Build your own Full Adventure Package
The Philippines offers a bit of everything for the visiting diver but it is definitely a patchwork of travel from location to location. There is no ‘one size fits all’ destination combining big animals, spectacular coral reefs, abundant fish species and numbers of individuals, and the bizarre muck-dwelling exotica of invertebrates and cryptic fish. We have now Sea, Land, & Sky Packages for you to look over!
Here you can pick and choose your very own adventure items available here in the Visayas area. To get started you can look over our 5 adventure type packages:
Then you can pick and choose just what YOU would like to do. Once you have decided, just e-mail us at info@aquaventuradiving.com or aquaventuradivers@gmail.com to start planning your adventurous trip! We can tell you then how long it would take to do your package as well as the total price. Then you can finalize or make any changes and book it and let us do the rest!! We can also book your resort almost anywhere in the Visayas, Philippines if they are not already fully booked. We can recommend some resorts as to your budget requests or tell us what resort you like to try and we’ll do the rest.
Please let us know if you are in need of any special items on your trip like a wheel chair or need help in and out of the water from the beach or boat, etc. and we will have them for you to make your adventure an enjoyable moment. We have diving gear here for you but if you need a special mask, xxx large wetsuit, special mouth piece, etc. bring that stuff with you. We have shortened the information here for each attraction because there are so many and we will send to you what additional information on your package if needed, Book it, and you are on your way to a great adventure! So let’s get started!!
Manila (MNL) and Cebu (CEB) are the two main international travel hubs in the Philippines.
From the U.S.: Philippines Airlines offers non-stop flights to Manila from major cities in the United States, but there are plenty of other great air companies to choose from, including Cathy Pacific (Hong Kong) and EVA Air (Taiwan). These 3 airlines also offer flights from the U.S. to Cebu with no more than a single stop.
From the U.K. & Europe: EVA Air and Cathay Pacific also offer flights to Cebu and Manila with a single stop out of major European cities. For those of you who reside in the U.K. Cathay Pacific is the best option. Emirates also offer flights into these two cities although the stopover in Dubai will extend your travel time by a few hours.
From Asia: Lucky you!! There are plenty of direct flights available to both Manila and Cebu, whether you reside in Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur other major Asian cities. You can choose from many carriers, including low-cost carriers like Air Asia. Planning a dive trip to the Philippines is really easy!
Add the Southern Central Visayan area, Philippines to your dive adventure travel story! The Philippines are situated in the northern part of the so-called Coral Triangle, which is widely recognized as the center of the world’s most marine biodiversity. The Philippines is a country of 7,100+ Islands and is sandwiched between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and is home to a number of ecosystems above and below the water.
The Southern Central Visayas area is the heart of this global shore-fish biodiversity center and is already a hot spot scuba diving destination. Imagine diving the spectacular hard coral reefs of Apo Island, muck diving with lots of macro critters like ornate pipe fish, flamboyant cuttle fish, nudibranchs and mantis shrimp as well as snorkeling with whale sharks and diving with thresher sharks all in one adventure vacation! The Islands engulfed in this area includes Palawan, Negros, Cebu, Siquijor, and Bohol shore lines. Be amazed as you dive into this underwater paradise that’s teeming with beautifully strange species and an exquisite array of hard and soft corals.
Diving is available all year round so when asked when is the best time to dive in the Philippines, we say “As soon as you can get here!”
Diving seasons are divided between the rainy “wet” season (May to November) and dry season (November to May).
May to November-rainy (wet) season:
During the wet season most of the dive sites remain great, the waters are warmer, and you have the advantage of having fewer divers around in most places. Typhoons may occur during the wet season, particularly around July to September. However, it’s a rare occasion and most of the dive areas are not affected.
Don’t let it keep you from visiting the Philippines in the summer months! If you do plan to visit in the summer, it wouldn’t hurt to double-check the weather reports or ask us (dive@aquaventuradiving.com) for the latest updates on weather and diving conditions. Don’t forget to bring a light jacket and/or raincoat to protect you in case of rain.
Insider Tip:
Many people shy away from diving the Philippines in the summer due to typhoons/rain scare. The truth is, rain is highly unpredictable in tropical countries and you’ll be surprised how sunny it could get on certain days during this “rainy” season. Plus, there are fewer divers visiting around these months, so many of the popular dive sites will be less busy. (Great for professional photographers!!)
November to May-dry season:
This time period offers little to no rain and a nice hot and humid weather. This period of time is often considered as the best time to dive in the Philippines and is the most popular time to visit the country.
Regardless, the diving season in the Philippines runs year- round, keeping in mind that some of the areas and certain marine life sightings are either seasonal or weather dependent, this includes Tubbataha Reef which can only be dived around the months of March to June and sometimes In November if the current slows down and weather permitting. February-with the Chinese New Year and Easter week seems to be the busiest time of the year.
Ocean temperatures throughout the Philippines hovers at 79-88F (24-31C) year round. Philippines experience’s an influx of cooler water end of Dec to March, with averages from 24C / 79F to 25C/76F. Seasonal air temperature along the coasts ranges from 27°C/82°F in green “wet” season and goes up to 35°C/95°F in the hot dry summer months from December to April.
A 3-5mm full wetsuit would suffice. Some women get colder than men so a nice rash guard under the 5 mm wet suit works well. You can bring an additional hoodie and shark skin during cooler months is always a good idea, especially if you’re going to an area where thermo-clines might occur.
On average visibility tends to be better during the warmer water months from June to November however even during those months divers can experience a wide range of visibility even from dive to dive ranging from 30m/100ft to 5m/15ft. Even with low visibility the water is nutrient rich with plankton which attracts tons of marine life and huge schools of fish.
The reefs are a base of volcanic rock pinnacles with tons of hard and soft corals. They have an abundance and multitude of colorful tropical fish and marine life which makes for exciting and adventurous fun dives.
Migration seems to be from November on to June with the Whale Sharks, Rays, Sharks and Whales. Whale Sharks feed on plankton and give birth in Pintuyan, Southern Leyte. Oslob, Southern Cebu and Moalboal, Western Cebu area also has them feeding up and down the coast lines. February to March seems to be the highest amount of whale sharks recorded.
Manta and Eagle Rays, Hammerhead and Thresher Sharks also go from Island to Island feeding as well.
There has been a large Sperm Whale coming in January to February every year spotted from Apo Island going up to Bohol these last few years!! Dolphins, Black tip and White tip sharks are always around but you can see a lot of the dolphins and some Pilot whales between Negros and Cebu area called the Tanon Straits.
We will help you swim/snorkel safely with whale Sharks in Oslob with the aid of basic snorkeling equipment. Moalboal is famous for big balls of sardines (bait fish) as well as other sea creatures.
Below are our recommended top 7 diving locations. There are dive packages available from every budget. Most of the diving from the mainland is done from the shore and some by boat.
If diving Dumaguete, Negros: fly into Dumaguete airport, and be at your hotel within 30 – 45 minutes.
If diving Moalboal , Cebu: fly into Cebu airport or Dumaguete airport. Take Ceres Bus to Moalboal.
If diving Alona beach, Bohol: fly into Cebu airport (CEB) and take a 2-hour ferry to Tagbilaran, Easy ride to Alona.
If diving Malapascua Island, Cebu: fly into Cebu airport. Ceres bus north to upper Cebu, ferry to Malapascua.
If diving Siquijor, Siquijor Island: fly into Dumaguete airport, ferry to Siquijor City or larena, jeepney to resort
If diving El Nido/Coron, Palawan Island: fly into Cebu airport or Manila airport,
If you are doing a liveaboard to Tubataha Reef:
The Philippines’ seascape is profoundly influenced by the seasonal monsoon and by the consistent and strong water flow and currents from surrounding deep ocean basins. To the west is the South China Sea, to the east the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south the Celebes Sea (or Sulawesi Sea). And, encompassed by its own major islands of Palawan, Mindoro, Panay, Negros and Mindanao, is the Sulu Sea, a semi-enclosed deep basin, with a surface area of 790 sq km and a maximum depth of 5,600m.
The mountainous islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao collectively form a barricade to the westward currents flowing from the Philippine Sea and the Western Pacific Ocean.
A mass of water driven across the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean abruptly hits this barrier and ‘piles up’ on average by 15cm to a maximum of 28cm.
These standing bodies of water is continuous and constant and would rise yet higher were it not in the nature of water to seek its own level, in this instance by seeking multiple detours around and through the archipelago.
The Philippine Sea/Pacific Ocean’s southern corridor is the Mindanao Current, hugging the coast as it traverses southeast and flows into the Celebes (Sulawesi) Sea; to the north, the route taken is via the Luzon Strait between Luzon and Taiwan, where the waters of the Philippine Sea join with the South China Sea.
In addition to the northern and southern bypasses, high volumes of water make their way in between the smaller islands via relatively shallow water depth and relatively narrow passages known as straits, particularly the San Bernardino Strait between Luzon and Samar and the Siargao Strait between Leyte and Mindanao. These straits flow into the internal Sibuyan Sea and Bohol Sea before joining the Sulu Sea or passing into the South China Sea via the Mindoro Strait, Tablas Strait or the Verde Island Passage.
This immense profusion of water is in ceaseless motion and is funneled within the maze of passages, waterways and straits between these relatively closely bunched islands that make up the Philippines.
The mix of water flow, up wellings and down wellings and the narrow channels between islands, makes for strong tidal and current flows that bathe the area with a bounty of plankton and nutrients essential for a vibrant marine ecosystem, as well as transporting larvae throughout the archipelago.
In the Coral Triangle larval fish, invertebrates and corals settle up to 80km from their origin – this crucial dispersal is one of the key factors in the area’s impressive biodiversity.
Another factor that affects the surface waves and upper currents is the wind. We have here in the Philippines wind that comes from the North-east going south-west called the Amihan which refers to the season dominated by the trade winds, which are experienced in the Philippines as a cool northeast wind.
It is characterized by moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall in the central and western part of Luzon and Visayas, and a prevailing wind from the east. On the east coast of Luzon it brings drizzling rainfall and squalls. The effect on Mindanao relatively less than in the northern part of the country.
As a rule of thumb, the Philippines’ amihan weather pattern begins sometime in November or December and ends sometime in May or June. There may, however, be wide variations from year to year.
Throughout the rest of the year, the Philippines experiences the west or southwest wind; south west monsoon, which in turn is referred to as the Habagat. The habagat season is characterized by hot and humid weather, frequent heavy rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the west.
The main indicator of the switch between the amihan and habagat seasonal patterns is the switch in wind direction. In most years this transition is abrupt and occurs overnight. In some years there is a period of perhaps a week or two where the wind will switch between amihan and habagat patterns several times before settling into the pattern for the new season.
The unique and tropical landscapes of the Visayas Islands offer fabulous marine life encounters and a wealth of wildlife found nowhere else on this earth.
Diving is offered all year round in the Visayas which offers some of the Asian Pacific Ocean’s most interesting marine diversity.
Planning for and traveling with a dive group in the Visayas, Philippines could not be easier! Aqua Ventura Divers is a recognized and trusted name in the scuba diving industry. Our local dive staff have decades of experience diving and travelling throughout the Philippines, so they can make booking a group trip to Central Visayas, Philippines easy and stress free!.
Our staff will work with you to determine the best options for hotel accommodations that fit your dive groups taste and budget, craft a dive itinerary that includes the best activity level and adventures for your group, and make sure to get the best deal available for your group. Our local experts are great at helping book options for non-divers as well. So we will handle each step of the process and remove the hassle of arranging your scuba diving vacation so you can get back to the most important part – Diving!
Our waters are home to numerous species from white tip/black tip reef sharks, harlequin clown shrimp, seahorses, flamboyant cuttlefish, and blue ring octopus to schooling eagle rays, the giant Pacific manta rays, whale Sharks, bump head parrot fish, barracudas, or the Bull sharks at Tubbataha Reef Islands. Just to name a few!!!
Every effort will be made to give dive groups their own boat and private diving experience; however when the group size is less than the dive boat capacity this may not be possible during busy periods. The dive staff will do their best to include divers on your trip who are self-sufficient or will gel with your dive group. Normally if this happens we give them their own diving guide so as not to disrupt your adventure experience with your team.
After each dive the staff will collect and take care of all your gear; we will clean it, store it and then deliver it to the boat for the next day’s dive trip, giving you the remaining afternoon to relax by the pool. At the end of your dive time with us we will deliver your gear to your hotel in the afternoon after your last dive – Clean and ready to pack up. (With this virus out now, we have special procedures on how to clean your gear and handle the top side boat trips to your different dive sites.)
Again diving is available all year round so when asked when the best time to dive in the Philippines is, we say “As soon as you can get here!”
Diving seasons are divided between the rainy “wet” season (May to November) and dry season (November to May). The dry season (November–May) is popular with visitors looking to escape winter weather at home.
The bottled water here is very safe to drink, but like they say in Mexico. . . don’t drink the tap water!!! English in parts of the country is spoken, but you must speak slower so they can understand you. You are now in their world and your accent may confuse them a bit. US dollars can be easily transferred into pesos or can be taken everywhere and there is good medical care. National Parks encompass more than 75%+ of the Philippines, more than any other country, so the biodiversity is protected and prolific!
Choose one of these great options for your accommodations:
CONTACT US FOR PACKAGE PRICES and GROUP COMPS at: dive@aquaventuradiving.com
The Philippines is the best Asian Pacific diving option to not only the Europeans, Canadians, North and South American tourists, but also Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Australia.
There are no shots or visas required for visitors from the US, Canada or Europe, you just need a passport that will not expire within 6 months of your arrival into the Philippines. (You have 28 days before you’ll need to get a visa which is easy to get here in the Philippines!!) (Also you will have to have a return flight ticket to get back home with you.)
Our main office is located in Dauin, Negros, Phil., in the center of the Islands, so you can have peace of mind while traveling throughout the country that you have a friend and ally nearby.
During regular business hours (6am-8pm) or after working hours you can call or text our cell number +63(0)929-586-0756 that is answered 24-hours per day to handle emergencies and the unexpected.
If you should have a flight delay or other urgent need to contact us prior to arriving in the Philippines, you can call or better text our cell number. If you call before or after our office is open please leave a text message, and we will return your call or text as soon as possible.
The difference between Island Hopping and Safaris is that Island Hopping is going to different Island resorts to sleep and meals and to enjoy some of the local attractions.
Safaris on the other hand is staying on the Dive boat going to different Islands dive sites and eating and sleeping on the boat. Safaris usually last 5 to 10 days were as Island Hopping can be 1, 2, or even 3 weeks!!!! You can decide what is best for you and your Dive Club, Group, Team, or Friends.
Aqua Ventura Divers can now offer you the best of Visayas diving by island hopping in the Philippines! Flexibility is the key and you can decide if you want to stay on land at one of our designated resorts, or if you would like to transfer by boat between the resorts and stay and dive a few days in different locations.
There are loads of activities that will keep you busy – you can also attend one of Aqua Ventura Divers Dive Safaris, and sail around in a traditional banca boat, dive the very best locations around Cebu, Negros, Bohol, Siquijor, Southern Leyte, and even Palawan and choose between a live-aboard and a variety of beach hotels. Aqua Ventura Divers can line up any resort that we will be diving as long as they are not already fully booked. These resorts can be in Dauin, Moalboal, Cebu, Malapascua, Alona, Cabilao, Southern Leyte, Siquijor, and even in Palawan, Coron, El Nido. All depends on your itinerary.
Here you can get your own personalized “Island Hopping Tour” with your own boat and tour guides!
Here you can explore some of the best diving destinations in the Central Philippines (Visayas) in 1, 2, or 3 weeks. With our Island Hopping, you can enjoy the combined comfort of the diving boat and resorts. No need replacing of equipment between the transfers from one destination to the other. Your equipment will stay the whole time on your assigned diving boat. Enjoy the comfort of a big room, spa services and relax along the beaches after a day of diving in our selected resorts.
Take the advantage to explore the countryside during the included land trips. There are the famous Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Twin Lakes, Balanan Lake or Casaroro Waterfalls in Negros and much, much more. Come and explore together with your friends the amazing underwater world of the Visayas!
The difference between Island Hopping and Dive Safaris is that Island Hopping is going to different Island resorts to sleep and meals and to enjoy some of the local attractions.
Dive Safaris on the other hand is staying on the Dive boat going to different Islands dive sites and eating and sleeping on the boat. Dive Safaris usually last 5 to 10 days were as Island Hopping can be 1, 2, or even 3 weeks!!!! You can decide what is best for you and your Dive Club, Group, Team, or Friends.
Aqua Ventura Safari Live-aboard
Aqua Ventra Divers has great expectations in the Safari live-aboard diving experience here in the Philippines, and as many of our guests would say, in Asia. Aqua Ventura Safari Live-aboard is the perfect place from which to explore some of the best diving in the world – we offer many distinct itineraries show casing parts of the Philippines on schedules only possible to get to by Dive Safari live-aboard (Dive Safari Visayas).
The majority of trips embarked are from some of our designated resorts, which are acknowledged to be among some of the more popular in South East Asia. What remains the same are the feature comforts, great food and welcoming crew.
Our newest itinerary, from January through early March, takes in the wrecks of Coron with the colorful walls of Apo Reef along the way. Guests embark and disembark from our designated resorts.
Our Tubbataha seasons runs from mid-March through early June – explore kilometers in this pristine protected UNESCO World Heritage site located 100 miles offshore and open to diving only 3 months out of the year.
What Makes Aqua Ventura Divers Special?
It’s our experienced people. You come first in everything that we do, whether it’s your honeymoon, your first time on scuba or a dedicated photo dive for the most experienced divers. Our Safari team has decades of experience, but what makes us stand out is the way we make you feel. When you return, which we are sure you will, it’s just like coming back home.
Book to stay with Aqua Ventura Divers, and you can book with confidence, with Aqua Ventura it’s all about quality and service, and they surpass themselves.
From your tastefully decorated, clean and bright rooms, to the kitchen, that prepares your meals from only the freshest of ingredients, the whole design is to keep you rested and relaxed so you can truly take advantage of the extremely knowledgeable dive teams, who will guide you through some of the best dive sites on the planet.
Aqua Ventura offers exceptional value to the diver, and when comparing with other operators, its good to remember, that “the bitterness of poor quality, remains long after the sweetness of a cheap deal is forgotten.”
Dumaguete is our base for the months of June through December and our Visayas Safari is a unique opportunity to take in multiple beautiful islands in one week – something that would take several weeks to do any other way. We also offer special Malapascua “Thresher Shark Trip” from our Dumaguete/Dauin shop.
Over the years Central Visayas has always been a gateway for travel and adventure. Central Visayas has beautiful eco-tourism destinations.
These tour sites are unique in a sense that each is a destination on its own, we invite all of you to visit, explore, experience and enjoy the wonderful Central Visayas.
Not only do we have exciting activities in the sea and land but also in the Air!! From Zip lines, Kite flying to Sky diving, with Island hopping from the air in the middle, this is a life time adventure to remember for the rest of your lives!!
Be careful because once you try any of these activities you’ll want to come back for much more!! An Adrenalin rush you’ll be talking about for years to come. Come and check it out and see for yourself!
