atlion25

Hadn't previously heard of Busuanga. It looks pretty impressive. Thanks for the report

Frequent_Flyer1

Great report as always, Jermyn! Love reading it and looking forward to the rest! ^

BTW, the LX lounge you visited in ZRH is not the plain C-lounge, but the SEN one reserved for LH/LX/OS Miles&More Senator frequent fliers and *A first class guests. And I wouldn't describe the food options there as quite extensive But yes, slightly better than the C side.

If you would be flying now, I would suggest to head over to the new SEN-lounge that just opened in Terminal E, way better!

Jermyn

The next part is up!


Thanks Jamier45!
I booked a special dive package. Looking at it now it doesn't seem like this is currently offered. Rest assured though, the price to book your own dives is very decent. Cheaper than anywhere else I've been in the world.

Thank you so much for the kind words corruptcanadian.
I'll look to add times going forward, I never thought anybody cared that much about them!

p.s. if you want a Rimowa, koffer direkt is the place to go

Thanks chandu2013! A trip after my own heart, I'm jealous

Thanks MarkCron, as you can see from the latest installment - BBL keeps getting better

Thanks for reading atlion25. Busuanga was totally new to me too, although reading back this report makes me want to return already!


Thanks Frequent_Flyer1.
That makes sense, I thought the facility was a little too nice for a regular J lounge in Europe! I really want to check out the new lounges in ZRH, especially the LX F lounge with the hotel rooms, I think some sort of ex-CMB might be on the cards

SAT Lawyer

I'm a big fan of wreck diving, especially in warm water with good visibility. I dived the Irako, Akitsushima, Olympia Maru, and Morazan Maru when I was in Coron. One disappointment about the wrecks there was that they were stripped off their cargo.

If you and K enjoyed diving these wrecks, you ought to give some thought to diving Truk Lagoon [Chuuk, FSM] in the future. The wrecks of Truk are, in my opinion, the best in the world. Many of them are loaded with interesting cargo (munitions, trucks, tanks, planes, and periscopes) and even human remains. The penetrations of the engine rooms, holds, and superstructures are fascinating. The Truk Odyssey is a great live-aboard, although it tends to book up well in advance. You will want to get some more diving and training under your belt before taking on Truk, though; advanced open water and nitrox certifications are a must.

DaveNCL

Jermyn another great read. When I saw you had started a new thread I deliberately waited 10 days to read this until I was on my BA flight to SFO, my patience was rewarded.

was the Rimowa checked? I have the same recurring nightmare.

I bet if they were serving Krug you would have thought they were good guys!

I read Skyfaring on a beach in Mexico last summer, a great read. That was after sitting out a hurricane for 3 days!

Jamier45

Out of interest how much are the dives?

Also how much was it for meals/drinks?

Jermyn

The next instalment is ready

We did Olympia Maru too, otherwise we didn't really overlap, which goes to show many wrecks there are! We dove Tangat, Kogyu Maru and the Luzong gunboat too.

Whilst the others didn't have too much cargo, Kogyu Maru still has a bulldozer, cement mixer and piles of construction materials inside it, which was very cool to see.

Truk looks insane. Wow. I'm already looking into AV tricks to get us there, thanks for the tip

Thanks DaveNCL. Always nice to see a 'repeat customer'!

The Rimowa has only ever been checked once, at the gate, when we boarded after the pilot re-opened the doors to let us on a flight that was held at the gate. Otherwise it stays with me. ^

Haha, am I that transparent? Pour Krug good, no Krug baaaaad.

Agreed, what a great book. I'm in the market for another book in the 'light aviation' category at the moment



If you pay separately the dives are $100 per day for 3 dives including equipment, boat and instructor. We were lucky that we got two divemasters helping the two of us. One worked at the diving school (Mensoy) and the other, Bernie was a returning divemaster from the UK who had done her training in Busuanga a couple of years ago and also knew the wrecks really well.

Meals were in the $8-15 range.

diningdecadence

another enjoyable TR - thanks!

cnicklo

Great trip report. One of my favorites in quite some time. Thank you.

FLYGVA

The Fairmont looks nice and looks similar to some Shangri-Las I have stayed in.

Regarding your statement about the less crowded lounge compared to those of Conrads, Sheraton et alii this is something i have experienced at Shangri-Las as well. Paying here for Lounge (I love the Horizon Clubs at Shangi-La, but does not have status with Golden Circle) really does add some value.

Great report as ever ^

adampenrith

Wow awesome resort.

I particulary enjoyed your flight ZRH SIN - we are doing that same flight but in J in June,

farbster

What is the reason to do that dive without a wetsuit? What was the water temp btw?

Diving TR's are always great as are ski trip reports. Do you guys ski? It seems that many people that do one sport do the other. Perhaps they're just so adventurous and fun!

Jermyn

Another instalment is now ready!

Thanks for reading diningdecadence!

Wow cnicklo, you've been on FT since I was 15 years old and on average you post less than 2.5 times per year. I'm honoured that you took the time to comment, thanks!

Thanks FLYGVA!

Agreed on the comparison with Shangri-La. Horizon clubs are very similar to the Fairmont Gold lounges in terms of both quality and ambiance.

You've reminded me that I need to diversify a little bit, I hear great things about the Valley Wing at the Shangri-La Singapore.

Thanks adampenrith, have a great flight! (with SQ it's hard not to)


I think you answered your own question farbster Once you go through the Heliocline the water hits 38C. I'm not kidding when I say it felt like getting into a hot bath; there's no way you'd want to wear a wetsuit at that temperature!

We do indeed snowboard. I don't know if I'd call it particularly adventurous but it sure is fun . Our last big trip before this one was to a ski resort in Northern Japan called Niseko. You can read about it here.

DCBound2016

I hope you don't mind me asking, but where do you get your polo's? They look great.

Fantastic TR btw - great read for my flights today.

Jermyn

I'm on a roll! The next part is up!


Thanks DCBound2016 and welcome to FT!
I don't mind you asking at all. The green polo is by Brunello Cucinelli (much like my fist class flights, I didn't pay full price ). The blue one is by Cos.