dennism52
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A while back, I asked Scuba Board for suggestions on a 1st time trip to the Philippines. We finally made a trip and here is my report.
This was my first visit to the Philippines, so I do not consider myself an expert on the Philippines and all its many possible dive destinations. What follows is based solely on my own experiences (1 trip) and personal observations.
Most of my diving has been done in California and the Caribbean (700+ dives). It was a bucket list objective for me to dive somewhere in the Western Pacific and see new creatures (not found in the Caribbean). After consulting Scuba Board, my wife and I decided on Puerto Galera and Dauin for a 2 week trip. We were also considering Malapascua, but altered this choice after typhoon Yolanda. We would still like to visit Malapascua in the future.
The Philippines was amazing. The diving was fantastic, and the people were very friendly. For our first week in Puerto Galera, we opted to stay at El Galleon. The house dive shop is Asia divers. We were happy with both. We did 3 dives each day and all were about 1 hour. We are good with our air and pleased with the longer dive times. Many places in the Caribbean limit dives to 45 or 55 minutes even when a dive profile would allow more time. It also appears that in the Philippines Nitrox is more the norm. We dive air (not Nitrox) because we have been diving for many years and some places we go dont even offer Nitrox. After our Philippines trip, we are considering getting a Nitrox certification.
At El Galleon, we stayed in an ocean view room. We liked this, and the view was great. But be warned, the ocean view rooms are at the top of a hill (70 steps to the top). This did not present a problem for us, but we did get extra exercise making 3 or 4 trips up and down each day.
One other popular hotel in Puerto Galera is Atlantis. This is advertised by many dive shops in the USA offering group dive trips to the Philippines. We walked by and it did look very nice. It was busy too. There are many other dive resorts in Puerto Galera some of which cater to different countries including divers from China, Korea, and Europe. You should check out each dive resort to insure it meets your personal preferences. What we liked about El Galleon, was its more tropical feel. Lots of tropical plants and landscaping. The Point Bar was a great place to meet people and discuss the days diving during happy hour. Also, Asia Divers had a dock. This made it easier to jump onto the dive boat. Most dive operations (both in Puerto Galera and Dauin) have their boats off shore requiring you to walk into the ocean to board. Not a big deal (going in the ocean is the objective), but something to be aware of. Easy because all dive shops have an amazing staff that takes care of getting all your equipment on the boat. And after each dive, Asia Divers and Atmosphere in Dauin had hot hand towels to rinse your face. Another first for us, and much appreciated.
All the dive guides at Asia Divers and Atmosphere were excellent. Jamie (ex Royal Navy), at Asia Divers was outstanding and was quite helpful in seeking out strange critters. We dove mostly with Richard at Atmosphere and he was great for finding the real small critters. I wish I had my reading glasses to see some of the smaller stuff he was pointing at.
We were able to meet the owner/operators at El Galleon and Atmosphere. It was nice to converse with them, as well as divers from other parts of the world including Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, the UK and Russia. Just by chance, we hit a slow week at each resort. It was amazing to go on dives with a dive guide for just my wife and I. We arrived at El Galleon when a big group was just wrapping up their week. At Atmosphere, we were between two big groups. We felt like celebrities. Got to set our dive preferences etc., and we had a great time. The Mandarin dive was amazing.
We went in January, and we found that March through June are actually the best months weather wise and the high season. A little cooler in January, but doable.
I am an amateur underwater photographer, and I had a great time at both Puerto Galera and Dauin. I now have a better understanding of muck diving. Im not sure if this is my preference, but it was interesting. Unlike Caribbean coral sand (which has nothing much of interest IMHO), the muck is really muck. A combination of volcanic sediment, and organic material, it is more like talcum powder. Very easy to disturb, but it hosts a lot of critters. Because this was our first time to the Philippines, and we were seeing so many new creatures, my preference was a combination of reef and muck diving (more reef than muck). APO island was amazing and a must do if staying in Dumaguete/Dauin area.
Special thanks to Sue, an ex-pat living in Puerto Galera. She took us on a great hike into the outskirts of Puerto Galera. Amazing!
The best of my underwater photo efforts can be seen here:
Philippines 2014 Underwater - a set on Flickr
This was my first visit to the Philippines, so I do not consider myself an expert on the Philippines and all its many possible dive destinations. What follows is based solely on my own experiences (1 trip) and personal observations.
Most of my diving has been done in California and the Caribbean (700+ dives). It was a bucket list objective for me to dive somewhere in the Western Pacific and see new creatures (not found in the Caribbean). After consulting Scuba Board, my wife and I decided on Puerto Galera and Dauin for a 2 week trip. We were also considering Malapascua, but altered this choice after typhoon Yolanda. We would still like to visit Malapascua in the future.
The Philippines was amazing. The diving was fantastic, and the people were very friendly. For our first week in Puerto Galera, we opted to stay at El Galleon. The house dive shop is Asia divers. We were happy with both. We did 3 dives each day and all were about 1 hour. We are good with our air and pleased with the longer dive times. Many places in the Caribbean limit dives to 45 or 55 minutes even when a dive profile would allow more time. It also appears that in the Philippines Nitrox is more the norm. We dive air (not Nitrox) because we have been diving for many years and some places we go dont even offer Nitrox. After our Philippines trip, we are considering getting a Nitrox certification.
At El Galleon, we stayed in an ocean view room. We liked this, and the view was great. But be warned, the ocean view rooms are at the top of a hill (70 steps to the top). This did not present a problem for us, but we did get extra exercise making 3 or 4 trips up and down each day.
One other popular hotel in Puerto Galera is Atlantis. This is advertised by many dive shops in the USA offering group dive trips to the Philippines. We walked by and it did look very nice. It was busy too. There are many other dive resorts in Puerto Galera some of which cater to different countries including divers from China, Korea, and Europe. You should check out each dive resort to insure it meets your personal preferences. What we liked about El Galleon, was its more tropical feel. Lots of tropical plants and landscaping. The Point Bar was a great place to meet people and discuss the days diving during happy hour. Also, Asia Divers had a dock. This made it easier to jump onto the dive boat. Most dive operations (both in Puerto Galera and Dauin) have their boats off shore requiring you to walk into the ocean to board. Not a big deal (going in the ocean is the objective), but something to be aware of. Easy because all dive shops have an amazing staff that takes care of getting all your equipment on the boat. And after each dive, Asia Divers and Atmosphere in Dauin had hot hand towels to rinse your face. Another first for us, and much appreciated.
All the dive guides at Asia Divers and Atmosphere were excellent. Jamie (ex Royal Navy), at Asia Divers was outstanding and was quite helpful in seeking out strange critters. We dove mostly with Richard at Atmosphere and he was great for finding the real small critters. I wish I had my reading glasses to see some of the smaller stuff he was pointing at.
We were able to meet the owner/operators at El Galleon and Atmosphere. It was nice to converse with them, as well as divers from other parts of the world including Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, the UK and Russia. Just by chance, we hit a slow week at each resort. It was amazing to go on dives with a dive guide for just my wife and I. We arrived at El Galleon when a big group was just wrapping up their week. At Atmosphere, we were between two big groups. We felt like celebrities. Got to set our dive preferences etc., and we had a great time. The Mandarin dive was amazing.
We went in January, and we found that March through June are actually the best months weather wise and the high season. A little cooler in January, but doable.
I am an amateur underwater photographer, and I had a great time at both Puerto Galera and Dauin. I now have a better understanding of muck diving. Im not sure if this is my preference, but it was interesting. Unlike Caribbean coral sand (which has nothing much of interest IMHO), the muck is really muck. A combination of volcanic sediment, and organic material, it is more like talcum powder. Very easy to disturb, but it hosts a lot of critters. Because this was our first time to the Philippines, and we were seeing so many new creatures, my preference was a combination of reef and muck diving (more reef than muck). APO island was amazing and a must do if staying in Dumaguete/Dauin area.
Special thanks to Sue, an ex-pat living in Puerto Galera. She took us on a great hike into the outskirts of Puerto Galera. Amazing!
The best of my underwater photo efforts can be seen here:
Philippines 2014 Underwater - a set on Flickr
