Trip Report - PG & Big Apple/SeaRider

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

justwannadivenow3

Contributor
Messages
74
Reaction score
9
Location
New Jersey
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi everyone,

I’ve gained a tremendous amount from this forum and wanted to give back.

I just got back from an 8-day trip to the Philippines. I chose to dive in Sabang for 6 days because of the diversity of options without having to go to other places.

Getting there:

Took a flight from JFK-MNL with Philippine airlines. Once in PI I took the bus to Batangas and then public ferry to Muller point where I caught tricycle to Sabang. Easy and cheap, but it was a long journey – 4 hours in total. That is after I spent 17 hours on a plane…

I decided to stay at Big Apple after reading decent reviews and seeing very good pricing. I negotiated to pay 900PHP per dive (approx. $18bucks…) because I was looking to stay and dive 15+. Normal price is 1100PHP but returning customers only pay 900PHP. Room was very very basic – but was only 1200PHP – Im not sure how the more expensive rooms are.

Diving – I did 3 dives every day with 4 dives on one day. All were day dives with exception of two night dives.

Diving is really nice off of Sabang. Pretty much all the sites were just a couple minutes away, with exception of the day trip to Verde Island which was really nice.

The dive sites were insanely good!! I’ve been to Cozumel, Azores, Roatan, DR and a liveaboard on the GBR. Diving in Sabang was a thousand times better! The biodiversity was truly outstanding and mesmerizing. I was fortunate to see a couple bucket list items – Blue Ringed Octo, Pygmy seahorse and a tremendous amount of other really cool stuff. I get it that it is a pain in the ass to travel all the way to Asia, but the truth of the matter is, diving in the Caribbean is nothing compared to the coral triangle. For trips longer than 10 days – go to Asia! It’s cheap and amazing.

Now for the downside… Rented equipment was beyond ******. I mean really ridiculous they’re using what they have. I’m talking ripped BC’s and Wetsuits. Although I didn’t see anyone have any equipment issues. the DM Bunny couldn’t care less about you. All he was doing was taking pictures. I practically had to beg for dive briefings. Didn’t get asked about air consumption or if I was ok once… really poor operation for anyone needing even a little assistance. Took clear beginners to advanced sites which is really stupid, but the DM didn’t care. There was even one diver who somehow managed to blow through his entire tank when we were diving the Canyons, I kid you not, the “back-up” DM noticed the guy had only 10 bar when we were at 60/70 feet! Now this particular individual is straight up retarded to not monitoring his own air, but I do blame the DM for taking this guy to a site way beyond his experience and not checking on him when it was clear he was struggling with the dive.

As a side note, during that same dive, albeit at the end, we got caught in a down-current… beyond scary looking at your dive computer and seeing you’re descending at a ridiculous pace even with your BCD fully inflated…. Fortunately we all made it out alive.


I’d also point out that there were a couple days Big Apple didn’t want to dive in the afternoon because I was the only willing diver. I ended up checking out SeaRider – pretty good operations. Cheap diving 1100 PHP with free (decent, relatively new gear). Much better dive operation then Big Apple.

To end, the diving was superb and I would highly recommend everyone get a chance and go to the Philippines. Big Apple is a ******, but cheap place to stay and dive. I would only dive there if you’re experienced and ok without being hand-held. Also, do yourself a favor and have your own gear.
 
Agree with your comparison of PG to Caribbean.

My Wife and I spent 12 nights/11 diving days at Sandi Divers in PG last May and loved it. This May we are flying into Cebu and diving Cabilao and Dauin.
 
Thank you for this report.

DMs diving with their own cameras seems to be becoming more and more widespread.

Glad you enjoyed your trip nonetheless.
 
Thank you! Now I really can't wait for our trip - still 29 days.
 
There are places that cost the same and have better guides , I'm pretty sure you can have a real cheap apartment near Searider, dove with Bunny when he was with Mare Divers and he's just plain lazy !
Frank
 
I have used several dive operators in Sabang over the yrs and none has ever said NO to a dive even I was the only paying customer!
Down current at Canyons is to be expected at all time so some DM insisted on min of 70 bars!!!!Some sites in PG are NOT suitable for in-experienced diver.
 
Thank you for this report.

DMs diving with their own cameras seems to be becoming more and more widespread.

Glad you enjoyed your trip nonetheless.

I ran into that only once in the Philippines and complained to the owner. This is really unprofessional in my opinion. I'm the one paying and, sorry but I don't think I should have to wait for the dive guide while they're taking photos for themselves. He's not getting paid to do personal photography! When I'm guiding here on Guam I don't bring a camera unless it's because I'm taking photos or video of the client or I'm giving an underwater photography lesson and allowing the client to use one of my cameras. I'm certainly not doing personal photography!

The dive guide wasn't to happy but he didn't bring his camera on the next dive.

Big Apple was the cheapest quote I got when I went during the off-season a couple of years ago. Big Apple was upfront that they would only guarantee 2 dives a day. More than that I would have to pay more if I were the only diver. I ended up choosing another operator because they told me they would take me out even if I were the only diver on the boat.

I usually stay at AAA when I go now and they are quite reasonable. I normally pay 1200 a night there.

Once you're in PG you can walk around and negotiate for dives. It does depend on time of year a bit.
 
I have been to sabang 5 times in the last 4 years and the last two years (3 visits) I have rented an airbnb in small laguna (very very nice) and dove with Action divers...I brought my own gear but the rental get they had was all new aqua lung BC/regs etc. Dives we $26 USD but never had concerns about the DM taking pics (the did not) and concerned for new divers but also let me dive my way being more experienced. BigApple used to be nice when I stayed there 10 years ago but wouldnt return for diving or a room..except for the restaurant which had pretty good food.
 
I was staying at Out of the Blue last trip there and tried Action Divers since it's on site and had zero complaints with them. We always went out even if I was the only diver, and had a lot of very fun dives with them. I'm in the planning phase of returning Feb 2020 and plan to dive with them again.
 
Second for Out of the Blue and Action Divers. Great hotel, amazing food and a great dive operator. And on the quiet side of Sabang, but you can walk to the action in about 20 minutes....
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom