# Bicol or southern Luzon region



## Howard_Z (7 mo ago)

I the sub-island where Mayon volcano - is that area generally safe ?


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Howard_Z said:


> I the sub-island where Mayon volcano - is that area generally safe ?


I haven't been to what's known as "Bicol" but several Expats live in this region, one of our Expats lives in Sorsogon.

The big negative is that it's even further south than where I live in Laguna and no major highway, I've been to told it takes 10 hrs to drive to Manila, also there's no immigration office in the Bicol region.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

M.C.A. said:


> I haven't been to what's known as "Bicol" but several Expats live in this region, one of our Expats lives in Sorsogon.
> 
> The big negative is that it's even further south than where I live in Laguna and no major highway, I've been to told it takes 10 hrs to drive to Manila, also there's no immigration office in the Bicol region.


It's also the part of Luzon most prone to typhoons


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## magsasaja (Jan 31, 2014)

M.C.A. said:


> I haven't been to what's known as "Bicol" but several Expats live in this region, one of our Expats lives in Sorsogon.
> 
> The big negative is that it's even further south than where I live in Laguna and no major highway, I've been to told it takes 10 hrs to drive to Manila, also there's no immigration office in the Bicol region.


I go to Bicol on a regular basis to buy Abaca and the roads have improved a lot over the years. Most of the main highway is four lanes and I can now do Laguna to Naga city in under 6hrs whereas in the past it was 8hrs plus. 
Beautiful area in my opinion and well worth a visit if you don’t fancy the well trodden areas.
There are a couple of immigration offices in Bicol.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

magsasaja said:


> I go to Bicol on a regular basis to buy Abaca and the roads have improved a lot over the years. Most of the main highway is four lanes and I can now do Laguna to Naga city in under 6hrs whereas in the past it was 8hrs plus.
> Beautiful area in my opinion and well worth a visit if you don’t fancy the well trodden areas.
> There are a couple of immigration offices in Bicol.


I wasn't aware that they had satellite immigration offices in Bicol because my friend ends up utilizing the Sta Rosa Laguna branch or the main branch in Manila, so a very long ride for him.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Howard_Z said:


> I the sub-island where Mayon volcano - is that area generally safe ?


Bicol is a big region Howard, Naga is a small but busy city as is Legazpi. I lived and worked there for 6 months near Caramoan and an ideal place to live if you want quiet. Some absolutely beautiful places but be prepared to travel rough dirt roads etc. Best thing to do, mentioned this as have others, put your boots on the ground and explore, google is my best friend no matter the country I am going to visit.

As an aside? The only place here I ever felt unsafe/threatened was in Naga city, followed a couple of times by a couple of suspect guys, (middle of the day) never had that in Manila walking around China town and even Tondo in my 1 year living there.
As art and others say, be alert and don't do stupid things like walk around the back streets of Chicago at 2 am.

You really need to come here and taste the flavours.

Cheers, Steve.


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

We have family in the legazpi area and it is a nice place to visit .
Travel by car is long ! We did it a few months ago took us 12 hours to get there!
On the way back we did a detour which cut the time to 10 hours.
We went there for a brothers death anniversary and stayed 3 days
Visiting different places with the Legazpi families as our guide 
Including a trip to the New Sm Mall
The Mayon Volcano is sight to see.
The area has changed a lot since we first went there in 2002 ! 
But like most of the Philippines there is the rich and the poor !
Luckily where we are in Los Banos its also a nice place.


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## cereco (Nov 1, 2010)

I imagine this is your main concern.

Why This Volcano Eruption in the Philippines May Be Especially Deadly (nationalgeographic.com)

If you choose to live in the Philippines, you need to accept that there are frequent earthquakes, floods, typhoons and the occasional volcanic eruption. I chose to live pretty much midway between two volcanoes - Mount Arayat and Mount Pinatubo - because it is a nice area.

We have full insurance on our house, including earthquake damage. Life is all about measuring risk against opportunity.

If I were you, I would make sure I was at least a reasonable distance away from Mayon and had a reliable vehicle, so I could get away quickly, in any emergency.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Also taste the flavours and the culture for a long time as we do before putting roots down.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

cereco said:


> If you choose to live in the Philippines, you need to accept that there are frequent earthquakes, floods, typhoons and the occasional volcanic eruption


 Yes. And landslides and hurricanes. 
But at parts of Palawan all such can be avoided except typhoons, and there are hurricanes seldom there. .


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> Yes. And landslides and hurricanes.
> But at parts of Palawan all such can be avoided except typhoons, and there are hurricanes seldom there. .


Has the Philippines ever had a hurricane, didn't think it was in the hurricane belt.


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## bidrod (Mar 31, 2015)

Hurricane vs. Typhoon


What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon? You might hear these two terms used to describe the same weather event but the Red Cross has all in the information you need to distinguish between, and prepare for, the two.




www.redcross.org






Chuck


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

bidrod said:


> Hurricane vs. Typhoon
> 
> 
> What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon? You might hear these two terms used to describe the same weather event but the Red Cross has all in the information you need to distinguish between, and prepare for, the two.
> ...


Location, Location, Location. The Philippines gets typhoons, the USA gets hurricanes and Australia, India get cyclones. All the same thing. The Philippines doesn't have typhoon and hurricanes, just typhoons.


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## Lunkan (Aug 28, 2020)

Gary D said:


> Has the Philippines ever had a hurricane, didn't think it was in the hurricane belt.


 ok. but what to call it then?  The DIFFERENCE between 
/very heavy rain but not necesary very strong wind
/very strong wind, but not necesary very heavy rain.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Lunkan said:


> ok. but what to call it then?  The DIFFERENCE between
> /very heavy rain but not necesary very strong wind
> /very strong wind, but not necesary very heavy rain.


Hurricane, typhoon, cyclone are all rotating weather patterns, the speed of the winds within the rotation determines the signal level. I have experienced a typhoon in Manila where there was no rain. What the weather pattern is called depends on where in the world it is. So the Philippines has typhoons. In the Atlantic the same weather pattern is called a hurricane.


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## sirpo2011 (4 mo ago)

M.C.A. said:


> I haven't been to what's known as "Bicol" but several Expats live in this region, one of our Expats lives in Sorsogon.
> 
> The big negative is that it's even further south than where I live in Laguna and no major highway, I've been to told it takes 10 hrs to drive to Manila, also there's no immigration office in the Bicol region.


There is a Immigration office in Legazpi been using it for the last 18 years no problems SirPo


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## sirpo2011 (4 mo ago)

Gary D said:


> Location, Location, Location. The Philippines gets typhoons, the USA gets hurricanes and Australia, India get cyclones. All the same thing. The Philippines doesn't have typhoon and hurricanes, just typhoons.


huriccaines spin clockwise typhoons spin counter clockwise same as the toilets but what do I know just an old Fla boy


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

sirpo2011 said:


> huriccaines spin clockwise typhoons spin counter clockwise same as the toilets but what do I know just an old Fla boy


No a lot apparently. Due to the coriolis effect storms spin counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The Philippines is in the northern hemisphere so the typhoons spin the same way as the northern Atlantic hurricanes. Where the storm originated can have an effect if it has crossed the equator.


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## sirpo (4 mo ago)

Gary D said:


> No a lot apparently. Due to the coriolis effect storms spin counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The Philippines is in the northern hemisphere so the typhoons spin the same way as the northern Atlantic hurricanes. Where the storm originated can have an effect if it has crossed the equator.





Gary D said:


> No a lot apparently. Due to the coriolis effect storms spin counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The Philippines is in the northern hemisphere so the typhoons spin the same way as the northern Atlantic hurricanes. Where the storm originated can have an effect if it has crossed the equator.


Ventusky - Weather Forecast Maps to the east of the Philippines we have a counter clock wise rotation
to the west we have a clockwise rotation 
Real world Fudge facto between Tropic of Cancer & Tropic Capicorn ? However my on the ground toilet still swirls counter clockwise 
Thank you for your book knowledge information


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