For so many divers its all about seeing a specific thing, like certain sharks, a giant coral wall, or a cave. But sometimes you just want a shallow dive along a beautiful reef with good visibility and in a chilled out tropical beach place. Balicasag Island, just off Panglao, is the later. Very nice spot.
Top tips:
- Dive Sites – we dived the Royal Garden, with a max depth of around 25m and great for seeing turtles, and Rudy’s Rock, with a similar max depth and a rock wall to explore
- Stay on Pangalao Island – Tagbilaran didn’t look too appealing. Aim instead to stay on Pangalao Island. We splurged a bit and stayed at the South Palms Resort, which was great and would recommend
- Bohol – if in the surrounding area, be sure to explore the Chocolate Hills in the centre of Bohol by quad bike and see the Tarsiers, the world’s smallest primate – see Quad-biking through the Bohol Chocolate hills for further tips on this experience
- Getting to Bohol from Cebu City is relatively straightforward, but its not a bad idea to ask your hotel / hostel to help you with getting the ferry tickets you want
- See if you can visit Malapascua Island – you’ll most likely be flying into Cebu. If so, and you are a diver, be sure to head up to one of the other idyllic paradises of Malapascua Island ,which is the only place in the world you can dive with Thresher Sharks – see Diving with Thresher Sharks at Malapascua Island for further tips on this experience