THE PHILIPPINES

We have organized a trip to The Phillipines, which are a string of 7,105 islands that run for 1100 miles a little North of the equator. They are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and are situated North of Sulawesi, Indonsia and South of Taiwan. They are surrounded by the Sulu, Celebes and Phillipine Seas, names that should get any diver's fins twitching!

Although some areas of the Philipines have been damaged from a diving point of view by various destructive fishing methods we have chosen areas that are protected and now well known for first class diving. We will be staying at two different locations,(the red circles on the map). The first is Puerto Galera which is on the Northern end of the island of Mindoro and the second, Dumaguete, is much further South and is on the Southern end of the island of Negros. Puerto Galera is a small coastal town 3 hours transfer by private bus and ferry from Manila Airport.

We shall be staying at two different resorts , both belong to Atlantis Dive Resorts. The first at Puerto Galera is in a 'white Spanish Pueblo' style. The resort has all mod cons such as wifi and is pleasant and comfortable, siuated on the beach but close enough to the activities in the town for anybody who would prefer sampling the night life to going on a night dive.

The resort has a swimming pool, a spa, and all the between dive luxuries that you could ask for! We will be accommodated in 'deluxe standard twin rooms'.All meals are included and are provided by Toko's Restaurant which is famous for its Asian Fusion cuisine. Expect oven fresh breads, homemade breakfasts, catch of the day fish, superb roasts, prime beef, hot curries, original stews, surprising deserts, freshly harvested tropical fruits and vegetables. (Oh no, I've just dribbled on the keyboard!)

Most of the dive sites are close enough to the resort to allow the boats to whizz out do a single dive and then return to the resort for refreshment. The diving is mainly on coral reefs although there are a couple of wrecks and bits of artificial reef. Experienced divers have commented on the colour and variety of coral and fish life. There is a chance of the odd shark, manta etc but not really an area known for the really big stuff. Along with a profusion of medium and small fish there should be fantastic corals, clear waters, and the little exciting things like nudibranches, mandarin fish and seahorses. Both resorts are a Mecca for underwater photographers. The clear waters and amazing marine life make taking perfect photos a piece of cake....., well almost! There is a dedicated camera room with transformers, workbenchess, cubbyholes for cameras, charging points etc all ready and waiting.We have negotiated a package that includes 'unlimited' day dives and 4 dusk (to see the mandarin fish in the photo above) or night dives.

All the diving at Puerto Galera is from boats. At Dumaguete there is mostly boat diving but we can also do dives from the beach and included in the package are two day trips to the remoter Apo Island.

Mid way through the holiday we will stop diving at 2pm in order to have a break before our next days flight to Dumaguete. The Dumaguete resort has all the comfort that you might want and is more secluded with only the nightlife that we make for ourselves. The diving is similar to the first resort but with the chance to do some muck diving and also to visit the spectacular underwater walls of Apo Island. At the end of the week we will fly back straight to Manila and catch our flights home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cost of the stay is £1800. Included in this price is day diving plus 4 night/dusk dives two day trips to Apo Island. all meals at the resort and internal flights and group transfers to and from the airport.l Not included is the cost of any gear hire if required (Needs booking in advance), nitrox fills, extra night/dusk dives and drinks. You will need extra money for tips, drinks, T-shirts etc. Not included but required is travel insurance that covers you for diving. If you don't have insurance please click the banner below for our competitive Travel insurance

On top of this we need to get there; after studying many flight options with a view Ito maximising the time spent diving we have opted for Emirates flights. If you are organising your own flights bear in mind that you need to get to Manila on the evening of the 7 March from where we will then transfer to the resort and start diving on Sunday. On the return journey we need to leave 24 hours before flying and have organised a local flight from Dumaguete that leaves mid afternoon and arrives at Manilla national terminal at about 6pm. The national and international terminals are far enough apart to require a transfer which can take a little time so departure from Manilla back to the uk should be no earlier than 8pm.

We have organised the emirates flights through an abta/atol agent, The flight leaves Heathrow on the evening of Friday 6th March and returns on the morning of the 23rd. The cost of the flight at the time of writing is £788 including a 30kg weight allowance. There is also an option to get an earlier flight and break the journey with a nights stay in Dubai for just the cost of the hotel.

A single supplement for the resorts is £385 although avaiability is restricted.

To book the resort and diving we need a £1000 deposit. The full amount is due in January.

The full amount is due for the flight.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.