Question Amun Ini, Bohol-What's It Like?

[Living4Experiences]

I've looked through the forums and there are light mentions of Amun Ini, but nothing in-depth about the resort and diving. There is more about it on TripAdvisor than here on SB, but the reviews on TripAdvisor have fewer comments about the diving. There was a typhoon that blew through in 2021. If you've been there since, say 2022, I'd love to hear your thoughts about your experience.

Is May in the dry season or still the wet season? I was in Puerto Galera in April and the weather did not cooperate.
Is it only muck diving or are there reefs and walls?
Do you need to go deep (more than 60 ft) to see stuff?
They have 38 dive sites. Is 10 days too long or would you stay fewer days and move somewhere else?
What is the condition of the reef? Healthy or beat up and/or bleached? Overfished?
TripAdvisor reviews say the rooms are clean and the food is good, but the beach is trashy and the common areas are not well maintained, along with rotting pool furniture. It's a pricey resort to have these issues. Did you notice this?
What was your diver-to-guide ratio? I prefer 4, but not more than 6, divers per guide. Puerto Galera was 6 or more divers per guide.
Was the Nitrox blend safe and at the expected percentage?
Food is very subjective, but did you enjoy the offerings and did you get your fill?
Was the provided drinking water safe to drink?
Did the A/C, plumbing, hot water in the shower, and plugs in the room work?

TIA for your feedback.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Ooh lots of questions !

No expert here, but I believe that most of the rain in the Visayas falls later in the year, we have three completely dry weeks a few years ago in June. And the water was really warm. I spent a week in the resort next door in 2016 the diving was good with lots of turtles. The resort Magic Oceans was really nice and Anda is a beautiful area. This area attracts a lot European divers, may of whom don’t use SB.

However, I preferred Malapascua, Moalboal and Dumaguete all of which I visited in January of this year. Malapascua in particular was wonderful. Moalboal was also hit by a typhoon, this may have been the same one you refer to. The reef tops were a bit bettered but were recovering, but the walls were still stunning, as well as having masses of soft coral, fish, great macro and turtles. I loved the sardines.

In my experience, issues like and food and AC and hot water and fills and plugs can be resolved with some gentle but if need be firm, negotiation in the Philippines. The trick with the food is to find a few dishes you like and stick to them. But I really enjoyed the food on the last trip. Booking a private guide in advance is not expensive, but you can always request one when you are there and this can be a little cheaper.

Hope this helps a bit !

 

[peeweediver]

We were also at Magic Ocean on Bohol a year ago, April. Mostly wall dives with some "muck-sand" dives. We'd swim out in the sand and did see some cool small wonderpuss, peacock mantis shrimp, and cuttlefish on these sand excursions. Soft coral near the top of the wall was wonderful and we all (group trip) loved staying on the top of the reef for the last 15-20 minutes of the dive because it was beautiful. Lots of frog fish, flamboyant cuttle fish, ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, fun night dives and overall nice diving. Many in our group went to a whaleshark diving site on Moalboal and enjoyed it. We skipped it because we've seen them in the Maldives and Sea of Cortez "in the wild" as opposed to a feeding site. Not judging. We were there nine nights and that was plenty. We then went to their other resort, Magic Island, in Moalboal. We were also there in 2014. This trip, the after-effects of the 2021 typhoon were pretty bad. Most of the tops of the reef were rubble and the first 30 feet down had lots of sand chutes and sand covered rubble. We did see some signs of recovery and hope Tippytoes12 saw even more.
Can't opine on the Amun Ini, but Magic Ocean was very nice as a resort.

Rob

 

[Centrals]

..... We then went to their other resort, Magic Island, in Moalboal. We were also there in 2014. This trip, the after-effects of the 2021 typhoon were pretty bad. Most of the tops of the reef were rubble and the first 30 feet down had lots of sand chutes and sand covered rubble. We did see some signs of recovery and hope Tippytoes12 saw even more.

I went to Moalboal last yr to check the damage caused by Odette and it was awful.
Recovery? It will take very long time with the damages that the whole area has suffered.

 

[Madacub]

Hi L4E, I was at Amun Ini last year. As you probably know, it is a very expensive place. I've been there only once, so I don't know about seasonality.

I can understand why TripAdvisor had more reviews, but less about the diving. The place was well occupied while I was there, but most of the guests were not there for diving. It definitely did not strike me as a "diving first" resort. It is a fairly large resort in my experience, about 50+ guests. It is a luxury type resort with diving as well.

They tend to go out later in the morning than I like to. Then they come back late for lunch, which makes it difficult to eat and go out for the afternoon dive in time. This seems to work for most of their guests who don't dive morning + afternoon, but not for me. Also, night dives were sometimes too early to be night time. But I remember a couple of very good night dives in a sandy area.

The diving itself was good, I remember plenty of walls as well. But speaking personally, I don't particularly like walls for macro. Most of the dives were below 60 feet. I thought the reefs were pretty healthy. The ladder to climb back on the boat was not good at all.

The rooms were very nice, a/c was good. Shower water was barely hot enough. Electricity plugs must have been fine, because I don't remember anything special, and I have plenty to charge. Food was excellent but the menu was a bit limited (for the price they charge). Very good service throughout. The place to hang gear in the dive shop was very limited. I did not notice the beach to be trashy. Nor any rotting pool furniture. But then, I spent no time at the pool, and just crossed the beach to get to and from the boat. I did notice it had a very nice pool, infinity type I think.

I had no problem with the guide ratio, so it must have been less than 4 guests. If I remember correctly, mostly 2-3 guests. Likewise, I don't recall any problems with the nitrox. I did like the guide I had (Leo).

I've never had problems with the drinking water anywhere. Are you talking about drinking from the taps? (I hope not !!!)

I think 1 week of diving is fine for that location. Especially as I did not have to take a day off diving, for 24 hours pre flight I mean.

Hope that answers all your questions! (You seem to be pretty detail oriented...)

Overall, I would not go back. Far too pricey. I might try out Magic Oceans if I'm in that area again, (speaking from memory, I think it was booked up when I was planning to be there).

 

[BBQ77]

Never been to Amun Ini itself but recently was in Anda at Blue Star (came back 1 week ago). Can check out my full TR (Visayas 2025 Dauin and Bohol). I will try to answer the more general diving questions unrelated to resort.

1- May is end of dry season in PH, officially. Now in the last 5 years, things get messed up with climate changes so ... But May is considered dry.
2- Anda has lots reefs and walls. Walls are very healthy. There is some macro for sure too, on reef and sandy areas, which I did not do because I did not want to do it and also upper 10m viz was meh 2nd to windy conditions, rains and choppy surge. The resorts boast "magnificent house reefs" which I am sure they are, but I specifically told them I want to dive the walls.
3- No need to go super deep, most wall dives will start around 24m and go up from there... You can ask to start at 20m if you want. The sandy areas I saw (float by on my drifts...) were less deep -- I avoided.
4- The dive sites are all lined up along the walls (plus maybe some more sandy slopes), so if there is current you will cover more distance (and sites) unless you want to swim against current... This to say that the number of 38 (or more) dive sites is kind of artificial as you may be going into the water 50-100m from another "site" (mooring). Think of it as townhouses vs bungalows: all in a row on a street, different addresses, but continuous vs separated bungalows with space/ yard between each house...
Of course, if you love macro and want to focus on a shallower sandy mucky place, you will spend all your dive in one spot for sure.

IMHO 10 days would be too much, unless you really like to take a couple (or more) days off diving. Anda village has a nice beach (away from resorts, don't know Amun Ini "beach" situation), you can also plan excursions in Bohol if you have never done (can fill 1-2 days): lots of nice waterfalls close by, Chocolate Hills and Tarsiers and other stuff.
Combining diving in Anda and Panglao? you would not gain much in Panglao apart from crowds... Depending on how much time you have, why not ferry over to Dumaguete to go to Dauin for a few days. Easy/ safe to do in single day, while getting an off-gasing day.

I always email/ whatsapp dive shop to ask specific questions about nitrox and diver to guide ratio. Anda is NOT a very touristy nor heavily dived place, so I would expect 2:1 or 4:1 max for many places. (on only one dive I did in Anda did I have other divers and they put another guide for the father-son duo).
Expect a completely different experience than PG: Anda you will be wondering how they survive with so few divers... while PG it's boats unloading divers every few 50-100m... (of course there are some more remote sites in PG... ).

My Blue Star resort had totally fine food (it's filipino cuisine nonetheless... which IMHO does not rank anywhere in the top 5 of Asia). Water in resorts is filtered.

Consider contacting Anda Scuba Divers also for specific dive details (quality of dive sites, time of the year to go, etc)? It's one of the French shop owners who dive regularly who answer directly and honestly.