Hi
Sorry for keeping this trip report a bit on the brief side, it's been more than a month since I got home, and I've only just about finished sorting photos.
I was travelling in the Philippines with my wife and kids for two months, mainly in the Visayas. Didn't do most of the very visited places as we tend to like fairly relaxed destinations. Also, we normally do mid range hotels and are used to travelling in Asia, so what seems nice to us may seem less than perfect to others. Travelling as a family with young kids obviously means that it's not all diving and that mom and dad can't easily get to dive together, but on the other hand, we had a lot of time.
"Dive rating" is just my take - don't take it too seriously.
Photos are here: https://plus.google.com/photos/101841704838073976247/albums/5867537817201541745
I'm tagging the photos with locations in Google+, may take a while to get through them all.
A few notes on the places we went:
Coron
Stayed and dove with Discovery Divers. The operation is as lots of Asian diving: pretty relaxed in all the good and some slightly less good ways, but I liked it a lot. Beautiful scenery above water, and the wrecks are spectacular. Visibility wasn't impressive, with a 20 minute penetration of the Akitsushima as the highlight. Didn't do the Barracuda Lake dive.
Dive rating: 10/10 for the wrecks, 3/10 for the rest.
Malapascua
The thresher sharks were there in great numbers, and even if it's a bit of a zoo, it's still a nice sight. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to Gato Island, but we did a few dives around Malapascua which were all enjoyable, especially the night dive at the Lighthouse. Stayed at the White Sands Bungalows, which we liked a lot. Very basic, but it had a nice backpacking beach hut feel which is a bit different from the flashy resorts. Dove with Discovery Divers next door, very highly recommended. It's run by a German guy, all equipment was new, never got to carry a tank, suits in all sizes, Ordnung muss sein.
Dive rating: 8/10 for the threshers, 6/10 for the rest
Dauin
Stayed and dove with El Dorado resort. Nice place, had a pool which the kids enjoyed, and all of Dauins very nice muck diving just outside. Saw plenty of interesting critters, but a lot of them I also saw elsewhere in the Philippines. For the diving, I think we could have skipped. We went to Lembeh (Indo) some years ago, and I don't think the comparison is quite fair as Lembeh seems a lot more interesting to me.
Dive rating: 6/10
Sipalay
This was a pleasant surprise. Spent a week at TukaTaka resort on Sugar Beach and a week at Artistic Diving at Punta Ballo. Beach, swimming and the restaurant is much nicer at Sugar Beach, but the distance to the dive sites is a little long. Both places recommended, but Artistic Diving is a lot easier for diving. We liked that the sites were so near, that it was possible to go for a dive and be back in two hours, which is more manageable when you've got to work things out as a family. Diving was nice with great visibility. Weather seems to be calm on this side (west) of Negros when it's still windy at Dauin. The night dive here was a pleasant surprise with lots of exotic critters.
Dive rating: 7/10
Edit: Siquijor, almost forgot
Stayed and dove with Coco Grove resort, which is an absolutely wonderful resort. Very nice rooms, two pools, two restaurants and upmarket in a cheesy kind of way (everyone seems to know your name). But if you choose to just take it in it's great. I didn't dive at Apo Island as a lot of the reef was apparantly destroyed in the December typhoon. Diving at Siquijor itself was a pleasant surprise, nice reef with good fish life. The sanctuary is just outside of the resort.
Dive rating 7/10
Southern Leyte
Dove with Whaleshark Divers and stayed at the resort they're at (resort and dive shop aren't owned by the same people). The resort has by far the best pool in Southern Leyte, and the kids loved that. The dive op is run by a very nice German guy with a laid back attitude (though not in terms of safety). Staying here was more affordable than some of the better known options and we liked the place. Diving was great with Napantau being the absolute highlight of the trip. We went to see the whale sharks, which involved a lot of very had swimming and catching a glimpse of the great beasts a couple of times.
Dive rating: 10/10
Cheating: seeing the whale sharks at Oslob. It's a zoo, and I have mixed feelings about that. On the other hand, seing the whale sharks up close, and being able to share that with my kids was wonderful. We spent the night in Oslob town, there's a very pleasant guest house there.
Awesome rating: 10/10, environmental consciousness rating: 2/10.
Back in the office:
Work rating 2/10.
Sorry for keeping this trip report a bit on the brief side, it's been more than a month since I got home, and I've only just about finished sorting photos.
I was travelling in the Philippines with my wife and kids for two months, mainly in the Visayas. Didn't do most of the very visited places as we tend to like fairly relaxed destinations. Also, we normally do mid range hotels and are used to travelling in Asia, so what seems nice to us may seem less than perfect to others. Travelling as a family with young kids obviously means that it's not all diving and that mom and dad can't easily get to dive together, but on the other hand, we had a lot of time.
"Dive rating" is just my take - don't take it too seriously.
Photos are here: https://plus.google.com/photos/101841704838073976247/albums/5867537817201541745
I'm tagging the photos with locations in Google+, may take a while to get through them all.
A few notes on the places we went:
Coron
Stayed and dove with Discovery Divers. The operation is as lots of Asian diving: pretty relaxed in all the good and some slightly less good ways, but I liked it a lot. Beautiful scenery above water, and the wrecks are spectacular. Visibility wasn't impressive, with a 20 minute penetration of the Akitsushima as the highlight. Didn't do the Barracuda Lake dive.
Dive rating: 10/10 for the wrecks, 3/10 for the rest.
Malapascua
The thresher sharks were there in great numbers, and even if it's a bit of a zoo, it's still a nice sight. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to Gato Island, but we did a few dives around Malapascua which were all enjoyable, especially the night dive at the Lighthouse. Stayed at the White Sands Bungalows, which we liked a lot. Very basic, but it had a nice backpacking beach hut feel which is a bit different from the flashy resorts. Dove with Discovery Divers next door, very highly recommended. It's run by a German guy, all equipment was new, never got to carry a tank, suits in all sizes, Ordnung muss sein.
Dive rating: 8/10 for the threshers, 6/10 for the rest
Dauin
Stayed and dove with El Dorado resort. Nice place, had a pool which the kids enjoyed, and all of Dauins very nice muck diving just outside. Saw plenty of interesting critters, but a lot of them I also saw elsewhere in the Philippines. For the diving, I think we could have skipped. We went to Lembeh (Indo) some years ago, and I don't think the comparison is quite fair as Lembeh seems a lot more interesting to me.
Dive rating: 6/10
Sipalay
This was a pleasant surprise. Spent a week at TukaTaka resort on Sugar Beach and a week at Artistic Diving at Punta Ballo. Beach, swimming and the restaurant is much nicer at Sugar Beach, but the distance to the dive sites is a little long. Both places recommended, but Artistic Diving is a lot easier for diving. We liked that the sites were so near, that it was possible to go for a dive and be back in two hours, which is more manageable when you've got to work things out as a family. Diving was nice with great visibility. Weather seems to be calm on this side (west) of Negros when it's still windy at Dauin. The night dive here was a pleasant surprise with lots of exotic critters.
Dive rating: 7/10
Edit: Siquijor, almost forgot
Stayed and dove with Coco Grove resort, which is an absolutely wonderful resort. Very nice rooms, two pools, two restaurants and upmarket in a cheesy kind of way (everyone seems to know your name). But if you choose to just take it in it's great. I didn't dive at Apo Island as a lot of the reef was apparantly destroyed in the December typhoon. Diving at Siquijor itself was a pleasant surprise, nice reef with good fish life. The sanctuary is just outside of the resort.
Dive rating 7/10
Southern Leyte
Dove with Whaleshark Divers and stayed at the resort they're at (resort and dive shop aren't owned by the same people). The resort has by far the best pool in Southern Leyte, and the kids loved that. The dive op is run by a very nice German guy with a laid back attitude (though not in terms of safety). Staying here was more affordable than some of the better known options and we liked the place. Diving was great with Napantau being the absolute highlight of the trip. We went to see the whale sharks, which involved a lot of very had swimming and catching a glimpse of the great beasts a couple of times.
Dive rating: 10/10
Cheating: seeing the whale sharks at Oslob. It's a zoo, and I have mixed feelings about that. On the other hand, seing the whale sharks up close, and being able to share that with my kids was wonderful. We spent the night in Oslob town, there's a very pleasant guest house there.
Awesome rating: 10/10, environmental consciousness rating: 2/10.
Back in the office:
Work rating 2/10.
