Trip Report Camiguin Island: Diving with Camiguin Souldivers
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carono6333 Contributor Scuba Instructor Messages 155 Reaction score 267 Location Denmark, Western Australia # of dives 1000 - 2499April 2024: So…. We visiting Camiguin Island to meet two non-diving friends for a holiday. Wow, what a beautiful island. It’s less visited than many other Philippines destinations but is a bit of a hidden gem. The downside is the diving isn’t as good as other locations, but there is still some decent diving to be done.
Getting here: We flew from Cebu City. Flights direct also available from Manila I believe. Getting around: Hire a scooter and explore the entire island in a few days. What to do other than diving: Waterfalls, hot springs, cold springs, and some surprisingly good restaurants. A few bars but all very low key. Where to stay: We stayed at Agoho Resort - which is really good and has some dive operators nearby. However, we moved to Camiguin Lanzones Resort once our friends had left, so we could be closer to our chosen dive centre and also close to the ferry port to Bohol, which we will go to tomorrow morning for the next leg of our holiday (Panglao).
The diving: There are half a dozen or so dive centre dotted around the island. They are all relatively small operations, some with accommodation attached. We picked Souldivers purely because it was close to Mantigue Island, which someone said was a good dive site. We did no research whatsoever, just popped in and booked our dives. I can’t comment on other dive centres as i didn’t look in on any of them,
Souldivers is a little place owned by Jack. He has a few local staff who are dive guides, Boat CAptains, etc. I think he gets an Instructor in for courses. It’s a really friendly and no-frills kind of place. The boat is a small local style (banca) and has enough room for 4 customers only. We dived the sites they alluded were their best: Jicdup Shoal, Mantigue Island, their house reef.
What i really liked was they dive according to your certification and ability. When the group is mixed ability, they will pay more attention to those who need it, and make sure those who are better with their gas consumption get a full hour by having you wait under the safety stop, and the dive guide coming back to continue to the dive with you. We have our own equipment, but from what i saw of their equipment it was in good condition with the exception of the wetsuits, that looked a little thin and worn.
The diving at Camiguin is ok. There are a few turtles over the reef, and a few interesting nudis to be found. Apparently you can lucky and see a manta occassionally. There are also a few frogfish around, which their house reef has with abundant ghost pipefish! Some quite decent macro stuff around (shrimps, porcelain crabs etc)
I wouldn’t come to Camiguin just for the diving. But you know what, it’s a stunning island and you can really enjoy yourself here if you want to get away from the crowds. If you want a peaceful holiday away from the hoards and with a handful of dives then this island is wonderful.
diveUAE Contributor Messages 565 Reaction score 460 Location Abu Dhabi # of dives 500 - 999Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a lovely island. Are there any other way than scooters to get around? Could you rent a car or hire a driver? (Can’t do scooters as it’s one of the very few things our travel insurance doesn’t cover - but they do cover diving, bungee jumping, parasailing etc)
At rejse er at leve! carono6333 Contributor Scuba Instructor Messages 155 Reaction score 267 Location Denmark, Western Australia # of dives 1000 - 2499Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a lovely island. Are there any other way than scooters to get around? Could you rent a car or hire a driver? (Can’t do scooters as it’s one of the very few things our travel insurance doesn’t cover - but they do cover diving, bungee jumping, parasailing etc)
Yes you can get a car and driver. Very easy to arrange. I think I spotted a ca rental place in Mambajao if you prefer to drive yourself.
YYCLuke Contributor Divemaster Messages 180 Reaction score 126 Location Calgary # of dives 100 - 199Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a lovely island. Are there any other way than scooters to get around? Could you rent a car or hire a driver? (Can’t do scooters as it’s one of the very few things our travel insurance doesn’t cover - but they do cover diving, bungee jumping, parasailing etc)
I've been there numerous times and actually bought property there last year (still need to build however. ) so I can answer any other questions you might have, as I see OP already answered this one
OP, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've always seen turtles and frogfish on almost every dive there. Turtle Point in Mantigue didn't disappoint at all, last time in August was around 3 dozen turtles on one dive.
The sites on either side of white island (black forest on one side and I forget the other) are two amazing dives with a wicked surface interval. Last year I went during the bad season so boats outside of Mantigue weren't really going out much, but there's a shore dive not far from Soul Divers called Ering (bisaya for Cat) that was so amazing I did it twice.
And as for restaurants, I hope you checked out Guerrera near the white island terminal, literally the place I dreamed about over Covid. Went there in 2017, 2019 and again last year and it's been amazing each time.
JonnieB Contributor Messages 1,144 Reaction score 680 Location Pattaya, Thailand # of dives 1000 - 2499I've been there numerous times and actually bought property there last year (still need to build however. ) so I can answer any other questions you might have, as I see OP already answered this one
OP, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've always seen turtles and frogfish on almost every dive there. Turtle Point in Mantigue didn't disappoint at all, last time in August was around 3 dozen turtles on one dive.
The sites on either side of white island (black forest on one side and I forget the other) are two amazing dives with a wicked surface interval. Last year I went during the bad season so boats outside of Mantigue weren't really going out much, but there's a shore dive not far from Soul Divers called Ering (bisaya for Cat) that was so amazing I did it twice.
And as for restaurants, I hope you checked out Guerrera near the white island terminal, literally the place I dreamed about over Covid. Went there in 2017, 2019 and again last year and it's been amazing each time.
When are the best months for divingI used to have a handle on life. but it broke.
YYCLuke Contributor Divemaster Messages 180 Reaction score 126 Location Calgary # of dives 100 - 199 When are the best months for diving I've been in December, Feb and August and I found that Dec-Feb was great. carono6333 Contributor Scuba Instructor Messages 155 Reaction score 267 Location Denmark, Western Australia # of dives 1000 - 2499Certainly did eat at Guerrera. Also recommend : Saforey italian restaurant FarmHouse pizza J&A fishpen Utopia cafe for coffee or sunset drinks And. Doas Plant Based Kitchen (my personal favourite)
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