CHUM - Houston's SCUBA Club is the sponsor of the 
- First Name
- Todd
I can't believe there wasn't a trip report thread (my fault entirely). This is why it is so important to do it right away. I think we were all a bit jet laggged and the next monthly meeting topic was a trip review but of course not everyone was at the meeting. Here's a quick recap and I invite others to add to it.
This trip involved quite a lot of planning and I was apprehensive about leading a large group to the other side of the planet with so many potential failure points, logistically. There were long flights with connections, shuttle vans, and water ferries with hotel and diving reservations in multiple destinations. Aside from a few minor delays and hiccups, it went remarkably well.
Both dive ops - Frontier and Aquaventure - did a great job, working hard to make us as happy as possible. We were in two separate groups for the durations as the bangkas hold about six divers max. The diving was phenomenal, with the very first dive one of the best I had ever had seeing so many new things. Not much big stuff other than turtles but so much color and variety in corals and fishes. The water was cooler than expected with the anticipated temps of low 80's being more like mid to upper 70's. Anilao is famous for muck diving but we had some of that in Sabang as well. And nice coral reefs in both places. We did a day excursion to Verde Island, which was my favorite dive sites, and enjoyed a beach lunch and a bit of exploring.
We had lunch on the beach every day and met up most evenings for dinner where the two groups traded stories. The restaurants and bars in Sabang were all good and inexpensive, and that's hitting up mostly the touristy waterfront ones. We were AI in Anilao and that was also pretty good and so convenient.
Both hotels - Angelyn's and Aquaventure - were clean and comfortable and right on the water. The service was attentive. But the beachwalkers selling sunglasses and souvenirs were like swarming mosquitoes in a swamp.
Would I go back? It was one of my best trips ever and there is little I would have changed so I would definitely go back except... there are allegedly a dozen other destinations in the Philippines with equal or better diving so my next visit there will probably be Bohol, Leyte, or Dumaguete.
Here are a few videos. These are enhanced versions of the ones shown at the meeting. All clips are from this 10-day trip.
This trip involved quite a lot of planning and I was apprehensive about leading a large group to the other side of the planet with so many potential failure points, logistically. There were long flights with connections, shuttle vans, and water ferries with hotel and diving reservations in multiple destinations. Aside from a few minor delays and hiccups, it went remarkably well.
Both dive ops - Frontier and Aquaventure - did a great job, working hard to make us as happy as possible. We were in two separate groups for the durations as the bangkas hold about six divers max. The diving was phenomenal, with the very first dive one of the best I had ever had seeing so many new things. Not much big stuff other than turtles but so much color and variety in corals and fishes. The water was cooler than expected with the anticipated temps of low 80's being more like mid to upper 70's. Anilao is famous for muck diving but we had some of that in Sabang as well. And nice coral reefs in both places. We did a day excursion to Verde Island, which was my favorite dive sites, and enjoyed a beach lunch and a bit of exploring.
We had lunch on the beach every day and met up most evenings for dinner where the two groups traded stories. The restaurants and bars in Sabang were all good and inexpensive, and that's hitting up mostly the touristy waterfront ones. We were AI in Anilao and that was also pretty good and so convenient.
Both hotels - Angelyn's and Aquaventure - were clean and comfortable and right on the water. The service was attentive. But the beachwalkers selling sunglasses and souvenirs were like swarming mosquitoes in a swamp.
Would I go back? It was one of my best trips ever and there is little I would have changed so I would definitely go back except... there are allegedly a dozen other destinations in the Philippines with equal or better diving so my next visit there will probably be Bohol, Leyte, or Dumaguete.
Here are a few videos. These are enhanced versions of the ones shown at the meeting. All clips are from this 10-day trip.
