WEATHER:

The first thing I have to say is that we are diving year round on the wrecks. The only time we might not dive is the few days a year when a tropical depression or tropical storm passes near Busuanga Island.

The Philippine Islands are under the influence of two monsoons. A monsoon is a steady wind blowing from a particular direction for a period of time. Do not confuse monsoons with typhoons which are short-lived but intense tropical storms.

The SouthWest Monsoon is what is usually called the monsoon (or rainy) season. This means that the wind blows from the Southwest out of the Indian Ocean and brings a lot of warm, wet air that dumps more than the usual amount of rain on the Philippines. The SouthWest Monsoon usually starts sometime in June though it has sometimes not started until July. When this happens there is usually a water shortage in Manila and everything looks brownish instead of green. The wettest months are June, July and August.

Even in rainy months there are dry days and even on a rainy day it does not rain all day long. Forget what you saw in the movie, "Forrest Gump". The rain is not cold and activity continues through light rain. Heavy showers can be seen approaching and we take cover until they pass over us.

September and October are transition months which have gradually decreasing amounts of rain. When the SouthWest Monsoon has weakened and returned to the Indian Ocean the Philippines comes under the influence of the NorthEast Monsoon. The period of best weather could start as early as October or as late as December. The best weather continues through March.

April and May, and possibly early June have very calm wind conditions and thus feel like the temperature is hotter than January, February and March. During January, February, March, April, May until mid June we can almost guarantee that it won't rain on your holiday.

The SouthWest Monsoon starts again in mid June or July and the temperature drops somewhat.

TYPHOONS/HURRICANES:

Typhoons and hurricanes are the same storms. Only their names are different. In the Atlantic Ocean they are a hurricane and in the Pacific they are called typhoons. The typhoon season starts around June. Typhoons become less probable by November, December and January. If a serious storm, 35 knots and above, gets within 100 km / 60 miles of Busuanga we get rain until the storm passes out west of our area heading for Vietnam.