Visayas Trip Report: Alona Beach and Dauin, January 2020

[Luko]

In my 3 days diving Cabilao, I've always had either mild or unsignificant currents along the walls (btw lots of pygmy seahorses on the abundant corals there), and only once a quite strong current on a macro site, but nothing unmanageable.

One of my friends who I gave the adress to, wrote a report about the island and the dive conditions(french language), she had better coral photos than I had, I reckon.
Plonger à Cabilao, petit joyau corallien des Philippines

Here's some pics about Cabilao macro and wide angle:

 

[Luko]

I actually got more and better wide-angle shots at Puntod Island.

I actually regretted bringing only a 60 mm macro lens when I dived Puntod.

That's all I could get with the colorful corals.

 

[Tippytoes12]

I came across Magic Oceans when I briefly looked into Anda. Indeed, it was one of the few establishments there on which I found any significant reporting or reviews.

Would you say that Anda is more of a reefs/fish/larger animals destination or a muck diving/macro destination? Or is it equally both?

I would say that it is 75 % macro and 25% reefs. There were very few big fish, but the day before I arrived there was a whaleshark on the house reef. Whalesharks pass by transiting from Oslob to Southern Leyte to Donsol and back again.

 

[FT]

Thank you, I will look into this place. How many dives a day do they typically offer?

Is this what you mean by dipper baths?

Tabo (hygiene) - Wikipedia

Now that you mention it, where would resorts or residents of Apo Island get their fresh water? Is that why rinsing a big camera might be an issue?

yes, tabo. From Tripadvisor reviews I gather that is still the case, while Mario’s may have showers. There is another resort around the point from Liberty’s, can’t remember the name.

There was an effort to get a reverse osmosis system to desalinate sea water; don’t know the current status. Stored rainwater for bathing and for rinsing scuba equipment. Bottled water brought over by boat for drinking. An update from someone who has been more recently would help us know if the camera rinsing options have improved.

 

[Ironborn]

I actually regretted bringing only a 60 mm macro lens when I dived Puntod.

That's all I could get with the colorful corals.
View attachment 570129

There was pretty good macro on Puntod Island too, but the wide-angle opportunities were what really set it apart. Balicasag might have had more coral and larger schools of larger fish, but the combination of low visibility and strong current made it hard to get good wide-angle shots. I got more presentable wide-angle shots from two dives on Puntod than I did from six dives on Balicasag.

What were conditions like when you were at Puntod? Little or no current with almost Caribbean-like visibility? The only other place I saw such good conditions on this trip, or anywhere else in the Philippines, was at Apo Island. Was I just lucky that day, or is Puntod normally that good?

 

[Centrals]

• Would it be feasible to travel between Malapascua and Sogod Bay in one day without a domestic flight?

I have never tried it but do believe it is feasible. There is NO need to take a domestic flight.
However, it is time consuming.
Ferry from Bogo(Cebu Island) to Palompon(Leyte) is once a day by Super Ferry.
V-hire to Ormoc and then onward to Sogod Bay.
How to get to Bogo from Malaspascua is another story.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I need wings.

 

[Centrals]

I need wings.

Siargao - Wikipedia

There is NO way you can cover the country in one trip unless it is several yrs long!

Siquijor is pretty laid back.

Sipalay is also very quiet(5-6 hrs) by bus from Bacolod/Dumaguete.

Coron is really NOT suitable when majority of the family is non-diver. The wrecks are miles away.
El Nido is nice(top side).

So many interesting places.

 

[Ironborn]

I have never tried it but do believe it is feasible. There is NO need to take a domestic flight.
However, it is time consuming.
Ferry from Bogo(Cebu Island) to Palompon(Leyte) is once a day by Super Ferry.
V-hire to Ormoc and then onward to Sogod Bay.
How to get to Bogo from Malaspascua is another story.

Thank you for the suggestion; this possibility did not come up in my research.

It looks like this option could work in one day from Malapascua to Leyte (which would actually be my preference), but not the other way around. The ferry leaves Palompon at 7:30am, which might be too early to drive there from Sogod Bay (3-4 hours?).

The ferry leaves Bogo at 12:00pm, and it looks like Bogo might be close enough to Malapascua to get there in time for that departure, if one can leave Malapascua early enough. The ferry would get to Leyte at 4pm, so one would probably get to Sogod Bay at night.

Has anyone else tried this route? It did not come up in my research on Sogod Bay or on the local resorts' websites, but I think that they assume that people would be coming from Cebu City. I had figured that, if I went to Malapascua first (which would be my preference), I would have to go all the way back to Cebu City for a ferry to somewhere on Leyte and then get a car ride the rest of the way, which would get me into Sogod Bay even later at night.

 

[Luko]

There was pretty good macro on Puntod Island too, but the wide-angle opportunities were what really set it apart. Balicasag might have had more coral and larger schools of larger fish, but the combination of low visibility and strong current made it hard to get good wide-angle shots. I got more presentable wide-angle shots from two dives on Puntod than I did from six dives on Balicasag.

What were conditions like when you were at Puntod? Little or no current with almost Caribbean-like visibility? The only other place I saw such good conditions on this trip, or anywhere else in the Philippines, was at Apo Island. Was I just lucky that day, or is Puntod normally that good?

The viz was great on Puntod in the 25-30m range with very little current. That was late April, on the other hand viz was OK to good on Balicasag a day or two before (15-20m range).