Having received a lot of advice for planning the trip, here is the report:
I started with a Nitrox Course at Eldorado dive resort in Dauin. The course held by Philip (the shop owner) was good (but I felt later that other instructors spend more time for the theory...). Rental gear looks brandnew, free nitrox, good Filipino guides, very much geared to Swiss (and other German-speaking) customers. All sorts of other entertainment available...
Diving: in Dauin big seahorse, four frogfish in two dives etc., 3 kind of ghost pipefish in one dive; great coral, school of jackfish, turtles around Apo.
After that I had booked a five-day liveaboard from Sialay to Cagayan Islands, which are promoted to be world-class like Tubbataha and "continuously visited" by mantas, sharks etc. I t is run and promoted by Easy Diving in Sipalay, a pricey Swiss resort, the chief guide is also Swiss. There was another Swiss Instructor who had to replace the guide when he fell ill. Apart from me, there were only two other customers, a Swiss couple. The Swiss guide told me right at the beginning that I should know that the Philippines seas are overfished, but famous for small stuff...
The boat is a banca with "double cabins" that you enter from above, they have little windows, but when the boat is motoring and there are waves, you have to close the windows and the cover of the "entrance", and you are captured in the box. The front cabins are very much exposed to high waves, thus when leaving the cabin, you get pretty wet. The boat was fully booked in March and April, and with eight customers and one toilet/shower, it is not very comfortable. There is not enough space to sleep outside.
The Filipino boat crew was very nice and helpful, including a very good cook, the food was good, but too much pasta and sausages.
As for the dive service, the Swiss staff are not used to non-German-speaking guests, the availability of any language other than Swiss-German was limited...
Rental gear: they gave me a broken pressure gauge...
Guide service: unfriendly, arrogant, lacking motivation (the chief guide leaves the group after 45mins...), not really useful for spotting things. Bring your own buddy, otherwise you'll have to do your own thing like I did...
Diving: gorgeous walls, covered with a large variety of hard and soft corals, more small fish than elsewhere. In 14 dives: one white tip reef shark, 2 turtles, an eagle ray at large distance, schools of jacks, tunas, several Napoleon wrasses, small school of bumphead parrot fish, several barracudas. Many nudibranchs, some moray eels, box fish, puffer fish...
Summary: definitely not world-class, but beautiful walls, only recommended if boat is not fully booked and if you bring your own buddy and gear...
Finally Malapascua: Thresher shark divers: not many customers at that time, very good Filipino guides, helpful staff, good equipment, certainly not cheap...
Only catch: sometimes surface interval of just one hour during day trips, giving you a very short bottom time on the last dive...
Diving: two good sightings of thresher sharks doing three shark dives in the morning. I only tried once to see the mantas in the afternoon, but there were none.
Otherwise: Dona Marilyn wreck: spotted eagle ray, marble ray, Calangaman: beautiful walls, Gato white tip alley: several white tip reef sharks, sea horse, marble ray, cuttlefish, Spanish Dancer. On the other dives ghost pipefish, black tail coral pipefish, many nice nudibranchs, squat shrimps, lionfish, etc.. On the night dive mandarin fish, sea horses, crabs etc.
Recommended in the off-season (boats of other reputable shops were still crowded).
Cheers,
Liberty
I started with a Nitrox Course at Eldorado dive resort in Dauin. The course held by Philip (the shop owner) was good (but I felt later that other instructors spend more time for the theory...). Rental gear looks brandnew, free nitrox, good Filipino guides, very much geared to Swiss (and other German-speaking) customers. All sorts of other entertainment available...
Diving: in Dauin big seahorse, four frogfish in two dives etc., 3 kind of ghost pipefish in one dive; great coral, school of jackfish, turtles around Apo.
After that I had booked a five-day liveaboard from Sialay to Cagayan Islands, which are promoted to be world-class like Tubbataha and "continuously visited" by mantas, sharks etc. I t is run and promoted by Easy Diving in Sipalay, a pricey Swiss resort, the chief guide is also Swiss. There was another Swiss Instructor who had to replace the guide when he fell ill. Apart from me, there were only two other customers, a Swiss couple. The Swiss guide told me right at the beginning that I should know that the Philippines seas are overfished, but famous for small stuff...
The boat is a banca with "double cabins" that you enter from above, they have little windows, but when the boat is motoring and there are waves, you have to close the windows and the cover of the "entrance", and you are captured in the box. The front cabins are very much exposed to high waves, thus when leaving the cabin, you get pretty wet. The boat was fully booked in March and April, and with eight customers and one toilet/shower, it is not very comfortable. There is not enough space to sleep outside.
The Filipino boat crew was very nice and helpful, including a very good cook, the food was good, but too much pasta and sausages.
As for the dive service, the Swiss staff are not used to non-German-speaking guests, the availability of any language other than Swiss-German was limited...
Rental gear: they gave me a broken pressure gauge...
Guide service: unfriendly, arrogant, lacking motivation (the chief guide leaves the group after 45mins...), not really useful for spotting things. Bring your own buddy, otherwise you'll have to do your own thing like I did...
Diving: gorgeous walls, covered with a large variety of hard and soft corals, more small fish than elsewhere. In 14 dives: one white tip reef shark, 2 turtles, an eagle ray at large distance, schools of jacks, tunas, several Napoleon wrasses, small school of bumphead parrot fish, several barracudas. Many nudibranchs, some moray eels, box fish, puffer fish...
Summary: definitely not world-class, but beautiful walls, only recommended if boat is not fully booked and if you bring your own buddy and gear...
Finally Malapascua: Thresher shark divers: not many customers at that time, very good Filipino guides, helpful staff, good equipment, certainly not cheap...
Only catch: sometimes surface interval of just one hour during day trips, giving you a very short bottom time on the last dive...
Diving: two good sightings of thresher sharks doing three shark dives in the morning. I only tried once to see the mantas in the afternoon, but there were none.
Otherwise: Dona Marilyn wreck: spotted eagle ray, marble ray, Calangaman: beautiful walls, Gato white tip alley: several white tip reef sharks, sea horse, marble ray, cuttlefish, Spanish Dancer. On the other dives ghost pipefish, black tail coral pipefish, many nice nudibranchs, squat shrimps, lionfish, etc.. On the night dive mandarin fish, sea horses, crabs etc.
Recommended in the off-season (boats of other reputable shops were still crowded).
Cheers,
Liberty
