Whispering Palms/same: "where are the fish", Jun, 2024,by Michael Joest, Kehl, DE (![]() |
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Comments |
Sipaway Island Whispering Palms, Negros, Philippines (10 nights) Since retirement and a modest pension I have to look more carefully for destinations with good and reasonable rates. Often I waited for special deals or offers from the various dive shows in Europe (e g Boot, Duesseldorf). Once in a while on short notice sometimes travel agents offered slots still available or free due to cancelation or not fully booked. Thus even destinations like Galapagos were sold for savings of 1500 € to the regular price. Same applies to group offers which are interesting. 2 times already I´ve been on such offers to Raja and the Philippines. When I saw the ad “sardines and tresher sharks” I got curious and said yes. It was 2190 € for 2 weeks including flights dives and breakfast, single surcharge was 390 € and 2 places to visit, Negros and Cebu. With 72 I don´t want to share a room with someone anymore, I need my privacy. I opted for this as it would provide calm relaxed dives into warm water. Strong currents with washing machine like conditions, bumpy hard rides on Zodiac are not my thing anymore. I feel my bones when we ride out to the reef, am not that surefooted anymore getting in or out of the Zodiac with full gear even though I´m still in rather good shape. Youngsters often envy my air consumption and I easily still swim away from them when current hits. Last time we flew with Singapore Airlines. This time the travel agent took China Airlines via Taipeh. It seems C A offers good rates for groups and some agents even use it to reach Micronesia. Taiwan tourist board offered a free city tour on return where we had a layover of more than 7 h. 12 ¾ h from Frankfurt to Taipeh, 2.5 h to Cebu, 2,5 h cab ride to the harbor, 1,5 h with ferry, 20 min local boat (Bangka), 5 min with tuk tuk, a hell of a trip to reach paradise, some would call it adventures some would hardly smile any more. For me it was a bit too much. Organization lacked when parts of the group went for drinks, the other for local currency, the rest waiting for the cabs. Thomas the dive instructor of the resort promised, we would reach the 4 o´clock ferry in time. We arrived in time, the sche ... Subscribe to get the full story. ![]() |
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Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | Over 1000 dives | ||
Where else diving | worldwide more than 100 destinations, mostly South Pacific and Asia, Africa and Caribbean | ||
Closest Airport | Cebu | Getting There | |
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy | Seas | calm, no currents |
Water Temp | 28-30°C / 82-86°F | Wetsuit Thickness | |
Water Visibility | 5-20 M / 16-66 Ft | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | |||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | N/A |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | None | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | 1 or 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | ![]() |
Large Pelagics | ![]() |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | ![]() |
Boat Facilities | N/A |
Overall rating for UWP's | ![]() |
Shore Facilities | ![]() |
UW Photo Comments |
[None] ... Subscribe to get the full story. ![]() |
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