Southern Leyte is one of the true gems of diving in the Philippines, tourism hasn’t taken off there yet, mainly because it is a little less easy to get to than other destinations, which is great news if you want a quiet location and a whole reef to yourself.
You’ll be staying in Sogod bay Scuba Resort, a small resort located in just about the most convenient place to have a dive resort in Sogod Bay and enjoys breathtaking views across the bay while you dine on the veranda. This is a definitely a divers resort, made by divers.
Apart from the great diving, the added bonus is – Whalesharks. For years Whalesharks have traditionally come to Sogod Bay in the months of November/December thorough to April/May. From year to year they may change where they congregate; in recent years Sonok, San Ricardo and Pintuan have been the favoured areas.
But this is Nature; sometimes they don’t show in numbers that warrant making the journey to the other side of the bay. In truth there is no guarantee they will show up. But, when they do – wow – to swim alongside a 10m long Whaleshark is a life memory moment inducing event. It’s snorkeling only with the Whalesharks on a spotting trip, but if you happen to be on a dive and a Whaleshark turns up, then so be it, it’s your lucky day!
Even if the Whalesharks don’t turn up, you will still have fantastic diving on dive sites like Napantau, Adrian’s Cove, Max Climax Wall, Medicare, Little Lembeh and the Padre Burgos Pier night dive.
On day 7 you’ll leave Southern Leyte and transfer to Malapascua, you’ll arrive there in the late afternoon.
You will stay in Malapascua Exotic Beach and Dive Resort, the pioneer dive resort on the island; if it weren’t for Dik and Cora setting up the resort here, the chances are we would have never known about the Thresher sharks visiting Malapascua. The resort is very well run and has first class amenities and the restaurant is excellent too.
Can you manage to get up at 4am for 5 straight days?! It sounds hard, but I promise you, the first time you see a Thresher Shark up close you will instantly forget those early morning tireds eyes and want to do it all over again the next day.
