Of course, it is NOT Dumaguete, the provincial capital 20-40 minutes north, it is Dauin.
Locally, terrific muck diving with some reef material and artificial reefs including a group of welded angle pyramids at Pyramids, some car bodies at Car Wrecks, some pyramids made of tires at several locations (including the Atlantis house reef).
I am not a huge fan of "artificial reefs", but the muck is spectacular.
One dive on Cars, for example, we had seven ornate ghost pipefish - one huge black pair with orange and white spots, some pinkish/red ones, and a pair of white ones camouflaged to take advantage of the plume hydroids they we re near, as well as three robust ghost pipefish, some sea moths, a couple of species of snake eels (marbled and crocodile).
Others chased and found the Donald Duck shrimp (about 80 fsw) and at lesser depths flasher wrasses (near dusk for flasher displays).
At Punta, it looks like a desert with small rocks - and can be swept by currents strong enough you will feel like a tumbleweed with a tank, or it can be calm. We had it all, including multi-level drift dive (each level had reverses in the currents so we moved back and forth). What's here? Snake eels - but we had fifteen minutes of Wonderpus one dive, followed by another quarter hour with a very nice brick-red poison ocellated octopus. Another dive, with no current, we had a honey-colored poison ocellated octopus put on a show for us - after initially missing him (the last guy in our small group stayed a bit to watch the very juvenile silver sweetlips, when the "ockie" became curious and crawled out to observe the observer, who clanked his tank to let us know we should come back!)
Scads of cryptic critters here - and Paul Humann, Ned and Anna De Loach, Ken Marks took photos and video of so many rare mucky things... which we saw at every-other-night shows. Anna even got some rare video - as she was observing a Randall's shrimp goby and shrimp, an Ambon scorpionfish came over, ambushed the shrimp goby and ultimately was able to get it turned so the tail no longer wagged wildly sticking out of its mouth! And if you want a Mandarin goby show at dusk, Bahura is definitely the reef to go to.
For really good coral development and reef diving, all day three tank trips to Apo and Siquijor Islands (barbecue on board!) are very, very nice (just don't actually expect any large fish, they have probably been dined on). Apo has one protected area and the rest is a reserve, and there is a nice variety of the usual suspects plus some rarer ones like winged pipefish, friendly banded sea kraits, day octopus, etc.
The hotel f&b side was spectacular - really good food, everyone wanting to be of service. Lodging was pretty good - but avoid the lower floors for noise from those upstairs, good air con and fans, lanais to dry off or enjoy, and firm mattresses and pillows.
The dive side - really sharp-eyed, helpful divemasters. Two comfy sixpacks and a number on spacious bancas, max six people per guided group, most dives sixty or more minutes, Nitrox 32 available, but bring spares for your gear. Check with the dive guides to get assistance getting set up with a like-minded group - you do not want to be stuck with people who want a radically different dive than you do.
The one down side: the dive op is unfortunately not at all helpful with failures or replacements, not even high or low pressure hoses available here, and all they will do if your gear busts is to rent you theirs (which may or not be in good working order), not even an attempt at helping; apparently this is not the case at Puerto Galera, but it is here. They will sell you AA batteries for a buck and C for two bucks - a piece!
There is lots to see ashore, and if Wednesday is your dry or off-gassing day, the Malatapay Market is good - be careful of what you eat, follow the old dictum of peel it, cook it or forget it is good, but be sure to partake of the best lechón baboy (roast suckling pig) on the island, roasted over coals on the spot, with a nice San Miguel Pilsener or dark ("Cerveza Negra").
If you want muck without the travails of getting to Lembeh, for instance, Dauin is merely an hour south of Manila via Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines (get a Mabuhay Miles number and buy a Sports Card to get a higher weight allowance on PR), via Dumaguete and a pickup from the Atlantis staff. Dry season is always preferable, of course, and the short DGT runway with mountains to the west and the sea at the eastern runway threshold with no navaids means flights can be cancelled during poor weather, and a high silt load from the rivers can bring vis 'way down, as it did with La Niña kicking up her heels this first half of February.
Atlantis Dumaguete website
Locally, terrific muck diving with some reef material and artificial reefs including a group of welded angle pyramids at Pyramids, some car bodies at Car Wrecks, some pyramids made of tires at several locations (including the Atlantis house reef).
I am not a huge fan of "artificial reefs", but the muck is spectacular.
One dive on Cars, for example, we had seven ornate ghost pipefish - one huge black pair with orange and white spots, some pinkish/red ones, and a pair of white ones camouflaged to take advantage of the plume hydroids they we re near, as well as three robust ghost pipefish, some sea moths, a couple of species of snake eels (marbled and crocodile).
Others chased and found the Donald Duck shrimp (about 80 fsw) and at lesser depths flasher wrasses (near dusk for flasher displays).
At Punta, it looks like a desert with small rocks - and can be swept by currents strong enough you will feel like a tumbleweed with a tank, or it can be calm. We had it all, including multi-level drift dive (each level had reverses in the currents so we moved back and forth). What's here? Snake eels - but we had fifteen minutes of Wonderpus one dive, followed by another quarter hour with a very nice brick-red poison ocellated octopus. Another dive, with no current, we had a honey-colored poison ocellated octopus put on a show for us - after initially missing him (the last guy in our small group stayed a bit to watch the very juvenile silver sweetlips, when the "ockie" became curious and crawled out to observe the observer, who clanked his tank to let us know we should come back!)
Scads of cryptic critters here - and Paul Humann, Ned and Anna De Loach, Ken Marks took photos and video of so many rare mucky things... which we saw at every-other-night shows. Anna even got some rare video - as she was observing a Randall's shrimp goby and shrimp, an Ambon scorpionfish came over, ambushed the shrimp goby and ultimately was able to get it turned so the tail no longer wagged wildly sticking out of its mouth! And if you want a Mandarin goby show at dusk, Bahura is definitely the reef to go to.
For really good coral development and reef diving, all day three tank trips to Apo and Siquijor Islands (barbecue on board!) are very, very nice (just don't actually expect any large fish, they have probably been dined on). Apo has one protected area and the rest is a reserve, and there is a nice variety of the usual suspects plus some rarer ones like winged pipefish, friendly banded sea kraits, day octopus, etc.
The hotel f&b side was spectacular - really good food, everyone wanting to be of service. Lodging was pretty good - but avoid the lower floors for noise from those upstairs, good air con and fans, lanais to dry off or enjoy, and firm mattresses and pillows.
The dive side - really sharp-eyed, helpful divemasters. Two comfy sixpacks and a number on spacious bancas, max six people per guided group, most dives sixty or more minutes, Nitrox 32 available, but bring spares for your gear. Check with the dive guides to get assistance getting set up with a like-minded group - you do not want to be stuck with people who want a radically different dive than you do.
The one down side: the dive op is unfortunately not at all helpful with failures or replacements, not even high or low pressure hoses available here, and all they will do if your gear busts is to rent you theirs (which may or not be in good working order), not even an attempt at helping; apparently this is not the case at Puerto Galera, but it is here. They will sell you AA batteries for a buck and C for two bucks - a piece!
There is lots to see ashore, and if Wednesday is your dry or off-gassing day, the Malatapay Market is good - be careful of what you eat, follow the old dictum of peel it, cook it or forget it is good, but be sure to partake of the best lechón baboy (roast suckling pig) on the island, roasted over coals on the spot, with a nice San Miguel Pilsener or dark ("Cerveza Negra").
If you want muck without the travails of getting to Lembeh, for instance, Dauin is merely an hour south of Manila via Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines (get a Mabuhay Miles number and buy a Sports Card to get a higher weight allowance on PR), via Dumaguete and a pickup from the Atlantis staff. Dry season is always preferable, of course, and the short DGT runway with mountains to the west and the sea at the eastern runway threshold with no navaids means flights can be cancelled during poor weather, and a high silt load from the rivers can bring vis 'way down, as it did with La Niña kicking up her heels this first half of February.
Atlantis Dumaguete website
