philippines in august?

Dear fellow divers,

me and my girlfriend plan to visit Philippines this august for some diving and we are in need of advice.

I know that this is the wet season, but how bad can it get? we are thinking of traveling around cebu and or southern leyte. any suggestions?

Last year we went to bunaken/lembeh in indonesia (2nd year in a row) and we loved it.

best regards,

yorgos

Hi,

I think it is feasible. In the past 2 years the rainy season has been very variable (last year Philippines had a typhoon in December!).

I've been there in May, June, July, September and never had big problems. If there is a big storm on the way, you may not dive for 1 day, maximum 2, but in general I think it is possible to dive in sheltered dive sites. I never missed a day.

If I were you I would probably choose a land based holiday. This is the only precaution I would have.

The good thing? Everyone thinks that it is a miserable season and the resorts are empty!!!

alex

Thanx alex!

I'm thinking of going around cebu, maybe apo island, malapascua. any other nice places?

regards,

yorgos

Yorgos,

It really depends on what you want to see. A friend of mine has just come back from Donsol and she saw seven Whale sharks in two dives. Tubbataha is great for everything you want to see. Anilao, my favorite, for macro. Cabilao, Bohol and around there for wall/drift (strong currents), Coron for wrecks. Malapascua for thresher shark (if you go here ask to dive at Calngaman island... it's a paradise). You have a huge variety... I could go on and on forever... enjoy. You can see some photos on my site.

alex

Let me save myself some writing and point you to an older thread: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...9&hl=anilao

However, I don't think Leyte was mentioned in that post. I was there a few years ago. The diving was just Ok. Nice corals, clear water, affordable/good resort, but no signature dives. Apparently, they also have seasonal whale sharks, but it's not Donsol (as Alex mentions).

Hope this helps,

David