Recently I got some great help from the forumers here on transport information from Manila to Anilao in the thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/philippine-paradise-divers/433331-how-do-i-get-anilao-manila.html The information has been helpful. We ended taking the advise and get the resort to picked us up from the airport and that was the best way to go. Thanks to all who posted.
So in return I guess I would write a short trip report on my stay.
We stayed at a mid range dive resort Blue Crystal (16 rooms). The room was comfortable and clean. All the stuff friendly and helpful. We got a food inclusive package and I must add that their food is delicious and abundant. I might have gained a few pounds after the trip.
A few things to note about the resort. It was built against quite a steep hill slope with all the guest rooms at the highest level. So depending on which room you are in there could be quite a few stair steps to negotiate from the dive shop, which is at the lowest level next to the beach.
The free internet wifi service is also limited to reception area only. We can't even get any connection even though our room was the closest to the reception.
For photographers, there is a special room with fourteen individual work stations for you to set up and tweak your equipment. Plenty of plug points and dry towels around for you to use. The room is also very safe according to the stuff where you can leave the equipment in overnight with no problem.
Since this is the low season, we (3 of us) and another diver were the only ones in the resort. Two days after we arrived that diver also left leaving the whole resort to us.
We were also lucky to have great weather for the duration of our stay during the typhoon season. Only the last day we have quite a bit of swell but not serious enough to worry about.
On to diving.
Anilao has some of the best dive sites for macro that I have seen. It is probably not as good as Lembeh (I was in Lembeh a couple of years ago) but still plenty of critters to satisfy most divers.
The sea bed slopes at Anilao generally drops off fast and steep. Most of the the dives deepest at around 20+ metres (80+ feet). Water temperature at this time is about 28 C (about 82.4 F) and coldest at 27 C (about 81). A 3mm wet suit or a shortie should be sufficient for most divers.
Our guide Glen is quite a great spotter. He was also quite flexible with our dive time. With two of us having cameras he was quite lenient letting our dives lasting around 60 minutes per dive depending on our air consumption level. Normal dive days were two in the morning with surface interval usually at some beaches nearby after the first dive. We would come back to the resort for lunch, short rest and finish the day with another afternoon dive. Number of dives per day can be adjusted to suit individual needs.
Visibility is usually quite good in the morning at about 20 metre or better (60 feet or more) with afternoon dives dropping off slightly. Overall it was still quite good viz.
The reefs in general are healthy and very colourful. Very little current at all the dive sites we visited (we did 13 dives). All the dives should satisfy seasoned and novice divers with enough to see. The only thing to watch out for novice divers is the steep slope and quick dropping off of the sea bed, and knowing what depth they are in.
Now the critters. The highlight has to be frog fish in Anilao, with nudis coming in second. We saw frog fish of various colour in almost every dive, some a foot long. There are also a lot of nudis for those who like that kind of stuff. I find the nudi variety quite similar to Puerto Galera. Then there are crinoid shrimps, squat lobsters, whip coral shrimp, porcelain crabs, hairy squat lobsters, pygmy seahorse (yellow and pink), pipe fish, cuttle fish, seahorse, octopus, and other usual muck diving critters. There were enough critters to kept our cameras busy all the time without any dull moment. There is also a mandarin fish site that we skipped since we had enough of that already during our last visit to Lembeh.
Overall I would say Anilao has some of the best divings around for macro. There is not much big stuff (at least those sites we been too) except one school of jacks at one of the dive sites. The place is also very quiet with zero night life or any other kind of entertainment besides diving.
For anyone who loves macro life and weird critters underwater, Anilao is definitely worth a visit. I know I will come back again.
Attached are also some of the photos taken during the trip to share.
So in return I guess I would write a short trip report on my stay.
We stayed at a mid range dive resort Blue Crystal (16 rooms). The room was comfortable and clean. All the stuff friendly and helpful. We got a food inclusive package and I must add that their food is delicious and abundant. I might have gained a few pounds after the trip.
A few things to note about the resort. It was built against quite a steep hill slope with all the guest rooms at the highest level. So depending on which room you are in there could be quite a few stair steps to negotiate from the dive shop, which is at the lowest level next to the beach.
The free internet wifi service is also limited to reception area only. We can't even get any connection even though our room was the closest to the reception.
For photographers, there is a special room with fourteen individual work stations for you to set up and tweak your equipment. Plenty of plug points and dry towels around for you to use. The room is also very safe according to the stuff where you can leave the equipment in overnight with no problem.
Since this is the low season, we (3 of us) and another diver were the only ones in the resort. Two days after we arrived that diver also left leaving the whole resort to us.
We were also lucky to have great weather for the duration of our stay during the typhoon season. Only the last day we have quite a bit of swell but not serious enough to worry about.
On to diving.
Anilao has some of the best dive sites for macro that I have seen. It is probably not as good as Lembeh (I was in Lembeh a couple of years ago) but still plenty of critters to satisfy most divers.
The sea bed slopes at Anilao generally drops off fast and steep. Most of the the dives deepest at around 20+ metres (80+ feet). Water temperature at this time is about 28 C (about 82.4 F) and coldest at 27 C (about 81). A 3mm wet suit or a shortie should be sufficient for most divers.
Our guide Glen is quite a great spotter. He was also quite flexible with our dive time. With two of us having cameras he was quite lenient letting our dives lasting around 60 minutes per dive depending on our air consumption level. Normal dive days were two in the morning with surface interval usually at some beaches nearby after the first dive. We would come back to the resort for lunch, short rest and finish the day with another afternoon dive. Number of dives per day can be adjusted to suit individual needs.
Visibility is usually quite good in the morning at about 20 metre or better (60 feet or more) with afternoon dives dropping off slightly. Overall it was still quite good viz.
The reefs in general are healthy and very colourful. Very little current at all the dive sites we visited (we did 13 dives). All the dives should satisfy seasoned and novice divers with enough to see. The only thing to watch out for novice divers is the steep slope and quick dropping off of the sea bed, and knowing what depth they are in.
Now the critters. The highlight has to be frog fish in Anilao, with nudis coming in second. We saw frog fish of various colour in almost every dive, some a foot long. There are also a lot of nudis for those who like that kind of stuff. I find the nudi variety quite similar to Puerto Galera. Then there are crinoid shrimps, squat lobsters, whip coral shrimp, porcelain crabs, hairy squat lobsters, pygmy seahorse (yellow and pink), pipe fish, cuttle fish, seahorse, octopus, and other usual muck diving critters. There were enough critters to kept our cameras busy all the time without any dull moment. There is also a mandarin fish site that we skipped since we had enough of that already during our last visit to Lembeh.
Overall I would say Anilao has some of the best divings around for macro. There is not much big stuff (at least those sites we been too) except one school of jacks at one of the dive sites. The place is also very quiet with zero night life or any other kind of entertainment besides diving.
For anyone who loves macro life and weird critters underwater, Anilao is definitely worth a visit. I know I will come back again.
Attached are also some of the photos taken during the trip to share.
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