Category Archives: Diving

Diving Sipadan Malaysia

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Why go diving in Sipadan

shark-and-jacks

Shark and school of jacks, Barracuda point

Sipadan is considered to be one of the top diving destinations in the world. You can see sharks, big schools of barracuda and big schools of jacks all on the same dive, schools of bumphead parrot fish, lots of turtles and wide variety of reef fish. The concentration of life is stunning.  Every dive site around Sipadan is excellent, and Barracuda point is the most excellent of them all.

Barracuda tower, Barracuda point

We went to Sipadan in August of 2013 and again in August 2014. The first time around the weather was excellent but we were beginner photographers ending up with many blurry and green pictures. On the second trip we were better equipped but the weather was stormy and visibility bad through the entire 6 day stay. We still had excellent dives saw sharks including a leopard shark, barracuda, bumperheads and an eagle ray.

What to see

 

sipadan-mapLogistics

There are no resorts on Sipadan island itself and there is a permit system limiting the number of diving boats and divers in Sipadan allocated through dive operators.

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beach on Mabul island

The best land-based option is to stay on Mabul island which is less than one hour boat ride from Sipadan and an hour boat drive from Semporna.  We stayed and dove with Borneo Divers on Mabul on both occasions. They have a very well organized professional dive operation, great guides, good food and security. Borneo divers do 4 dives a day on their Sipadan trip, which is not the case for most other operators. Permit system means that you cannot dive Sipadan every day of your diving trip. Generally they advise that 1 day at Sipadan is guaranteed if you take a five day package. They do have cancellations and substitutions and you may be able to get more Sipadan days.  On our trips we were able to do 3 Sipadan days on 6 diving days trips.

turtleDiving around Mabul island of course pales in comparison to Sipadan but is actually not bad at all, and excellent for macro.  There are walls and slopes,  a lot of small reef fish, various critters and creatures – we saw frog fish, cuttlefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, various nudibranchs, mantis shrimp, huge eels and plenty of other things.

We were combining trips to Sipadan with top side adventures and used overland transfer when coming from Danum forest or Kinabatangan river and then flying out from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu. Useful transport info is here.

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Palau diving

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palau-napoleon

Palau is the largest shark sanctuary where all commercial shark fishing was banned in 2009. Palau diving is one of the best in the world. Sharks, mantas, barracuda, napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrot fish and much more. Healthy corrals, stunning walls and drop offs. There are also WWII wrecks and famous jelly fish lake.

 

What to see

Logistics

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Palau Aggressor (October 2014)

The best way to dive Palau is on a liveaboard. Islands are spread out, and while it is possible to dive from land-based resorts, it is best to go with a liveaboard – you see more and cost-wise it is close once you take into account diving, accommodation and food. We went with Palau Aggressor – and had a superb trip. Food was so good that I think we all gained weight despite doing 4-5 dives a day every day. Their dive operation is superbly organized and professionally run.

The map shows approximate itinerary of our palau-mapliveaboard trip. Arrival and departure point is Koror – the main city of Palau.

United flies to Koror from Manila and Guam, Korean Air and Asiana from Seoul and Delta from Tokyo-Narita. Flights are not cheap.

There are broadly two options for accommodations in Koror – resorts outside of downtown or hotels in town proper. Resorts outside tend to be nicer but also more expensive. Hotels in town largely cater to Asian tourist primarily from China, Korea and Japan. Value for money forpalau-islands-view accommodation in Palau is rather low. If you view the choice of accommodation as just a place to sleep between flying, getting on the boat and flying out DW Motel is a reasonable option. We had a couple of days between flights and getting on the boat and rented a car and went around the big island. More on that here.

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Diving in Sabang, Puerto Galera

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Why go diving in Sabang, Puerto Galerafrog-fish

Sabang, Puerto Galera offers excellent diving with healthy coral reef, wide variety of fish, critters and nudibranchs and lively topside scene. Located in the north of Mindoro island, Sabang is a 3-4 hour trip from Manila not requiring air travel.pg-map

One of the most famous dive sites in Puerto Galera (PG) is Canyons – an excellent deep drift dive best done on nitrox. Delaruan and Giant Clams offer excellent muck diving – we saw all kinds of creatures there including sea horses, mimic octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, frog fish, unusual nudibranchs and variety of crabs and critters.  Sabang wrecks is excellent on a night dive.  Sites are nearby and the boats come back to the resort for the surface interval. Many resorts in Sabang offer day trips for diving Verde island – definitely worth doing if tides are favorable.

nudisSabang has a bit of a reputation for being a party scene and girly bars place.  It does have those establishments, but if you stay in Small or Big La Laguna you would not know you are 5 minutes walk from lively night scene of Sabang beach proper. Basically, if you are interested in that type of scene it is available, but if not – you can easily avoid it. There is a growing number of restaurants and our favorites are Papa Freds, Blue Ribbon, Relax restaurant and Captain Greg’s.

What to see

Logistics

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Sabang

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Sunset view from Small La Laguna

There is plentiful accommodation in Sabang and Puerto Galera area. Sabang beach
proper is busy and noisy but Small and Big La Lagunas are quieter and have many dive resorts.  Most resorts are functional but not too fancy and target largely diving guests. The Sabang-Lagunas area is small and it is only a 10-15 minutes walk along the beach from Lagunas to Sabang proper. There are also bigger and fancier resorts in the area but they are generally not in a walking distance to Sabang. If you prefer not to be isolated in a resort and have options for dining other than your hotel’s restaurant, it is better to stay in one of the Lagunas.

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Sabang main street

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Passengers disembark banca at Sabang pier

There are regular boats – bancas going to Sabang from Batangas pier. Schedules are here. If you miss the boat to Sabang – there are more boats going to Muelle, and it is about 10 minutes by tricycle from Muelle to Sabang. There are also larger ferries that go from Batangas to Calapan from which it is about 1 hour to Sabang by car. Normally, regular bancas are the best way to go. However, if the weather is stormy and bancas area stopped the roros to-from Calapan may still be running. We have been taking bancas all year round but it is a good idea to check if there is a storm or typhoon expected and plan accordingly.

To get to Batangas pier you can take a bus or arrange a private car transfer from resort. There are also private boats that go from Berberabe pier near to Batangas and you can arrange private car and boat through most resorts.

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Diving in Anilao, Philippines

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Excellent macro diving in Anilao attracts many underwater photographers. Anilao is dubbed by some “Nudibranch capital of the world” or “Philippines Lembeh”. Dive guides are very experienced and have superhuman ability to spot all manner of nudibranches and critters. There is plenty of reef fish but, as in most other places in the Philippines, chances to see big stuff are extremely low.

About 3 hour drive from Manila, trip to Anilao does not require flights or boat transfers. This makes it a good destination for a weekend trip from Manila. It also makes Anilao a good addition on a longer dive trip in the Philippines at the end to reduce risks of missing a flight out of Manila. Weather, especially during the rainy season between July and November, may be unpredictable. Boats or connecting domestic flights can be cancelled on a short notice. Finishing trip to the Philippines in Anilao means you are less likely to be stranded on another island and can catch your flight out of Manila.

Logistics

There is a range of accommodations from luxurious to basic.  At the same time Anilao remains quiet and secluded. Philippines luckily has not yet caught up with industrial scale diving destinations in Indonesia and Thailand. Groups are small and you can have a boat and a guide to yourself if you want to. The place gets busier on weekends with groups coming from Manila, often on a day trip.

Anilao topography with resorts nested in the cliffy shores means that you are most likely to stay in one resort for all your diving, eating, relaxing and entertainment needs. There is no “main strip” to stroll through. We dive with Blue Ribbon. 

Many dive sites are within 5-10 minutes boat ride from resorts and you can get back to the resort for surface interval. Sites across the channel around Tingloy island are about 20 minute boat ride and are usually arranged as “2 dives out” returning back to resort by lunch. 

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