SCUBA diving tends to dictate my movements. Â I follow the fish, sharks, and especially nudibranchs (extremely bright and colorful sea slugs) all around Asia, always looking for the next best dive spot.
It only made sense that based on this underwater addiction, I’d head to the Philippines to see what it had to offer after many positive recommendations from other travelers.
Upon arrival I was quickly overwhelmed by the myriad of options. Â As is often the best plan of action, I took to my Facebook fan page and you guys, per usual, came back with some excellent recommendations.
A liveaboard dive trip consists of 3-4 dives per day, 3-4 meals per day, and generally living on the boat like a sailor (or pirate!) for around 6 days.
After some excellent liveaboard experiences in Komodo, Indonesia and the Similan Islands in Thailand, I knew I wanted a repeat. Â Enter Rags II which ended up being an excellent choice for a liveaboard trip through the Coron Wrecks and Apo Reef.
Though I was initially afraid that the typhoon might have damaged these reefs to the point of ruining the diving experience, I was glad to see that the damage was minimal.
There weren’t nearly as many options for liveaboards in the Philippines as there had been elsewhere in Southeast Asia. That said, I was entirely happy with my choice because it included lots of diving, a great crew, all the milo I could want, individually cooked meals three times per day (this really impressed me!) and unlimited beer in the evenings – the latter two of which are not common on dive ships.
The diving itself was excellent, giving me a chance to do around 10 wreck dives, which is something I had very little experience with prior.
It turns out that wreck diving is an incredibly interesting peek into the past. In this case, the ships we dived were Japanese cargo and warships sunk during World War II.
Following that was Apo Reef, which was absolutely teeming with fish, turtles, and lots of sharks.
My personal favorite, which my divemaster found funny, are nudibranchs. They are rather small sea slugs that I always get excited to spot because a) it’s a challenge to find them, and b) they are almost always bright and amazing to look at. They’re also one thing that changes quite a bit depending on where in the world I’m diving.
At this point, with all of the diving I’ve done around Southeast Asia, a lot of things repeat, but nudibranchs don’t.
That said, seeing sharks and turtles never does get old.
Here’s the best summation I can think of, in two minutes, with all of my favorites from the dive. (Turn the music up!)
All-in-all, it was excellent diving and reminded me of just how much I really do love liveaboards and diving in general.
What are your favorite places to dive in Asia? Have you ever done a liveaboard?
*In the spirit of full disclosure, I was provided a discount in exchange for blogging exposure. Opinions, as always, are entirely my own.Â
Ira says
I love the video and the music, you did an amazing job! The underwater video and pictures are awesome. Love it!!
Kristin says
Thanks!
Kayleigh says
Very cool footage! So what’s the deal with sharks? Will they leave humans alone if we leave them alone?
Kristin says
They’d just prefer to not be around us. See them swimming away from me in the footage? They kept looking at me like, “ugh, the human again – now I have to swim away.”
These are reef sharks and they’re not aggressive and too small to eat me anyways.
Ashley @ A Southern Gypsy says
This is great. Never been Scuba diving but planning on getting certified in SEA…can’t wait to experience this!
Kristin says
It’s an addiction!
Matthew Karsten says
Jealous of this! Love those big beautiful lion fish. Great video Kristin. I need to go diving again soon.
Catherine says
Just did a quick google for nudibranchs – can see why you like them, they look fascinating! Great photos and amazing footage under the water 🙂
Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) says
Thanks for posting this report! Tony & I are thinking of heading back to the Philippines for 2 months in April and we do the same as you—go where the diving takes us—so we’re currently trying to narrow down our choices. It is not an easy task, but I’m glad to see that Coron’s underwater life is as vibrant and healthy as ever.
Kristin says
I def think it would be a great option
Scott says
Hi Kristin,
This is Scott from Beijing, China. I’m your new reader and I also have been to Coron myself. It’s such a beautiful small place! I loved it!
Stephanie says
Absolutely beautiful! I love all of the posts about the Philippines. I’m planning on learning Tagalog (both in Canada and – hopefully – in Asia), and I find that there aren’t enough blog posts about travel in the Philippines. After reading this, maybe I’ll have to finally fulfill my dream of learning to SCUBA dive when I’m over there. Thanks for sharing!
Kristin says
What a cool language to learn! It sounds like a combination of Malay and Spanish to me. More bloggers should go there for sure. It’s just not as firmly on the tourist trail, I find.
Kylie says
Obsessed! I love the video, such beautiful sealife. I may have to make a pit stop there on my way back to the Philippines this summer!
Kristin says
Thanks Kylie!
An says
Thank you for sharing your experiences…I came to see places and learn things…hope i can travel alone like you someday! Good luck.
Kristin says
Thanks for commenting 🙂
Laura says
Such great diving there! I love the nudibranches, and the turtle footage! I haven’t made it to dive in Asia yet, but I’m hoping to do so in 2014. I’ll definitely be looking at the Philippines as an option.
Kristin says
It’s a great spot and Sipadan and Indonesia are amazing too
Joseph Thompson says
I’ve been to Coron and I agree that it’s the best in the country, if not one of the best in the world. The scenery above the surface is just breathtaking and you haven’t been underwater yet and when you finally start diving and seeing the wonders of the Coron deep, it’s heavenly. I can’t wait to return to the place.
Danni @Leftnleavin says
I know I’m late in the game on this one but I am so happy to see what you posted about this experience. We are going in January and I think I am going to try and get dive certified in Coron. Did you hear hear of any good companies?
Kristin says
Difficult to remember the names of the dive shops now as I only did the live aboard with Rags II. There are a lot of options though!
Scubanomad says
I love diving in Thailand. Philippines looks great as well. How many days did you do liveaboard for?
Kristin says
I’ve done three now and they’ve always been for 6 days
Andrea says
Hello Kristin,
I love your Blog! I’m looking to make a 3 weeks diving travel between september to november for cheap but beautiful. Where can I go? Which is the best and cheapest periode ?
XOXO
Andrea
Kristin says
I thought Coron was great. There’s diving all over The Phils, though.
JB says
Looks amazing! It’s just been added to my short-list of next scuba-diving destinations 🙂
sandy says
Hi,
Great video! I love diving too. planning on doing my divemasters next year, could you please share how much it costed you to do the liveaboards in coron and in Komodo(Ive been following you:))
Regards,
sandy
Kristin says
It was something like $1500 or maybe $1800 if memory serves. Expensive but soooo worth it
Bella Santos says
So beautiful
Big kisses from Portugal
Fofurices Triviais
Bri says
I was curious as to whether or not you knew the requirements to dive. I just started diving, but have yet to get certified so I was bummed when I was barred from diving in Costa Rica. I’m planning a trip to the Philippines and Indonesia and I don’t want that to happen again!
Kristin says
You at least need your open water certification to dive anywhere. For this particular dive boat you need NOX and your advanced open water.
alexis says
Hi Do you have any other scuba recommendations other than this company. It looks like they are fully booked for the week I am looking to go scuba diving.
Kristin says
That’s the only one I used but perhaps they can recommend another operator?