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We are pleased to announce that Seaquest Dive Center will be hosting our March 2010 'Super-Tour' around the central Philippines to include the best of Bohol, Cebu-Moalboal and beautiful Malapascua.

This trip has been designed to give the best possible diving and critter diversity available in the Philippines today. Thresher Sharks, Manta Ray, clearwater walls and classic muck-diving opportunities await participants of the Digidiver 2010 Philippines 'Super Tour'. Built on our growing affection for the Philippines and Seaquests long experience, we can promise a highly interesting and entertaining trip. We can offer shorter one or two-week durations too.

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• The costs are based on Double/Twin Occupancy and the trip is limited to 14 places, at each destination.
• For those people with time constraints we can offer  the shorter Bohol & Cebu/Moalboal package, or Bohol/Malapascua package too

Part 1 : Moalbal, Cebu

Our adventure begins in Cebu where we are transferred to resort from the airport by Seaquest Staff. After a short introduction to the area, and briefed on diving sites we will set up the gear for some serious underwater spectacles and its associated marinelife. Six nights and five days of diving.

Ten of the dive sites around Moalboal/Cebu:

• House Reef - Right in front of the dive-shop. Great for night-dives. Crabs, trumpetfish, sleeping parrotfish, octopus and squid are often seen during night-dives. A totally different world unfolds in the light of your strobe. Visibility : As long as the batteries last ! Depth range : 0 - 15m Travel time: 1 minute.
• White Beach - Wall dive between hundreds of soft corals, gorgonians and lots of pelagic fish. Some caves and overhangs. The best place to look for nudibrancs. In between dives picnic at a virgin white beach in the shade of the big Talisay tree. Visibility : 5 - 30m. Depth range : 3 - 40m. Travel time: 15 min.
• Magpayong - 400 meter after white beach, is a nice wall and most of the dives in this area are drift dives. Look for turtles and Napoleon wrasses. The area between 15 meters up to 5 meters is covered with different kinds of hard and soft corals. Visibility : 8 - 25m. Depth Range; 3 - 45 meters. Travel Time: 20 min.
• Pescador Island (Moalboal Marine Park) - is now a protected area. Some say it's the best they've ever seen. Protected from natural disasters this enormous mushroom rises off the seabottom at 40 meters and never ceases to amaze you with its rich variety of hard and soft corals and a myriad of marine species... Diving from the South to West side you can meet schools of lion fish, the occasional frog fish, and Harry, the blue ribbon eel, who lives just before the famous 'Cathedral' Cave. The entrance of the cave, where sometimes sharks are spotted, leads to an uprising chimney with holes on the side, which make your ascent an 'enlightning' experience. At the East side of the island there's a lovely drop-off towards the North and big shools of Yellow Eye Sweet Lips, Red Snappers and big Groopers at a depth of 35 meters are among our under water friends here. The coral gardens in the shallow areas provide the best 'deco stops' ever and the UW photographer can spend weeks here without running out of good shots. Visibility : 10 - 40m. Depth range : 6 - 40m.Travel time: 25 min..
• Fish Sanctuary - Also a protected area and just open for divers recently, slopes from 5m up to 18m and then drops to 45 meters. In this area, you can see huge Seafans, and not just one... Hard and soft corals, leaf fish and the unusual ghost pipe fish await you here. Tuna and White Tip Sharks can be spotted occasional. This site is good for both wide angle, and a macro photography. Visibility : 10 - 25m  Depth Range; 5 - 60m. Travel Time: 30 min.
• Talisay Reef - Slopes from 5 meters to 15 meters and then also drops to 45 meters. Usually a drift dive, you'll find lots of black corals, holes and small caves. The shallow part is interesting because of the rock formations and the so called mandarin fish can be seen here. Visibility : 15 - 25m Depth Range: 3 - 50m. Travel Time : 5 min.
• Tongo Point - Interesting seascape, lots of crevices, holes and small caves. Some big fans, pufferfish and a deco-stop in the 'streets' of Tongo. Visibility : 10 - 30 m. Depth range : 5 - 20 m.Travel time: 15 min.
• Kasai Point - A wall dive, some small caves, nice hard and soft corals, among the fishes: leaf fish, pufferfish and schools of tang fish. Mandarins, and if your lucky even eagle rays can be seen. Visibility : 15-40m Depth Range; 5-30m. Travel Time : 10 min.
• Tuble Reef - Is in between Kasai and White beach and has a lot of small caves, a seafan forest and schools of big fish like tuna and jacks. Visibility : 15-40 meters. Depth Range: 3 - 40 meters. Travel Time: 15 min.
• Sunken Island - If it wasn't for the marker-buoy you would not find it. In the middle of Tanon Strait this underwater mountain raises from unknown depths to 26 meters under sea level. A thrilling experience to take the plunge in the deep blue, following the line until the top becomes visible. Because of strong currents some experience is needed. A great place to look for scorpions and stonefish. Big lionfish usually are seen at one end of the top. An early starter, 6 o'clock departure! Visibility : 5 - 40 m. Depth range : 25 - ?? Travel time : 60 min.

Part 2 - Bohol

Our next port of call will be Oasis Resort situated on Alona Beach, Panglao on the Island of Bohol. Seaquest staff will transfer us from Moalboal to the ferry in Cebu. Oasis Staff will collect us at the dock on Bohol and transfer us to the resort. From first hand experience we know we are going to be looked after well at this location especially. The staff, the food and accommodation are first rate. Beautiful cozy resort with swimming pool and recreational facilities.

A few Divespots around Bohol

• Arco Point - "Hole in the wall", hand-fed fish... Grouper, wrasses, butterfly fishes, dog eel, moray eel. Visibility: 12 - 30 m. Depth range:  4-25 m. Travel time : 12 min. (Back for lunch)
• Kalipayan - The "Happy Wall", closest dive site (aside from a "house-reef" dive). Nice wall dive... Soft & hard corals, sea fans, some grouper and small barracuda. Visibility: 8-25m. Depth range: 3-20m. Travel time: 6 min.
• Pamilacan Island - Great drift dive... Reef slopes at 45º with many coral heads, spanish mackerel, barracuda, queen triggerfish, large bump-head wrasses, jacks and tuna. Visibility: 10-40m. Depth range: 6-30m. Travel time: 60 min.
• Balicasag  Island - (3 spots) Travel time: 45 min.
• Black Forest - (N-E slope) - Steep slope with many coral heads and a "forest" of black coral at 25 - 40 m. Big tuna, jacks, barracudas, surgeon fish, grouper, triggerfish. Normally a drift dive. Visibility : 15-40m. Depth range: 20-40m.
• Rudy's Rock - (S-E wall) - Deep drop-off wall dive... Soft and hard corals, many small caverns and crevices. Large turtles are sometimes seen. Often seen are large schools of silver jack. Beautiful wall. Visibility: 10-40m. Depth range: 3-30m.
• Rico's Wall - (S-W wall) - Drop-off in front of Balicasag Diver's Resort... Small caverns and ledges. Large grouper live near the bottom of the wall and can be seen at 20 - 30 m. Also large schools of surgeon fish. Visibility: 15-40m. Depth range: 5-35m.
• Pungtul Wall - Beautiful coral garden... Lots of small fish, clown fish, damsels, moorish idols, butterfly fish, angelfish, etc. Excellent spot for snorkeling too. Visibility: 10-30m. Depth range: 2-20m. Travel time: 35 min.
• Dolho Point - Drift dive along this scenic wall. Many giant sea fans and basket sponges. Current is sometimes quite fierce but brings many large pelagic fish to be spotted by divers with "quick" eyes. Visibility: 10-40 m. Depth range: 10-35 m. Travel time: 60 min.
• Napaling - Virgin coral... Great for shallow-water photography. Anthias in schools, small stingrays and moray eels. Visibility: 10-30m. Depth range: 3-20m. Travel time: 1 Hr 20 min.
• Cabilao Island - Exciting dives for more advanced divers... An interesting double drop-off and strong currents. Hammerhead sharks in small schools are often seen. Also some other sharks show up occasionally. Big schools of barracudas swim circles against the sun... Only for "Early Birds" (dept. 6 o'clock).Visibility: 12-40m. Depth range: 20-40m. Travel time: 3 Hrs.
• Cervera Shoal - We call it "Snake Island". Various species of sea snakes inhabit this "sunken" island. The top lies in 12 meters of depth. A great experience do dive into the "blue". Not so good for corals, but lots of snakes and a good change to see some "big" fish. Visibility: 5-30m. Depth range: 12m - ?? Travel time: 50 min.

Part 3 - Malapascua

Malapascua has a great variety of dive sites - from amazing coral to sandy muck dives, to wall diving. Because the diving is very varied with many different influences there is a great variety of marine life. All our dive sites have excellent macro, so there is always plenty to see. Some divers have rated Malapascua's dive spots as some of the world's best diving sites.

Transfer includes ferry from Bohol to Cebu, AC road transfer and boat to Malapascua (Return) This will be a brand-new resort with all the facilities you would expect.

It is near to Monad Shoal so we often see thresher sharks, mantas and devil rays. Turtles are occasional visitors. The top of the island has a lot of hard coral, and many excellent hiding spots for moray eels. The sides are covered in soft coral growth. Many species of shrimp can be found among the corals and several species of unusual nudibranchs. The east side is especially interesting for its rock formations and overhangs. Because of the drop off, at any point on the island there is the chance of seeing pelagics such as sharks, rays and tuna. Recently spotted here - a school of 50 hammerheads.

• Thresher Shark Monad Shoal/Shark Point 26m+ / 80ft+ Monad Shoal is an underwater island on the edge of a 200m drop off, and is famous as the only place in the world where thresher sharks can be seen everyday. Manta rays have become a common sight over the last year. The shoal also attracts other pelagics such as devil rays and eagle rays. Manta rays and hammerheads are seasonal. Monad Shoal is perfect for Nitrox. Find out more about Monad Shoal and its threshers. Please note that this is a slightly more advanced dive site.
• Gato Island 24m / 80ft Cuttlefish mating - Gato Island is one of our most famous dive sites. Gato is a marine reserve and sea snake sanctuary. It has at least five dive sites with a huge diversity of marine life. We are constantly seeing new creatures. At all sites you can see such things as banded sea snakes, cuttlefish (often while mating), seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish, moray eels, scorpion fish, squid and big-mouthed mackerel. There are many whitetip sharks in residence at Gato, as well as bamboo and cat sharks. The coral is in good condition and the rocky island has many interesting underwater rock formations, overhangs, and swim-throughs.
• Gato: Whitetip Alley 20m / 70ft You are 95% guaranteed to find whitetip sharks sleeping under rocks, and if you are lucky you will see them circling. Other life here includes banded boxer shrimp, crinoid cuttlefish, seahorses and scorpion fish.
• Gato: The Guardhouse 24m / 80ft Drop down to 24m to find the extremely rare pygmy seahorse, both pink and yellow. Then work your way back along a wall where you can find lionfish and many nudibranchs, including the beautiful spanish dancers, up to 30cm long. A painted frogfish is currently in residence.
• Gato: Nudibranch City 22m / 75ft  As the name implies, we find nudibranchs galore at this site. Also around are lots of hermit crabs and scorpion fish.
• Gato: The Cave 10m / 35ft The Cave, or more accurately, "The Tunnel". Journey underneath Gato Island and come out the other side! This 30m tunnel houses all the usual cave dwellers like crabs and lobsters. You should also encounter some large puffer fish. Most of exciting of all, the cave is home to whitetip sharks! You may see them hiding in a corner as you pass by inches from their face, or see their silhouette as they circle near the exit. If you are careful and move slowly, they will swim straight by your face. The sight is simply breathtaking. Not for the faint of heart. For experienced divers only.
• Gato: Cathedral 22m / 75ft Explore some of the more amazing rock formations around Gato, including the stunning Cathedral rock. This is a great place to see sharks - we have seen as many as 15 whitetips circling. It is also possible to see blue-spotted rays.
• Lighthouse 10m / 35ft MandarinfishThere are few places in the world where you can see mandarinfish. And even better, in Malapascua, Thresher Diver's famous "Randy Mandy" dive experiences mating mandarinfish in their full glory! In the late afternoon we dive Lighthouse, where the rare and psychedelic mandarin fish are virtually guaranteed. Dusk is a time most people rarely dive. However, it is one of the best times to observe marine life because of the increased feeding and mating activity. Come and see the exotic mating dance of the male and his adoring females. At full moon we also see coral spawning as well as other marine life mating. We regularly see seahorses, scribbled and banded pipefish, juvenile sweetlips, banded sea snakes, hermit crabs, and many varieties of shrimp. As day turns into night you should start to catch some interesting nudibranchs and a variety of cephalopods - reef squid, bobtail squid, starry night octopus, the occasional blue-ringed octopus and cuttlefish. Also near this sight is a World War II wreck.
• Lapus Lapus 18m / 60ft FrogfishLapus Lapus Island has some of the most spectacular coral growth we have ever seen. There is a huge variety of soft and hard coral, in pristine condition. Other marine life includes frogfish, various sweetlips, cuttlefish and lionfish. There are many nudis, several varieties of commensal shrimp and also porcelain crabs. A great macro site. If you are lucky, you will see the giant octopus that lives here!
• Chocolate Island 16m / 55ft Chocolate Island is a beautiful shallow dive site and a macro photographer's delight. The healthy coral is home to a large variety of life: sea snakes, snake eels, moray eels, cuttlefish (including flamboyants), seamoths/dragonfish/Pegasus and juvenile batfish. Macro includes nudibranchs, flatworms, shrimp, shells and cowries.
• North Point 22m / 60ft Beautiful soft coral and varied marine life including frogfish of different colors, fire urchin hikers, and nudibranchs. Great macro.
• North Wall 24m / 60ft This is a short wall at 24m, about 10m long by 6m high. Its nooks and crannies hide a wide variety of life. After investigating the wall, swim out from the wall into a sandy area which is home to a field of sea pens and many other critters, then let yourself get taken by the current on an amazing drift dive.
• Ka Osting This is a great muck dive. Find all kinds of unusual creatures. Fire urchins, zebra crabs, dwarf lionfish, and almost guaranteed smashing mantis shrimp are some of the inhabitants of this shallow reef that turns into a sandy bottom between 12-16m. Did you know that seastars are actually very aggressive creatures? Watch the horny seastars race full speed in pursuit of Ka Osting's unusual species of sea urchin.
• Kimud Shoal 40m+ / 130ft+ Devil Ray Sunken Island is a fairly small shoal. Almost circular, it is possible to swim all the way around the edge in one dive. The top of the island lies at 12-16m, and the steep sides drop off to 200m+.
• Nunez Shoal 40m+ / 130ft+ A stunning wall dive, Nunez Shoal hosts a wide variety of life. Look out into the blue for pelagics such as eagle rays and sharks, and along the wall you can spot white eyed and snowflake moray eels, lionfish, scorpion, and rare nudibranchs galore among the giant sea fans and sponges. Visibility can be around 30m and there are big schools of small fish. Nunez shoal is on the edge of a drop off to almost 1km, so expect the unexpected!
• Calanggaman Island 40m+ / 130ft+ Calanggaman Island is the picture postcard desert island. Sometimes we will stop on the island for a beach barbeque during our surface interval. Palm trees and a pile of white sand surrounded by crystal clear water and steep walls dropping off into the blue. Vis is usually good and fish life is plentiful. Drop down the walls which are covered in hard corals and gorgonian fans and inhabited by many varieties of fish. Look for pelagics out in the blue, or unusual fish like clown triggers on the wall. You can also see many critters including nudibranchs, crabs and shrimp. As you come back along the top of the wall, look for fields of nudibranchs and garden eels. Dolphins are often seen on the way back.
• The East Side 10m / 35ft.  A side of Malapascua Island that is sometimes sheltered when the rest is not, this is a pretty dive site. The hard coral is in great condition and there is a good variety of marine life: dwarf lionfish, nudibranchs, squid.
• The Sand Patch 10m / 35ft Search through the sea grass and the sandy patches on the east side of the island to find an amazing variety of life. There is plenty to see here including moray eels, lionfish, crabs and many other bottom dwellers.
• Twins 10m / 35ft Off the north of Malapascua, Twins is an easy, shallow dive site covered in soft leather corals. There are some interesting rock formations and good macro life.
• House Reef 6m / 20ftThe house reef is great for beginners, especially those wanting to make their first dives. Among the hard coral there is an abundance of marine life, including pufferfish, lionfish, nudibranchs, sea snakes, and moray eels.
• Maria's Point 18m / 60ft Great diving because of the strong currents here. Clear waters, good corals and an excellent variety of life. For advanced divers only.
• Buhoc Point 30m / 100ftBuhoc Point is a site off North Leyte rarely visited by divers. The pristine corals slope down to a sandy bottom where you are sure to spot some blue spotted rays if you move slowly! A variety of other marine life can be seen here.
• Maripipi 30m / 100ft Another rarely visited dives site, Maripipi has everything you could want in a dive site: excellent corals and plentiful fish life including sharks and rays. We dive here on a minimum 2 day dive safari.
• Manok-Manok (Chicken Curry Island) 15m/45ft A nice relaxed dive among beautiful pastel multi-colored soft tree corals.

Shore Diving 5m/15ft Shore diving is limited but possible. It is very shallow off the main beach, and you will have to swim out for 200m to get even 3m. However, there are some good tings to see. The first 100m is mostly sea grass, but it hides beautiful starfish, puffers, pipefish, nudibranchs and is the schooling ground for many juveniles. The sea grass turns into hard coral, home to schools of cardinalfish, damselfish and sergeant majors. Look carefully and you can find lionfish and moray eels. Occasionally seen are blue-ringed octopus and eagle rays. You must do this dive with a float or SMB above you at all times.

Wrecks

From beginner to technical diver, Malapascua has a wreck for you! If you've heard that Coron is the only place in the Philippines with good wreck diving, think again!

• Lighthouse Wreck 5m / 15ft The wreck at Lighthouse was a Japanese World War II landing craft. It was bombed just before landing with a large shipment of cement destined for a gun emplacement. The wreck is in very shallow water - 3m average - and is broken up with the hull in two pieces. The rocks that you will see are actually bags of cement! Things that you can see around the wreck include yellow-tailed barracuda, hermit crabs, octopus, pipefish, juvenile harlequin sweetlips, and banded sea snakes. Nearby is Lighthouse West - easily reached from the wreck to see abundant mandarinfish and seahorses.

• Dona Marilyn Wreck 18m-32m / 60ft-110ft A similar ferry today At almost 100m long, the Dona Marilyn was a Cebu-Manila passenger ferry that sank in a typhoon 20 years ago. It was a huge disaster and many people lost their lives. It is now lying on its starboard side, amazingly still all in one piece. Marble rays, blue-spotted rays and whitetip sharks live under the bow and eagle rays and devil rays sometimes pass through. The wreck is covered in a healthy growth of soft coral, and the fish that live there grow to a large size. Several varieties of sweetlips grow bigger here than at any of our other dive sites and the juveniles are often seen. Large cuttlefish and scorpionfish are common as well as nudibranchs and flatworms. A giant moray eel is living in the wreck. You can also see many of the beautiful purple fire sea urchins around, accompanied by their resident zebra crabs and Coleman's shrimp. Penetration is possible for qualified divers. There is lots to see inside as it has remained unsalvaged. The photo above shows a similar ferry today.

• Tapilon Wreck 22m-28m / 70ft-90ft. A World War II Japanese cargo carrier, the wreck at Tapilon was hit by torpedoes. It now lies in several sections, though is still recognizable as a boat. There is an abundance of life on this wreck and it is covered in beautiful soft coral. Swirling around it are thousands of small barracuda - an incredible sight. This wreck is worth diving for the barracuda alone! There are also many species of flat worms, nudibranchs, moray eels, cuttlefish, squid, and scorpion fish. Huge marble rays are sometimes seen, as well as the fire sea urchin and its accompanying urchin crab and Coleman's shrimp. Sometimes we have several ornate ghost pipefish and frogfish in residence.

• MV Asia Wreck 26m / 85ft MV Asia is a great wreck for penetration as the decks are so open and it is relatively safe. The wreck sank several years ago and lies on its side with one prop still on the boat. A must for wreck lovers.

• Pioneer Wreck 42m- 54m / 140ft-170ft Because it is so deep, this Japanese World War II wreck is still in great condition. It was a gunboat in the war, and as you descend, you will see the guns pointing upwards towards you! It is about 60m long, in the upright position and still mostly in one piece. There is a torpedo hit on on the stern but the prop is still remaining. The wreck has plentiful fish life including sharks, rays, barracuda and groupers. This is a deep dive and is for those trained in decompression diving only. Only diveable on a few days of the month.

Does this appeal to you Please contact staff or PM me from the forum if you are interested in joining in..

Features

Inclusive of:

• 6N/5D nights ac room with full board at Sumisid Lodge and/or Eve's Lodge, Moalboal, Cebu
• 7N/6D nights AC room with daily breakfast & Dinner at Oasis Resort, Panglao, Bohol
• 6N/5D ac room with daily breakfast & Dinner at Sunsplash Resort, Malapascua
• 1N deluxe room with breakfast at The Mabuhay Manor Hotel in Manila
• 45 dives incl. tanks/weights/boat ride/dive guide
• R/T land transfer from Cebu airport/Moalboal/cebu pier
• R/T land transfer Alona Beach/Tagbilaran pier vice versa
• R/T ferry ticket from Cebu/Tagbilaran/Cebu.
• R/T land transfer from Cebu pier/Malapascua/Cebu airport
• R/T boat transfer from Maya/Malapascua/Maya
• R/T transfer from Manila Domestic airport/ Mabuhay Manor Hotel/Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Total of 45 dives can be used either in Moalboal, Bohol and Malapascua.

Costs

Total cost per person sharing (double/twin occupancy) will be 2210EUR for the whole expedition,  with individual deposits of 350EUR to secure your place.

If you do not have the luxury of time to do the entire Moalboal-Bohol-Malapascua, we offer it as Moalboal-Bohol and Bohol-Malapascua.

• Moalboal-Bohol (double/twin sharing) 1470EUR
• Bohol-Malapascua (double/twin sharing) 1740EUR

Nitrox is available at all locations, with the extra charge of 3EUR per fill - Random, or 2.5EUR per package. Self test meter available, and all fills self documented.

Some dive sites at Moalboal , Bohol and Malapascua are now designated marine sanctuary and recent legislation specifies that all divers are required to pay for sanctuary fees at the location.

How to get there

International flights can either arrive through Cebu, via Hong Kong, or Manila, connecting with a domestic flight. (Help and advice always available).