Tubbahtaha early April

[staggsSevin]

@cleomagic I may have ran into another good option for you to check out. It's a boat I didn't know about that is scheduled to go to Tubbataha for your week as well. It's a newer boat and priced similar to Aggressor.

Solitude Gaia – Solitude World - I'm staying with Solitude Acacia in Anilao right before out trip for almost a week, I knew about Solitude One but it was full. This is a newer boat they launched in 2023 and it's scheduled to be in Tubbataha and Bluewater is reaching out to see if they are confirmed trips or not (it shows its planning to be there but they said not a "confirmed" status and shows openings).

They took a day or two to get back to Bluewater when booking our stay at Acacia so it may be a day or so before Bluewater hears back on if the trip is confirmed or not in Tubbataha.

Their booking site for liveaboards is a bit weird to navigate vs others but I do see your date

 

[staggsSevin]

Here is for your week - I'll let you know once I've heard something - it may be 1-2 days.

 

[kimster812]

Hi All! Just seeing this thread, on the off chance any of you impacted by the delay in the Aggressor II, we do have one male share spot open on our Tubbataha trip, March 30-April 6, 2024 on the Aggressor. Just wanted to add that in case anyone is still sorting out their plans. Let me know.

 

[cleomagic]

We are now on the Palau Sport April 6-12 in a Deluxe Suite. We lost one dive day, but save a bunch of money ... and our holiday. We'll post a trip report when we get back to the States.

 

[staggsSevin]

We ended up rebooking on the May 4th trip, and spent a bunch more money on airline fees (change fee, price difference, and repaying for seats). I'll be spending the week before in Anilao, and if the May 4th one gets cancelled I'm just going to go to PG for the week (and finally save some money).

I'm interested in your report on the Palau Sport!

 

[staggsSevin]

And I spoke to soon, was informed today that the May 4th trip has been cancelled too. At this point we are just switching over to a land based option for that week as there isn't any other boats that have any room open for that week that could accommodate us all.

 

[cleomagic]

And I spoke to soon, was informed today that the May 4th trip has been cancelled too. At this point we are just switching over to a land based option for that week as there isn't any other boats that have any room open for that week that could accommodate us all.

Oh man - that sucks! So sorry to hear that. The Palau Sport looks like they might have some spots for May 4th. We reached out to them on Facebook and they were quick to respond. Here is the link: MY Palau Sport | Batangas City

Based on Liveaboard.com, it looks like there is 1 suite available (2 people), and possibly 11 spots in twin berth cabins. Note, we have seen liveaboard.com not be completely accurate, so it would be worth reaching out to Palau Sport, if you are interested in going that route.

Good luck!

P.S. We were able to confirm availability directly with Palau Sport (and hold a room), but booked through Liveaboard.com which allowed us to pay with our credit card.

 

[staggsSevin]

Thanks @cleomagic we definitely knew this was a possible outcome for sure since we got hit originally on the April 13th trip but it was the latest we could do the trip due to one of our friends having to be back in their country (they aren't from the USA) by May 15th.

I had already taken a peak at palau sport earlier today and found where they listed the trip as being full - TUBBATAHA 2024 Schedule and Itinerary (Their website links to that).

But luckily we had already planned on just switching over to PG since we knew there would be less of a chance to find something if this happened again. We'll definitely try to reschedule for maybe 2025/26 to hit Tubbahtaha. I'm not complaining about getting to spend a week in Anilao and then a week in PG.

I think our lesson learned is to not book a boat that hasn't started doing trips yet.

 

[cleomagic]

Thanks @cleomagic we definitely knew this was a possible outcome for sure since we got hit originally on the April 13th trip but it was the latest we could do the trip due to one of our friends having to be back in their country (they aren't from the USA) by May 15th.

I had already taken a peak at palau sport earlier today and found where they listed the trip as being full - TUBBATAHA 2024 Schedule and Itinerary (Their website links to that).

But luckily we had already planned on just switching over to PG since we knew there would be less of a chance to find something if this happened again. We'll definitely try to reschedule for maybe 2025/26 to hit Tubbahtaha. I'm not complaining about getting to spend a week in Anilao and then a week in PG.

I think our lesson learned is to not book a boat that hasn't started doing trips yet.

We learned that same lesson. We're fortunate that we were able to rebook at during the original window. We did move up our flight to Bali by one day, but that was relatively painless by comparison. Your plan B is pretty much the same as our plan B.

 

[the_jaguar]

@cleomagic would love to hear your experience with Palau Sport. We are planning to take a trip with them next year, but haven't been able to find too many reviews about them, so would really appreciate your input!