Scandi Divers semi-live (not!) 9 May-20 May 2025
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cetacean
Contributor
OP
hdtran
Geography Police
Lechon skin could have been crispier, but very nicely done! I did not need BCD weights the next morning 
cetacean
Contributor
OP
hdtran
Geography Police
Summary (photos will come later)
The hotel: The location is quiet. It's an easy walk to get to Sabang town (you will have to negotiate some steps, and the boardwalk is not quite complete on the Small La Laguna side). There's a tiny convenience store in the alley between Scandi Divers and La Laguna Beach Club & Dive Center. My room (poolside, ground level) is nice and clean, but it could use more shelves and hanging racks. A/C and ceiling fan work fine. I won't bother posting my room's photos.
Lots of stairs. Restaurant is level 3; if you're in the Campbell resort rooms (part of Scandi now), they are a few minutes' walk and additional stairs. Stairs down to the beach are somewhat random height and width, beware trip hazards!
The board plan is 3 meals a day. For lunch and dinner, there is a "menu of the day" with a choice of soup or other starter, a choice of main course (including vegetarian but not vegan option), and dessert. The food is really good. It's mainly western food with Asian influence. The main menu is quite large (but then, you don't do the meal plan).
If (or when) I return, I'd ask if they'd be willing to offer a partial meal plan--I'd be willing to walk to town for a couple of dinners. (Or I could take the full meal plan, but tell them I'll skip a dinner or two). The street food in town looks interesting to me.
The diving: My first time in the indo-pacific area. It's a target rich environment for snapshooters. I'm used to nudibranchs being so small as to require a magnifying glass. Here, they are the size of my thumb (or bigger!). Lots of colorful fish, the reefs are covered with hard coral, soft coral, and evil sticky crinoids. I had a harder time spotting shrimp and crabs than I would have where I normally dive (mesoamerican reef). Fewer parrotfish, more triggers, surgeonfish. I can see lots of cleaning behavior with large fish and small cleaner fish. That's fun.
At this time of year, temperatures were as low as 78F, and as warm as 87F in the water. I thought I'd be OK with a 1 mm (for me), but I think I'd take a 3 mm the next time if I'm going this time of year. Lots of current going every which way.
I'd return--I thought this would be a one-and-done trip. I don't see myself going every year (the flights are painful), but maybe once every few years.
The dive op: A bit chaotic. No "in-house dive store." They can rent you basic stuff if something breaks, but you need to walk to Sabang town where there are at least two retail dive shops if you want dive stuff. I find re-entering the boats challenging--grab a rope when the boat comes close, hand up your camera, remove your BC, push it up so the crew can grab it, take off your fins, hand them up, climb the ladder. The dive staff are all very nice. One of the staff helps pull off your booties and wetsuit (if you let him). I had three dive masters in my 10 diving days; one for most of the week when the large Texas club was here, and the other two as pickup DMs. I'm used to being told "tell us when you're at 50%"--here, it's more likely "tell us when you hit 70 bars or 800 psi (bad conversion!!!), and do your 3-minute safety stop at 50 bars (750 psi if you do the conversion more correctly). I had to point out that 70 bars is close to 1000 psi... I told the DMs each dive that I would signal at 1000 psi. I wound up on the boat (for the most part) at 500 psi (on a couple of dives, I was probably on the boat at 250 psi).
Conclusion: Tomorrow will be my last dive day. @Centrals and I will meet at Balatero port for the Tuesday 11:45AM ferry ride, and he'll help make sure I get on a bus to Manila (thanks! It was great meeting you in person, and many of the Scandi staff remember you very fondly!). This was a good trip, and all the SB members in this forum have been very helpful. I hope this "not-so-live" review will help others. Travel to Scandi Divers is as easy as to other resorts in Puerto Galera, and I would return again on my next trip.
Next several posts in this thread will likely be photos once I figure out how to download my phone's photos. I won't review the Sealife SportDiver cell phone housing
The hotel: The location is quiet. It's an easy walk to get to Sabang town (you will have to negotiate some steps, and the boardwalk is not quite complete on the Small La Laguna side). There's a tiny convenience store in the alley between Scandi Divers and La Laguna Beach Club & Dive Center. My room (poolside, ground level) is nice and clean, but it could use more shelves and hanging racks. A/C and ceiling fan work fine. I won't bother posting my room's photos.
Lots of stairs. Restaurant is level 3; if you're in the Campbell resort rooms (part of Scandi now), they are a few minutes' walk and additional stairs. Stairs down to the beach are somewhat random height and width, beware trip hazards!
The board plan is 3 meals a day. For lunch and dinner, there is a "menu of the day" with a choice of soup or other starter, a choice of main course (including vegetarian but not vegan option), and dessert. The food is really good. It's mainly western food with Asian influence. The main menu is quite large (but then, you don't do the meal plan).
If (or when) I return, I'd ask if they'd be willing to offer a partial meal plan--I'd be willing to walk to town for a couple of dinners. (Or I could take the full meal plan, but tell them I'll skip a dinner or two). The street food in town looks interesting to me.
The diving: My first time in the indo-pacific area. It's a target rich environment for snapshooters. I'm used to nudibranchs being so small as to require a magnifying glass. Here, they are the size of my thumb (or bigger!). Lots of colorful fish, the reefs are covered with hard coral, soft coral, and evil sticky crinoids. I had a harder time spotting shrimp and crabs than I would have where I normally dive (mesoamerican reef). Fewer parrotfish, more triggers, surgeonfish. I can see lots of cleaning behavior with large fish and small cleaner fish. That's fun.
At this time of year, temperatures were as low as 78F, and as warm as 87F in the water. I thought I'd be OK with a 1 mm (for me), but I think I'd take a 3 mm the next time if I'm going this time of year. Lots of current going every which way.
I'd return--I thought this would be a one-and-done trip. I don't see myself going every year (the flights are painful), but maybe once every few years.
The dive op: A bit chaotic. No "in-house dive store." They can rent you basic stuff if something breaks, but you need to walk to Sabang town where there are at least two retail dive shops if you want dive stuff. I find re-entering the boats challenging--grab a rope when the boat comes close, hand up your camera, remove your BC, push it up so the crew can grab it, take off your fins, hand them up, climb the ladder. The dive staff are all very nice. One of the staff helps pull off your booties and wetsuit (if you let him). I had three dive masters in my 10 diving days; one for most of the week when the large Texas club was here, and the other two as pickup DMs. I'm used to being told "tell us when you're at 50%"--here, it's more likely "tell us when you hit 70 bars or 800 psi (bad conversion!!!), and do your 3-minute safety stop at 50 bars (750 psi if you do the conversion more correctly). I had to point out that 70 bars is close to 1000 psi... I told the DMs each dive that I would signal at 1000 psi. I wound up on the boat (for the most part) at 500 psi (on a couple of dives, I was probably on the boat at 250 psi).
Conclusion: Tomorrow will be my last dive day. @Centrals and I will meet at Balatero port for the Tuesday 11:45AM ferry ride, and he'll help make sure I get on a bus to Manila (thanks! It was great meeting you in person, and many of the Scandi staff remember you very fondly!). This was a good trip, and all the SB members in this forum have been very helpful. I hope this "not-so-live" review will help others. Travel to Scandi Divers is as easy as to other resorts in Puerto Galera, and I would return again on my next trip.
Next several posts in this thread will likely be photos once I figure out how to download my phone's photos. I won't review the Sealife SportDiver cell phone housing
Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing. I was in Puerto Galera from March 20-30 and the weather (cloudy, rainy, and windy) and visibility was pretty bad. How was the viz for your diving?Summary (photos will come later)
The hotel: The location is quiet. It's an easy walk to get to Sabang town (you will have to negotiate some steps, and the boardwalk is not quite complete on the Small La Laguna side). There's a tiny convenience store in the alley between Scandi Divers and La Laguna Beach Club & Dive Center. My room (poolside, ground level) is nice and clean, but it could use more shelves and hanging racks. A/C and ceiling fan work fine. I won't bother posting my room's photos.
Lots of stairs. Restaurant is level 3; if you're in the Campbell resort rooms (part of Scandi now), they are a few minutes' walk and additional stairs. Stairs down to the beach are somewhat random height and width, beware trip hazards!
The board plan is 3 meals a day. For lunch and dinner, there is a "menu of the day" with a choice of soup or other starter, a choice of main course (including vegetarian but not vegan option), and dessert. The food is really good. It's mainly western food with Asian influence. The main menu is quite large (but then, you don't do the meal plan).
If (or when) I return, I'd ask if they'd be willing to offer a partial meal plan--I'd be willing to walk to town for a couple of dinners. (Or I could take the full meal plan, but tell them I'll skip a dinner or two). The street food in town looks interesting to me.
The diving: My first time in the indo-pacific area. It's a target rich environment for snapshooters. I'm used to nudibranchs being so small as to require a magnifying glass. Here, they are the size of my thumb (or bigger!). Lots of colorful fish, the reefs are covered with hard coral, soft coral, and evil sticky crinoids. I had a harder time spotting shrimp and crabs than I would have where I normally dive (mesoamerican reef). Fewer parrotfish, more triggers, surgeonfish. I can see lots of cleaning behavior with large fish and small cleaner fish. That's fun.
At this time of year, temperatures were as low as 78F, and as warm as 87F in the water. I thought I'd be OK with a 1 mm (for me), but I think I'd take a 3 mm the next time if I'm going this time of year. Lots of current going every which way.
I'd return--I thought this would be a one-and-done trip. I don't see myself going every year (the flights are painful), but maybe once every few years.
The dive op: A bit chaotic. No "in-house dive store." They can rent you basic stuff if something breaks, but you need to walk to Sabang town where there are at least two retail dive shops if you want dive stuff. I find re-entering the boats challenging--grab a rope when the boat comes close, hand up your camera, remove your BC, push it up so the crew can grab it, take off your fins, hand them up, climb the ladder. The dive staff are all very nice. One of the staff helps pull off your booties and wetsuit (if you let him). I had three dive masters in my 10 diving days; one for most of the week when the large Texas club was here, and the other two as pickup DMs. I'm used to being told "tell us when you're at 50%"--here, it's more likely "tell us when you hit 70 bars or 800 psi (bad conversion!!!), and do your 3-minute safety stop at 50 bars (750 psi if you do the conversion more correctly). I had to point out that 70 bars is close to 1000 psi... I told the DMs each dive that I would signal at 1000 psi. I wound up on the boat (for the most part) at 500 psi (on a couple of dives, I was probably on the boat at 250 psi).
Conclusion: Tomorrow will be my last dive day. @Centrals and I will meet at Balatero port for the Tuesday 11:45AM ferry ride, and he'll help make sure I get on a bus to Manila (thanks! It was great meeting you in person, and many of the Scandi staff remember you very fondly!). This was a good trip, and all the SB members in this forum have been very helpful. I hope this "not-so-live" review will help others. Travel to Scandi Divers is as easy as to other resorts in Puerto Galera, and I would return again on my next trip.
Next several posts in this thread will likely be photos once I figure out how to download my phone's photos. I won't review the Sealife SportDiver cell phone housing
cetacean
Contributor
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