Atmosphere Resort, Dauin, April 21-28, 2018

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

birdman27

Contributor
Messages
93
Reaction score
95
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
Just getting around to writing my report for this trip. Went with the local dive shop organized trip. This trip was significantly more expensive than most we take, but I could see why.

Resort
The majority of the extra cost of this trip came because of the resort the leader chose. And I would have to say it was worth it. Everything was taken care of, including having a guide waiting for us at the Manila airport to get us all safely through immigration and customs and on to the right terminal. Now, I could have managed this for my wife and myself alone, but it was a nice touch. Once we got to Dumaguete, there was another team waiting in the airport, often times grabbing our bags before we could even tell them which ones were ours! At the resort the whole staff (which was large) did a top notch job making sure everything was smooth. The rooms were nice, the grounds beautiful (except for the beach, which only gets cleaned irregularly, though I hear that is being addressed; minimal complaint number 1). The pool is gorgeous and the restaurant roomy. My main complaint, which is more a comment, is that the food was definitely hyped up to our group (mostly by our leader). It was good, at times great, but on too many occasions it was just meh. The restaurant staff, however, was really wonderful, taking the time to get to know us and being very attentive. My wife and I had dinner in the treehouse one night for her birthday and we really wanted the beach BBQ they were having. Instead of having us walk down there, however, our server went down and got plates for us. We had one issue over a miscommunication, but once it was brought to light the resort went to great lengths to make it right.

Dive Shop
Again, can't say enough about the dive shop. Getting checked in was easy, the shop itself was a good size, so even with multiple groups we were never out of space, and the staff was there to take care of any problems. Because we were a group of 15 they put us on the Victoria, their flagship bangka. To run the boat, they had the captain, 2-3 deck hands, and 4 DMs. All members of the staff would hustle to make sure everything got done well and quickly.
Our DM Arjay has been around, knows his stuff and works hard to make your diving experience go as best it can. When we wanted to emphasize one part of dive over another, "No problem". When I asked to practice shooting my SMB when we ended a dive, "No problem". When I dropped my spool on the surface of said dive, no problem he went and got it (luckily it wasnt dropping quickly and I learned a valuable lesson!).
They valet your gear, so all you are responsible for is your wetsuit and camera gear, but they also have no problem accommodating you if you want to do something different. I am used to taking care of my own gear, but once I became comfortable with their level of detail and care, I had no problem letting them handle it with nothing but a good buddy check once we geared up.
Getting back on the boat was easy, even in swells, as they would have two guys there to help you up the ladder if needed (I actually prefer doing it on my own, and once I said that, no problem), then two steps to sitting down and taking off your gear. That is followed by a fresh, warm towel and fruit.
Lastly, the shop employs a marine biologist, Daniel. He does a few presentations a week highlighting different creatures in the area and some of the quirks they have, but he is also just available to answer questions. He also dove with our group one day, which was great. You can bet we got our moneys worth out of him with questions!
The only thing I didnt love was the fills on tanks, which were consistently around 2800psi.

Diving
I was unsure how I was going to feel about muck diving. I thought the prospect of critters was cool, but had never experienced it before. Long story short, I think muck diving is awesome! Finding critters is very rewarding and there is such variety. The coral, both hard and soft, was very healthy and in good variety.

Dives
We did a total of 15 dives over 3 days. 8 at or north of Atmosphere on the Dauin coast, 3 were at Apo Island, and 4 were south of Atmosphere on the Dauin coast. Starred are my favorite dives (though none were bad)
Location Dive Site Dive Time Max Depth Ave Depth Bottom Temp
1. Dauin, Philippines Atmosphere House Reef* 44 65 42 82.4
2. Dauin, Philippines Dauin South 50 70 44 82.4
3. Dauin, Philippines Masaplod North* 53 74 46 82.4
4. Dauin, Philippines Dauin North 53 72 43 82.4
5. Dauin, Philippines Sahara Reef* 53 74 39 82.4
6. Dauin, Philippines Masaplod South 57 78 48 82.4
7. Apo Island, Philippines Chapel* 60 75 38 82.4
8. Apo Island, Philippines Rock Point West 65 67 36 82.4
9. Apo Island, Philippines Largahan 58 70 39 82.4
10. Dauin, Philippines Thalatta* 55 80 48 82.4
11. Dauin, Philippines Guinsuan South 54 60 36 84.2
12. Dauin, Philippines Atmosphere House Reef 58 77 36 82.4 night dive
13. Dauin, Philippines Siit* 60 75 42 82.4
14. Dauin, Philippines Gak Ang* 62 77 42 82.4
15. Dauin, Philippines Bahura 65 66 45 82.4
Average 56 72 42 82.5

There were so many critters I couldnt even begin to list them all. Below are some of my favorite pictures and my favorite critters. Photos taken either with a Canon G9 or Sealife DC2000 (wife).

View media item 205429View media item 205428View media item 205427View media item 205426View media item 205425View media item 205424View media item 205423View media item 205422View media item 205421View media item 205420View media item 205418View media item 205417View media item 205416View media item 205415View media item 205413View media item 205412View media item 205411View media item 205410View media item 205409
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the trip report. Do you mind sharing how much you paid and what that included? I think it would be good for others who are in the research phase that also have Atmosphere in their list of possible places as well as good for a comparison to other destinations that others are considering (other countries). Thanks!
 
Thanks for the trip report. Do you mind sharing how much you paid and what that included? I think it would be good for others who are in the research phase that also have Atmosphere in their list of possible places as well as good for a comparison to other destinations that others are considering (other countries). Thanks!

No problem. The whole trip was $3723/person. It included airfare from SFO, 5 days of 3 tank diving, a trip to Apo Island (with three dives, but that was part of the five days), Nitrox, all resort and marine park fees, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It definitely included a lot and I would say the value was there, it was just more expensive than other places in the area, at least from my research. In the grand scheme of things, not bad at all, but my LDS routinely does more affordable trips, granted, the destination is usually closer.
 
No problem. The whole trip was $3723/person. It included airfare from SFO, 5 days of 3 tank diving, a trip to Apo Island (with three dives, but that was part of the five days), Nitrox, all resort and marine park fees, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It definitely included a lot and I would say the value was there, it was just more expensive than other places in the area, at least from my research. In the grand scheme of things, not bad at all, but my LDS routinely does more affordable trips, granted, the destination is usually closer.

Thanks for the information. I am sure others (and myself, for future reference) will find this helpful. I also just returned from a 3 week stint in the Philippines and will write my trip reports shortly.....I have a liveaboard, a resort, and a dive seafari to report on. :)
 
Thanks for the report.
"Bang for your buck" is such a hard thing to quantify and is so subjective. Glad you felt you got your $$'s worth.
I was looking at Atmosphere, and that level of service is so so appealing, but with a family of 4 and granny too the $$'s just became ridiculous...so we ended up at Mike's which was great! Much cheaper and honestly I cant say the level of service was any lower.
 
Thanks for the report.
"Bang for your buck" is such a hard thing to quantify and is so subjective. Glad you felt you got your $$'s worth.
I was looking at Atmosphere, and that level of service is so so appealing, but with a family of 4 and granny too the $$'s just became ridiculous...so we ended up at Mike's which was great! Much cheaper and honestly I cant say the level of service was any lower.

Makes sense. I am glad you were happy with Mike's. I have heard nothing but good things. I probably wouldnt return to Atmosphere simply because of that, but I was very happy with what I got. Right now my wife and I are both working two jobs, so it doesnt leave a lot of time to plan our own vacations, so we have been going with the dive shop. Looking to branch out next year.
 
PM me if you need any advice on cheaper places to dive here in South East Asia.
I do all my own booking directly with the resorts and have never had a problem.

It is more time than anything else right now, but dont be surprised if I take you up on that offer in the future.
 
Thank you for the lovely report and for your kind words Birdman27, I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed your recent stay at Atmosphere. It was our pleasure having you here, and as a muck diving lover I'm especially delighted that you thought it was awesome. Dauin is a macro heaven!

For anyone else who's interested in visiting Atmosphere, and would like to get more information about our pricing or services, please feel free to contact me by email saila@atmosphereresorts.com, or PM me. And if any of you is planning to be at Scuba Show in Long Beach CA in June 23-24, I'll be there promoting Atmosphere (you'll find me from Atmosphere booth #525).
 
Great report birdman27 and lovely photos ... muck diving is awesome and Atmosphere and the Dauin coast line has some of the most fabulous critters - i've been several times in the last few years.
Looks like your LDS booked a full package which puts the price up a bit, especially if you went for premium service with a meet and greet in Manila. I've found that half board option works out really well for groups as the breakfast buffet has loads of choices to fill up on and dinner meal portions are big, then if you're hungry midday you can choose off the menu and just pay the extra. At dive shows there are often good deals with house reef dives included on top of a package, which already includes nitrox and marine park fees, so i usually go for that option and get a week's stay with diving for under $1500 ;-)
It is a more expensive resort than others in the area but so worth it imho
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom