) Wall to Wall Greatness
4) Balicasag Island (Bohol) University point (BIG schools)
5) Cervera Shoals (Bohol) Sea Snakes, visiting schools


Possibly also the Caygayancillo, Cuyo and Tawi Tawi Islands, Jessie Beazley Reef all in the Sulu Sea. I’ll just keep on dreaming.

 

[shugar]

hey just say the word! hehehehe

Jag

 

[dawhale]

[QUOTE=
If you are going to promote diving in the Philippines you have a larger problem of insuring the security of foreigners. Don't get me wrong I was born there and I come home to dive a lot. I am also employed in the Dive Industry in the US (for the last 27 years). It has been the dream of most dive businesses in the Philippines to get the US market to come over (the US has more divers that are willing to spend $$$ than any other country) The Europeans already know about the Philippines, but let's face it, they don't spend like US divers do.

Good Luck with project.

I have considered a dive trip to the Philippines over the years but am unsure if divers from the USA are welcome. A few years ago terrorist cut the head off a guy from California. So cutting Through all the hype how welcome are Americans in the Philippines? Thanks, One old diver from the USA

 

[paolov]

I have considered a dive trip to the Philippines over the years but am unsure if divers from the USA are welcome. A few years ago terrorist cut the head off a guy from California. So cutting Through all the hype how welcome are Americans in the Philippines? Thanks, One old diver from the USA

fftopic: seriously that incident is politically motivated did you know that the Abu leaders were trained under the CIA , yeah just like Bin Laden. One more thing that is a very isolated case almtree: almtree: , they have that too in indonesia and malaysia.

I have been diving with foreigners for more than five years now and that incident does not affect their love for diving in the Philippines. There are risks but they are manageable and with safety precautions you can avoid such things just like in diving. :reaper:

I really don't want to be in the defensive stance :krach: so i better go on the offensive.

It is a fact that in the USA , there are shootings literally everyday and kids :babycrawl get killed! buy you don't get a warning that the USA is a dangerous place, do you?

I visited California several times, from San diego to orange county :369: to SFo to Sacramento i enjoy the place, most of my family members are there. but the love of warm water diving :scubadive has a stronger pull on me .

so i better shut myself up :ignore: and lets just have fun diving :giveusahu

Secret Proof : i dive with American guys here , from the US Embassy for that matter with their wives even (sic) shhhhhh but seriously don't mention it. it's top secret. maybe they issue those warnings so they have the dive spots to themselves. they even go around in local taxi cabs !!!

 

[clgsamson]

hi,
The best so far for me, since I have dived these location are the ff: from 1-5
Balicasag island, Bohol
Puerto galera
Lubang islands, Mindoro- spearfishing
Anilao- near our place, manila
Davao gulf
Marinduque- memorable diving the chinese junk with the Phil national museum

Marinduque - we spend a bit of our summers in Marinduque when not diving. Do you know where this chinese junk is located? and where did you get your air tanks filled or rented? unless you came from Puerto Galera the story on Marinduque lacking diving support facilities maybe true from what I read in a diving book.

 

[shugar]

hi dawhale

you live in LA... aren't there drive-by shootings and killings everyday? aren't the blacks constantly at war with koreans? there's a car chase everyday on the news... it's a filthy city with so much crime half of the crime TV shows are based in LA... white men hang black men for sitting at the front of the bus, right?

is that a fair assessment of your home? i don't think so... then i hope you ask a fair assessment of ours...

no news program in their right mind will air a "good" story with "happy" news... it just doesn't sell... what sells is kidnappings and killings and bombings and other crime...

why not go to indonesia? hell, Bali is a nice place... so peaceful...

or sulawesi? nothing happening there...

every town has its crapspot... every race its bung-holes... every culture a redneck...

there's more gun-related crime per capita in the US than in most countries on earth and you judge us for 1 foreigner beheaded by terrorists? then maybe nobody should dare enter an american skyscraper because airplanes crash into them everyday?

i may sound sarcastic but i hope my point is clear... "is it safe for US divers" is not a question... it's an insult to us... so the philippines is safe for German and Australian divers but not for US divers? what makes US divers so different from other people? because we're not white?

it's either a safe place to go (your mom's room) or an unsafe place to go (downtown baghdad)... we don't go around checking passports before sticking a knife in you

hope this helps widen your perspective =)

 

[paolov]

i may sound sarcastic but i hope my point is clear... "is it safe for US divers" is not a question... it's an insult to us... so the philippines is safe for German and Australian divers but not for US divers? what makes US divers so different from other people? because we're not white?

dawhale has a point, it is true that certain areas are really unsafe for americans. because their government has made it unsafe for their citizens!!! but quite safe for the rest of the world. why is this?, because their compatriots made a mess in these places due to the agenda given to them.

Fact or Fiction : a lot of CIA operatives can not return to the USA due to the crime they did for their country? Because when they return the FBI will arrest them for crimes they did that their government will never admit to have commanded their operatives.


So in the meantime, lets enjoy the dive sites that our own countrymen made mess out with a few Americans that dare come here. Would you believe i first heard of Donsol, Tubbataha, Apo island etc. when i was buying my first scuba gear in California and he told me that he comes to the philippines on a regular basis at least twice a year to dive here in the Philippines !!!!

such is the disinformation of the Government to it's citizens when they want to pressure the foreign government to submit to their dictates. American Democracy......

So dawhale come to the Philippines and see for yourself. There are safe places to dive in and visit. Check out BORACAY and Tubbatha trips this year alone. Cebu is busy with Japanese divers, Anilao for Korean divers, the Europeans, they are all over the place !!!

Dawhale rest assured if you plan your trip well you maybe able to enjoy and have a safe dive. the key is always VERIFY the information you get. if a person says he is offended by your verification then you better not deal with such person.

 

[chinadan]

Divers from the US are very welcome in the Philippines. In fact, all people, foreign or local, are welcome. I am a regular in the Philippines and have never encountered any situation I would feel uncomfortable (but then my Filipina girlfriend kick some serious ***** organizing everything during our travels).

I live in China and my colleague from LA was visiting, on his way to Thailand. When I asked him why not the Philippines he had similar reservations...ironically, the same day there were bomb attacks in southern Thailand...

If you want to feel/be safe, go to Boracay, they even had a Navy ship posted in visible range to the main beach and armed police in the background...not that they needed it.

If you go to Panglao/Bohol, you will find a surprisingly high number of US/Canadian divers vs. the usual Euro-crowd...at least I did.

 

[paolov]

thanks chinadan