No better place to dive than the Philippines!

[greatwhite]

You're really lucky, I've always wanted to go to Tubbataha, but I can't afford the trip right now :P If you ever care to come back to the Philippines, you should try Anilao - it's nearest to Manila, if you will be coming from the capital. It's not mindblowing if you're looking for large creatures, but it's good for macro photography, and they have some of the most colorful corals in the Philippines One of my absolute favorites is Batok Reef!

I have heard of ANilao. I think what put me off was the price of accommodation at the time.

[Blizzard]

The media are full of proverbial s**t, I don't buy into any of it. General advice to all on the forum. Question, challenge, doubt anything in the media. Thats common sense to me!

[greatwhite]

Hi guys! First of all, I'm a Filipino, so I'm incredibly biased, but the Philippines has been receiving a lot of negative news lately, and I hope to dispell some of that. It's not at entirely unsafe, and media has just been sensationalizing a lot of the news bits, which are mostly concentrated in poorer communities. Besides, the Philippines has some of the most diverse marine life in the world, and it's well worth the trip. In fact, I just met a Dutch and an American last week who spent a month going around the Philippines, and they were ecstatic about their trips.

I've come up with some posts about diving in the Philippines, and I hope you check it out, and maybe convince yourselves to make a trip here

I'm more than happy to help you plan your dive trip, so just drop me a line at my blog!

Hi Curly,
Do you know of any budget liveaboards that dive Tubbataha please?

[Edward3c]

Hi Curly,
Do you know of any budget liveaboards that dive Tubbataha please?

I don't think you'll get a response. they've not logged in since Dec 17.

[graham_hk]

...

[greatwhite]

budget and middle of sulu sea might not be a good idea together ...

I've been budget twice before to Tubbataha, but was wondering if there were other boats now as there seem to be more operators in that area from a quick search I did online.

[greatwhite]

I don't think you'll get a response. they've not logged in since Dec 17.

AH, may be not, but someone else may respond. You never quite know what responses you may get here.

[Nidge]

Not entirely sure why South Cebu would be essential travel only as the main City is there. I was there in September and again and October, and there weren't any red flags. My trip to Oslob here was done last October.

Hi Curly,

The reason for the UK Foreign Office advisory for essential travel only to that small corner of southern Cebu (not Cebu city, which is still OK for travel) is that an alleged terrorist suspect from Mindanao (which is totally off-limits as it's pretty much bandit country) was possibly spotted by one of the UK's local contacts, who then reported it back. The sighting was never confirmed. That's pretty much all it can take sometimes for the FCO to slap on a travel ban.

Incidentally, I have to agree re: the Philippines being one of the best places in the world to dive. The variety of marine life, underwater topography and history is remarkable. Plus let's not forget that much of the Philippines are part of the famous 'Coral Triangle', with over 500 species of hard and soft corals and innumerable varieties of fish and large pelagics.

[The Curly Mermaid]

Well that's the glory of the internet, I get notifications about the thread I started haha.

Anyway I have a friend who arranges liveaboards to Tubbataha for Usd 1600 per person. I'm not sure what the arrangements are as I've never done it. He's arranging a trip for April and for May. You can check out his post
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00001874724834

[greatwhite]

Well that's the glory of the internet, I get notifications about the thread I started haha.

Anyway I have a friend who arranges liveaboards to Tubbataha for Usd 1600 per person. I'm not sure what the arrangements are as I've never done it. He's arranging a trip for April and for May. You can check out his post
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00001874724834

This is a link which I can't reply too. Any more info please?