Philippines Familiarization Trip
February 25 to March 9, 2009
February 25 to March 9, 2009
I would like to say thank you to Kim Disomangcop for being our guide (part of the way). Thank you to everyone from Atlantis Resort in Dumaguete, the staff and Vivere Azure Resort in Anialo and last but certainly not least El Galleon, Asia Divers and Allan Nash in Puerto Galera. I would also like to thank the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila for our brief stays. I would like to thank the Department of Tourism for the Philippines and Island Dreams Travel for hosting this incredible trip.
If you are considering traveling to the Philippines you need to know this! You are in for a trip of a life time! The people are incredible, the food is amazing, the diving is world class and when you put it all together words are difficult to explain your experience! Before you know it you are on a plane heading home and all you want to do is go back.
My familiarization trip was an opportunity to get to know a bit about the Philippines so I can share my memories and promote a return trip from our store or other individuals considering the Philippines. I would recommend this trip for those who have traveled a bit as the 12-14 hour flights each way can be very hard for some. If you can afford it book the big flight business class or first class! I would recommend taking a two week trip and splitting it between two locations so you can experience the many flavors in the Philippines. A wonderful selling point for Americans is almost everyone in the Philippines speaks English! This is huge for Americans as we can barley speak our own language (in some areas). The people are very kind and our dollar goes a long way even in our economic depression. There is only one island that has political issues (Mindanao) so don't believe all the B.S. about political unrest. I was constantly moving and never saw or felt uncomfortable for any reason! If you want to do the kind of diving people talk about in Indonesia, Wakatobi or the South Sulawesi at a better price then this might be something to consider.
Prior to being asked to participate I never thought of traveling to the Philippines. I honestly just didn't know about it or really want to know anything about it. The truth be told I am so impressed I want to go back; there is so much more to see and explore. The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands and is located just below Taiwan and North East of Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a series of volcanic islands that are lush, green and full of life! The scenery is breathtaking and at the same time so peaceful. Depending on where you go you can have anything from wall diving, drift diving, muck diving or huge flat areas of hard corals. A good dive master is critical as many of the animals hidden or camouflaged and you would just plain miss them. If you are on your own stop and look at every blade of grass, rock or twig laying on the bottom. I know I swam over many things I did not even know were there! Simply amazing! If you are a big critter people and the little stuff just does not catch you fancy you will want to go to see the hammerheads of Cabilao Island or Donsol Bay for the Whale Sharks. What I saw on my excursion were lots and lots of little critters. If you are not a macro person you might want to reconsider; not everything is small but the coolest animals are tiny and well camouflaged!
What I have decided to do is break down where I stayed and what the diving was like. This will give you my perspective of three distinct parts of the Philippines and if they are right for you! This is an information page of what I saw and experienced on my trip. I have tried to be objective but if you know me at all you know I am more opinionated than objective. I am a diver not a critic who is laid back and does not require 5 star service just good diving and food. Every resort easily surpassed my needs and expectations hence my desire to go back and explore more! I was wowed!
Province of Negros Oriental
City of Dumaguete
City of Dumaguete
To get to Dumaguete you will fly from Manila to the island of Negros. There are two or three airports in Manila and you will be taken to a domestic airport. This airport only uses Philippine Air for intercontinental flights. Philippine Air is nice and I thought they took better care of us than NWA. The flight is about an hour or just a bit over an hour to the island of Negros. From there you will have about a 30 to 45 minute transfer via Jeepney or bus to your resort.
Jeepney's are Jeep's that were left from WWII and converted to bus like vehicles to commute people or goods. Now these are all different and incorporate "BLING" and "FLARE". Most are open air but the one from Atlantis Resort was air conditioned! There are thousands of these all over country and no two are decorated the same!
Atlantis resort is simply beautiful. Lush, green, peaceful, I could leave tomorrow and live there! Staff will all learn your name and greet you as so whenever passing by. A wonderful woman by the name of "Bigs" will greet you at the airport and will show you around the resort. Bigs and everyone at the resort are there for you and to make your vacation simply awesome! The food was superb and you never left the table hungry! The view from the restaurant/bar over looking the ocean leaves you relaxed and soothed. Rooms are comfortable and have mini bars with snacks and drinks. Bathrooms are very clean and spacious. Beds are firm but comfortable. The dive operation and lockers are fantastic. Its a quick hop from your locker to the boat and all you ever have to move are you mask,snorkel, boots, fins, wetsuit and camera!
Diving is very nice. APO Island is a big attraction as it has hard corals that are simply mind blowing; so thick and lush, I have never seen anything like this except in movies. You will not see coral like this in the Caribbean. Right outside of the resort is an artificial reef made of old tires that is so full of life you will loose your mind. Boat rides to dive sites are only a few minutes away by Banca (local outrigger boats). Most of the resorts have a house reef for unlimited shore diving. Most of the shore diving will be "Muck Diving". Muck diving is barren mud and rock that is teeming with some of the coolest critters you will ever dive with! I wish out quarries back home had this kind of life in them!
I love live-a-board diving because I like to do 5 dives a day but as land operations go Atlantis, Dumaguete gets a 5 star rating! due to the ease of diving and unlimited shore diving available.
We visited 5 other resorts in Dumaguete, they all had a different flare, but were all very beautiful. I am jaded as I stayed at Atlantis and have to recommend them just due to knowing exactly what you get when your there! Another resort to look at seriously is "Atmosphere". The owner Gabrielle Holder has a beautiful expanding resort in phase 2 of a 4 phase plan. This gorgeous resort mixes a contemporary design with a local flair. Check it out! www.atmosphereresorts.com
Other resorts we visited were:
Bahura Resort and Spa
Huge resort with lots of rooms!
Two mammoth pools!
www.bahura.com
Pura Vida Beach & Dive Resort
Stay in a very traditional bamboo bungalow
or the deluxe rooms.
www.pura-vida.ph
El Dorado Beach Resort
Awesome resort with a tree house suite!
SSI training facility!
www.eldoradobeachresort.com
Province of Batangas Occidental
Town of Anilao
Town of Anilao
South of Manila is the small town of Anilao. Anilao is the birthplace of diving in the Philippines and is about a 2.5 hour transfer via bus. It attracts many locals for weekend get-a-ways, divers and backpackers. I compared it to Utila, Honduras of the Philippines as there are lots of dive stores and cheap little hotels stuffed on the side of mountain. This is a clean community and not trash ridden like parts of Utila or Honduras can be. Scenery here is beautiful and the people as always are very friendly.
We had the opportunity to stay at a phenominal 5 start boutique resort called Vivere Azure. Absolutely one of the most amazing places I have ever stayed on a dive trip! I will say this is high end and worth every penny of the $200 a day/night. This includes everything but diving! From the infinity pool to the staff pouring over you to please your every request; I cannot say enough. The resort is built on the side of mountain and has 176 stairs from the entrance to the beach! Dining was out doors with an amazing view. The chef at the resort blew us away with his cooking, but what really knocked our socks off was his age! At 18 he has to be the youngest chef I have ever met. You would never know such a young man was making the incredible meals being served. Every meal was a 4 course experience to be savored. I think I gained my pounds at this resort alone but enough about that, lets talk diving!
Four doors down the beach is one of the oldest resorts in Anilao called Solana. Our dive operation was Dive Solana and did a very nice job. I must say of my entire experience in the Philippines we had our most difficult time communicating with the dive store. Fortunately we had Kim Disomangcop as our translator to save the day! Although a slight communication issue was there the dive guides were the best we had on our entire trip! I am impressed with dive guides who can find the animals we were there to see. I am impressed with dive guides who know where to go and exactly where an animal lives. These guys were simply incredible! Had we just been allowed to do our own thing we would never have seen 1/10 of what we saw in only 8 dives in Anilao. If I could change two things about the diving in the Philippines it would be they use permanent moorings for the dive sites and that I could have stayed another year! http://www.divesolana.com/
While in Anilao we did have the opportunity to visit one resort called Acacia Dive Resort. This was another very beautiful resort with an contemporary design. Unfortunately they do not have a real website at this time for me to link to but they do have a blog site. It might help some but also might frustrate a bit too. http://acaciadive.wordpress.com/
Province of Mindoro Occidental
City of Puerto Galera
City of Puerto Galera
Well let's start with Allan Nash one of the owners and creators of this incredible facility. Allan Nash is an Australian who came to the Philippines about 30 years ago and has never left. Allan was super, helping us see as much as we could in our short stay. El Galleon is a beautiful family resort with a super staff. Rooms are beautiful even though the ocean view rooms are 76 stairs from the bottom! Now I am not complaining as I needed the work out after eating all the delicious food they served us. The pool view rooms were very nice and a shorter distance from all the action. They have something for everyone!
One main difference from all the other locations is you can leave this resort and explore as the city of Sabang is a 5 minute walk from your room. Sabang is safe and offers night life for young or young at heart! The beauty of the resort is that all the wild side of Sabang is kept there too, El Galleon is safe for family's!
Puerto Galera has the best diversity of diving out of all the locations we dove. There is wall diving, drift diving, muck diving, hot springs diving and mandarin fish dives. Asia Divers is also one of the most together top notch dive operations I have ever seen. The dive staff boasts American's, British, Scottish, Australian and a few locals so everyone is accommodated. Asia Divers can handle large or small groups easily, or at least they make it look easy! They also offer a full Technical Diving experience for those who wish to see the deep side of things.
Again my hesitation to go back is that next time I might just stay for a few years! I had a wonderful time and I think you might too!
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All images were taken by Steve Bowles except for those courtesy of El Galleon Resort.
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