Thailand grants citizenship to half a million people – but not farangs

[tocliffy]

im intending to do a couple of weeks diving in the philipinnes march time..... could anyone recommend the best place taking into account all the normal requirements!........ all the articles i've read on the net give conflicting reports...

[IanForbes]

Without a doubt, the north end of the Palawan Islands was the best place that I found. Other places in the Philippines the commercial fishermen used dynamite to collect fish. The results were devasating to the reefs. For what ever reason that didn't seem to happen as much at the north end of the Palawan Islands. Any of the muslim areas of the Philippines are a disaster and I wouldn't even venture anywhere close to Mindanao. Borocay has a marvellous beach, but the diving isn't so great. There are approximately 7000 islands that make up the Philippines.

[DegenFarang]

Have never dived in The Phils but Boracay was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and has absolutely gorgeous beaches and crystal clear water - I would imagine the diving is great as well, though I don't know if they have any substantial coral reefs etc.

[Maizefarmer]

Tocliffy - not much good diving in the Phillipines, unless you can get to the outlying dive spots. For what it worth, give some thought to trying out Sri Lanka - the water is generaly clearer (and cleaner) - between Hikkaduwa and Gaul there are some fantastic offshore reefs - way better than most of the stuff the Thai dive co's take folk to - and much much cheaper as well.

[VTR1000]

Panglao Island off Bohol ..... stunning.

[sharecropper]

I dive in the Philippines a couple of times a year. Here are my recommendations, but of course depending what you like, your skill level, the time of year, etc etc, everyone will have different favourites. These are just mine (in no order).

1. Subic Bay -easy travel from Manila, superb wreck diving, no current (compared to, say, the wrecks at Coron where the visibility is poor and some strong currents can make for difficult dives). ALso lots of interesting sea life on and around the wrecks.

2. Puerto Galera, Mindoro - dead easy to get to, laid back, lovely sea life, corals etc. Sometime a strong current on a couple of dives, but a great place for diving

3. Pandan Island (off the other side of Mindoro), best accessed by boat from Sablayan. Wonderful island, tiny, no roads, tranquil, great shore-based reef diving, and further afield you can get a liveaboard out to Apo Reef. I cannot wait to go back to Pandan in April.

4. Boracay - great island, good and easy diving, but an internal flight is needed.

5. Palwan - I last dived it 10 years ago so much may have changed, but I cannot recall raving about it and nothing in my logs stands out.

Incidentally this is a great thread! Keep the suggestions coming.

[greg67]

Some of the best diving I ever experienced was in Mual Bual (not sure of spelling) on Cebu. Lots of marine life including sharks. I did a deep dive - 140f, and a couple of night dives.. My second diving spot was Puerto Gallera on Mindoro. I haven't been to the Pholippines for quite a while so I have no idea if those two locations are still good.

[sharecropper]

Some of the best diving I ever experienced was in Mual Bual (not sure of spelling) on Cebu. Lots of marine life including sharks. I did a deep dive - 140f, and a couple of night dives.. My second diving spot was Puerto Gallera on Mindoro. I haven't been to the Pholippines for quite a while so I have no idea if those two locations are still good.

Sorry - I forgot about Cebu - yeah Moalboal (as I pronounce it but obviously incorrectly as nobody understands me when I say it). dived there about 10 years ago and it was excellent, although I recall the better diving was near an island offshore?

[ai kwaan]

The central Philippine islands, I must say, are hidden gems of the Pacific! I keep coming back cuz of the spectacular dive sites. Sogod Bay, my favorite, is pristine!! Crystal-clear viz at 40m, whale sharks too!

Overview of dive sites in the Philippines:

Philippine Dive Sites

Malapascua Island, [Cebu Province]

Malapascua Island Diving

Thresher Shark Divers

Anilao, Batangas Province

Anilao Diving

Sogod Bay, Padre Burgos, [southern Leyte Province]

Whale of a Dive

Sogod Bay Scuba

Southern Leyte Divers

Coron Island, [Palawan Province]

Coron Diving

Discovery Divers

Sea Dive

[ai kwaan]

Moalboal Island, [Cebu Province]

Sea Quest Dive

Cabilao Isl. / Panglao Isl. / Pamilacan Isl. [bohol Province]

Polaris Dive

Bohol Fun Divers

Puerto Galera, [Mindoro Province]

Dive Frontier Scuba

Action Divers

Dive Puerto Galera

Edited January 9, 2010 by ai kwaan

[sharecropper]

The central Philippine islands, I must say, are hidden gems of the Pacific! I keep coming back cuz of the spectacular dive sites. Sogod Bay, my favorite, is pristine!! Crystal-clear viz at 40m, whale sharks too!

Overview of dive sites in the Philippines:

Philippine Dive Sites

Malapascua Island, [Cebu Province]

Malapascua Island Diving

Thresher Shark Divers

Anilao, Batangas Province

Anilao Diving

Sogod Bay, Padre Burgos, [southern Leyte Province]

Whale of a Dive

Sogod Bay Scuba

Southern Leyte Divers

Coron Island, [Palawan Province]

Coron Diving

Discovery Divers

Sea Dive

Have you dived in Anilo? What was it like, say compared to Puerto Galera?

It seems very handy for Manila, and if the diving is ood I may try it in April.

Many thanks.

[Malapascua]

The best Spot is IMHO the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea. Only accessible via a multi day liveaboard.

Don't be afraid cos it is in the Sulu Sea. It's not dangerous.

[freeurmind2]

Below are sites recommended by dive instructor friend. Been to some of these sites.

Off the beaten track: Cebu Islands

- Moalboal, Panglao [off Bohol Is.], Malapascua

Mecca of tourists: Palawan or Mindoro

- El Nido [you choose], Amanpulo [a bit expensive]

Action and adventure packed: Sulu Sea [north of Palawan]

- Tubbataha Reefs [Park Rules rule]

[Malapascua]

Below are sites recommended by dive instructor friend. Been to some of these sites.

Off the beaten track: Cebu Islands

- Moalboal, Panglao [off Bohol Is.], Malapascua

Mecca of tourists: Palawan or Mindoro

- El Nido [you choose], Amanpulo [a bit expensive]

Action and adventure packed: Sulu Sea [north of Palawan]

- Tubbataha Reefs [Park Rules rule]

Moalboal is definitly not "of the beaten track" and the Sulu Sea is south of Palawan.

[robbieidng]

If you are staying in Manila, Anilao, Batangas is the most accessible dive destination (approx 2.5 hours by car). Lots of dive sites for beginners to advanced. Mainit Point is the highlight, I could dive this spot the entire weekend and each dive would be unique. Tricky currents (with down drafts) so please check tide tables and dive to your abilites. You can also do a trip to Verde Island from Anilao by chartering a boat. Verde is across the Batangas Channel and across from Puerto Galera. You can dive all day here as well as this is an amazing underwater pinnacle. Bottoms out at around 40m.

Puerto Galera in Mindoro is also a good diving destination with interesting "night life" and denizens. Reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean with various nationalities converging. Think Pattaya without high-rise buildings and a highway. Highlight dive sites are Channels, Fish Bowl and Washing Machine-again all advanced dives with tricky currents but lots of pelagics of the large kind.

If you venture further south, Boracay is a nice beach but no dive sites worth diving except for Yapak Point which is a mushroom head of coral that starts at 30m. You do a negative decent into blue water until you reach the top of the reef. Unless you dive Nitrox you can't really stay at this depth for long. There is another site that you can access by chartering a boat but is about 2 hours away from Boracay island and requires dive guides who are familiar with the area to find it. (Name of dive site escapes me at the moment.)

You can't go wrong with Bohol and diving Balicasag Island. All the hits are there, from whirlpool schools of jacks and walls of chevron barracuda. You can dive all day around Balicasag. Other dive sites are Pamilacan Island which used to have hammerheads and mantas but rarely seen now. You can stay in Panglao Island resorts and access all the dive sites from that beach even the ones in Cebu (which is across the channel from Bohol.)

If in the Cebu area-Malapascua Island is the place to go to see Thresher Sharks. These are 6am dives so prepare for waking up early and cold water. March is also manta season and the occassional hammerhead. Moalboal is also a good dive destination but reminds me of Puerto Galera.

You can also go to Dumaguete, Negros Oriental and dive the famous Apo Island and new dive sites have been discovered in this area in the past few years. Pretty much virgin diving to be found here.

Northern Palawan area-called Busuanga is known for the WW2 wrecks in Coron (choose from over 100 wrecks in different depths), or the diving off Club Paradise known for dugong sightings. (I've seen the elusive sea cow here twice already!)

March is also the window for Tubbataha Reef-only reachable through live aboards, and Apo Reef-reachable by live aboard or several hours chartered boat ride from Puerto Galera, Mindoro. Blacktip sharks, Grey Reef sharks, turtles, Mantas, Whale sharks (if you're lucky), jacks, tuna, barracuda, trevally, eagle rays...you find everything in these two reefs.

Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to provide you with firsthand information about Philippine dive sites and to prove to Maizefarmer that there are more dive sites in the Philippines than you can shake a stick at.

I you need any help planning your dive trip I'd be glad to be of help, just PM me! :-)