Manila + Scuba diving

I going to the Philippines arriving Feb. 21 for 1 week, never been before,
want to spend 2 days in Manila then get some Scuba diving done. Some Q's

- What problem might I encounter looking for accom so close to Chinese New
Year?
- I'm thinking of Puerto Galera for the diving, good/bad choice?
- Should I book some place ahead of time or just arrive (in Puerto Galera)
.... ideas?
- Recommendations for a good diving outfit? I have AOW but am a beginner

I guess my biggest question is how much I should worry about organizing the
diving part of this ahead of time.

Thanks for any info.

-F

--

Frank,

You should have no problem booking an accom so close to the Chinese New
Year...Select a hotel that offers airport pickup...Exiting the airport and
getting to your hotel will be the largest hassle you'll have...

Puerto Galera has the finest diving...You do not need to book ahead of
time...From most hotels in
Manila you can get to Puerto Galera via the SIKAT...Bus to Batangas then
ferry to
Puerto Galera...

I've dived (some 6 years ago) with Asia Divers and stayed at El
Galleon...Nice place...
http://www.asiadivers.com/
is their website...

I also dove with Whitetip Divers at Anilao...They too are a good outfit...
http://www.dive-centers.net/dive_cen...ip_divers.html

If you cannot get to Puerto Galera due to your schedule, dive in Subic
Bay...

Have a good trip...
Patrob in


"Frank" wrote in message
...
I going to the Philippines arriving Feb. 21 for 1 week, never been before,
want to spend 2 days in Manila then get some Scuba diving done. Some Q's

- What problem might I encounter looking for accom so close to Chinese New
Year?
- I'm thinking of Puerto Galera for the diving, good/bad choice?
- Should I book some place ahead of time or just arrive (in Puerto Galera)
... ideas?
- Recommendations for a good diving outfit? I have AOW but am a beginner

I guess my biggest question is how much I should worry about organizing
the diving part of this ahead of time.

Thanks for any info.

-F

--

"Frank" wrote in message
...
I going to the Philippines arriving Feb. 21 for 1 week, never been before,
want to spend 2 days in Manila then get some Scuba diving done. Some Q's

- What problem might I encounter looking for accom so close to Chinese New
Year?
- I'm thinking of Puerto Galera for the diving, good/bad choice?
- Should I book some place ahead of time or just arrive (in Puerto Galera)
... ideas?
- Recommendations for a good diving outfit? I have AOW but am a beginner

I guess my biggest question is how much I should worry about organizing
the diving part of this ahead of time.

Thanks for any info.

-F

The diving in Puerta Galera is crap. Palawan (?) is supposed to be better.

Here's my Puerta Galera story:

Show up at the dive shop with a bad hangover, 8:00 am. I am the only
customer. Hop on board the canoe with outboard with the Philipino dive
master and boat driver.

Dive master speaks almost no English. We go a few kms offshore to find
undamaged reef. Too deep for the canoe to anchor, so no anchor rope. We roll
overboard, go down to 10 foot, he signals hover. I think WTF are we doing a
deco stop on the way down - I later work out that he was verifying I had the
technical skills to hover at 3m in a 1m swell by meter alone.

Bang, straight down to 120 feet. I think holy **** this gives me 2 minutes
bottom time. The dive master is off looking for some coral that hasn't been
destroyed, it takes another 5 minutes to find anything at all, and up we go.
Now I work out about the deco stop. We have to hover for 10 or 15 minutes to
avoid the bends.

Then there is this huge explosion noise, which I immediately recognised as
fishermen lobbing home made hand grenades into the water (if this qualifies
as "fishing"). ****ing depth charged - we can't go up and tell them we are
here, and we can't go down. Fortunately I know that sound travels very well
underwater, and correctly surmised they were a kilometer or more away, so I
knew the bangs weren't going to kill me.

Anyway, we eventually go up. And float around the South China Sea in our
BCDs until the dive boat finds us. Because its a canoe, the only way on
baord is hauling yourself over the edge, and I was so keen to do this that I
did it with my tank still on, and fractured a rib on the edge. This caused
me intense discomfort for the 6 weeks it took to heal.

Puerta Gallera had a vibrant night life back then, and I had a great time
there, but I must say the diving was (and presumably still is) crap.

Sounds like you went diving in Anilao...People say the diving there is
great...I did not think so...

Patrobin


"Peter Webb" wrote in message
...

"Frank" wrote in message
...
I going to the Philippines arriving Feb. 21 for 1 week, never been before,
want to spend 2 days in Manila then get some Scuba diving done. Some Q's

- What problem might I encounter looking for accom so close to Chinese
New Year?
- I'm thinking of Puerto Galera for the diving, good/bad choice?
- Should I book some place ahead of time or just arrive (in Puerto
Galera) ... ideas?
- Recommendations for a good diving outfit? I have AOW but am a beginner

I guess my biggest question is how much I should worry about organizing
the diving part of this ahead of time.

Thanks for any info.

-F

The diving in Puerta Galera is crap. Palawan (?) is supposed to be better.

Here's my Puerta Galera story:

Show up at the dive shop with a bad hangover, 8:00 am. I am the only
customer. Hop on board the canoe with outboard with the Philipino dive
master and boat driver.

Dive master speaks almost no English. We go a few kms offshore to find
undamaged reef. Too deep for the canoe to anchor, so no anchor rope. We
roll overboard, go down to 10 foot, he signals hover. I think WTF are we
doing a deco stop on the way down - I later work out that he was verifying
I had the technical skills to hover at 3m in a 1m swell by meter alone.

Bang, straight down to 120 feet. I think holy **** this gives me 2 minutes
bottom time. The dive master is off looking for some coral that hasn't
been destroyed, it takes another 5 minutes to find anything at all, and up
we go. Now I work out about the deco stop. We have to hover for 10 or 15
minutes to avoid the bends.

Then there is this huge explosion noise, which I immediately recognised as
fishermen lobbing home made hand grenades into the water (if this
qualifies as "fishing"). ****ing depth charged - we can't go up and tell
them we are here, and we can't go down. Fortunately I know that sound
travels very well underwater, and correctly surmised they were a kilometer
or more away, so I knew the bangs weren't going to kill me.

Anyway, we eventually go up. And float around the South China Sea in our
BCDs until the dive boat finds us. Because its a canoe, the only way on
baord is hauling yourself over the edge, and I was so keen to do this that
I did it with my tank still on, and fractured a rib on the edge. This
caused me intense discomfort for the 6 weeks it took to heal.

Puerta Gallera had a vibrant night life back then, and I had a great time
there, but I must say the diving was (and presumably still is) crap.

Hello Frank

The Philippines population is 90% catholic and most are not much interested
in Chinese new year.

I have never dived but I have heard that there is good diving at Moalboal on
the island of Cebu and an Malapascua Island just off the northern tip of
Cebu.

Here are a couple of websites to help with info on those places.
http://www.malapascua.de/
http://www.moalboal.org.uk/moalboal/


Regards: Jim Sibbick
---------------------
138 free Philippines videos, 303 Philippines pictures,
378 useful Philippines links and my blog can all be accessed from my website
http://www.bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com





"Frank" wrote in message
...
I going to the Philippines arriving Feb. 21 for 1 week, never been before,
want to spend 2 days in Manila then get some Scuba diving done. Some Q's

- What problem might I encounter looking for accom so close to Chinese New
Year?
- I'm thinking of Puerto Galera for the diving, good/bad choice?
- Should I book some place ahead of time or just arrive (in Puerto Galera)
... ideas?
- Recommendations for a good diving outfit? I have AOW but am a beginner

I guess my biggest question is how much I should worry about organizing
the diving part of this ahead of time.

Thanks for any info.

-F

--