Disclaimer: No u/w pics. Still hoping I can buy the casing for my camera later this year.
Last June 13 we (my wife and I) spent a night at Punta Bulata in Cauayan, Negros Occ. The resort was a bit pricey compared to other resorts in Negros island, but the staff was wonderful and were very accommodating. The rooms a bit old, but overall, a good experience. And it was great to have the resort almost all to ourselves.
The drive took about 4 hours from Bacolod, but could have been a lot faster if not for the detours because they were repairing a long section of the highway. DonÃÕ you just love election season?
I planned to dive the Danjugan Island Sanctuary, but found out when I got to the resort that any diving needs to be booked at least 2 days in advance with the resort. (mental note, book the diving early next time). You pay 1500 pesos per person for the boat trip to the island, but it includes lunch and a tour already. Diving is an additional 1000 per dive.
So we decided to take the 45 minute drive from Cauayan to Sipalay, and do a couple of dives there, before going back to Bacolod. The road was fairly good, with a section that had great views of the coastline.
AFAIK, Sipalay has 3 major dive ops. Takatuka on Langub Beach, but you have to cross a river by ferry or take a boat from Sipalay to get to the resort. ItÃÔ a funky little resort with unique rooms. Next is Artistic Diving, said to be the first dive op in the area. Last is Easy Diving, which is a short distance from Artistic. Nataasan also offers diving, but I believe they tie up with Artistic for that. All are owned by Europeans, and cater to mostly foreigners. The staff at Easy said that they rarely get local customers.
We went with Easy diving, since I heard from friends that ArtisticÃÔ facilities were a bit old and needed maintenance.
When we got to Easy, we were the only guests on the resort. Staff was attentive and very helpful. The Dive shop manager, Marcus, welcomed us warmly, and the staff quickly got the boat, tanks, etc together. I was in the water within 30 minutes of arriving.
My guide was Nonoy, and he was a very good spotter. First dive was at Disneyland, their house reef. The reef was not very good, but the fishlife was comparable to some Anilao sites. Saw some baby frogfish, ghost pipefish, large shrimp (length was almost from my fingertips to my elbow), large sweetlips, featherstar lobster, crinoid shrimps and crabs, batfish, plus the usual reef residents like pufferfish, clownfish, nudis, and trumpetfish.
We returned to the resort for lunch. My wife and I had their homemade pizza, chicken shnitzel and some crispy prawn. We met Christian, the owner, and chatted a bit with Marcus.
Second dive was at MS Jojo, a freighter that sunk around 20 years ago. It was a short 10-15 min rideto the site. The wreck is located (along with a couple of others) inside Campomanes bay, a beautiful bay with high cliffs and a lot of forest cover. Almost like a mini Halong bay. The wreck was not visible from the surface, the only thing I could see was the guideline leading down to the wreck. The top of the wreck was at around 20 meters, with the bottom at around 35. A numuber of large batfish can be found at around 10 meters, and the guideline itself had its own mini ecosystem. Spotted cuttlefish, parrotfish, and some others i couldn't identify. Viz was around 20-30 ft. You can find some oysters on the wreck, some as big as a manÃÔ head. We also saw several large lionfishes and scorpionfish. The cargo hold was open, and allowed for easy entry. Inside the wreck was some coral growth and fishlife. The motor was said to be visible via a hole on the deck on good days, but today was not one of them. The rudder was intact, and there is no visible sign of external damage to the hull. Outside the hull there was not a lot of coral growth, probably as it was inside a bay and away from major currents. A large resident grouper is said to inhabit the wreck, but we were not fortunate enough to see it.
Overall, not a bad trip. The resort was well organized and had good facilities. The only downside (or upside) was that there was no Globe cellphone signal (not sure about Smart). The restaurant food and souvenirs were a bit pricey for the provinces, probably since theyÃÓe used to foreigners. I tried asking for a local rate, but they said there was none. 
Last June 13 we (my wife and I) spent a night at Punta Bulata in Cauayan, Negros Occ. The resort was a bit pricey compared to other resorts in Negros island, but the staff was wonderful and were very accommodating. The rooms a bit old, but overall, a good experience. And it was great to have the resort almost all to ourselves.
The drive took about 4 hours from Bacolod, but could have been a lot faster if not for the detours because they were repairing a long section of the highway. DonÃÕ you just love election season?
I planned to dive the Danjugan Island Sanctuary, but found out when I got to the resort that any diving needs to be booked at least 2 days in advance with the resort. (mental note, book the diving early next time). You pay 1500 pesos per person for the boat trip to the island, but it includes lunch and a tour already. Diving is an additional 1000 per dive.
So we decided to take the 45 minute drive from Cauayan to Sipalay, and do a couple of dives there, before going back to Bacolod. The road was fairly good, with a section that had great views of the coastline.
AFAIK, Sipalay has 3 major dive ops. Takatuka on Langub Beach, but you have to cross a river by ferry or take a boat from Sipalay to get to the resort. ItÃÔ a funky little resort with unique rooms. Next is Artistic Diving, said to be the first dive op in the area. Last is Easy Diving, which is a short distance from Artistic. Nataasan also offers diving, but I believe they tie up with Artistic for that. All are owned by Europeans, and cater to mostly foreigners. The staff at Easy said that they rarely get local customers.
We went with Easy diving, since I heard from friends that ArtisticÃÔ facilities were a bit old and needed maintenance.
When we got to Easy, we were the only guests on the resort. Staff was attentive and very helpful. The Dive shop manager, Marcus, welcomed us warmly, and the staff quickly got the boat, tanks, etc together. I was in the water within 30 minutes of arriving.
My guide was Nonoy, and he was a very good spotter. First dive was at Disneyland, their house reef. The reef was not very good, but the fishlife was comparable to some Anilao sites. Saw some baby frogfish, ghost pipefish, large shrimp (length was almost from my fingertips to my elbow), large sweetlips, featherstar lobster, crinoid shrimps and crabs, batfish, plus the usual reef residents like pufferfish, clownfish, nudis, and trumpetfish.
We returned to the resort for lunch. My wife and I had their homemade pizza, chicken shnitzel and some crispy prawn. We met Christian, the owner, and chatted a bit with Marcus.
Second dive was at MS Jojo, a freighter that sunk around 20 years ago. It was a short 10-15 min rideto the site. The wreck is located (along with a couple of others) inside Campomanes bay, a beautiful bay with high cliffs and a lot of forest cover. Almost like a mini Halong bay. The wreck was not visible from the surface, the only thing I could see was the guideline leading down to the wreck. The top of the wreck was at around 20 meters, with the bottom at around 35. A numuber of large batfish can be found at around 10 meters, and the guideline itself had its own mini ecosystem. Spotted cuttlefish, parrotfish, and some others i couldn't identify. Viz was around 20-30 ft. You can find some oysters on the wreck, some as big as a manÃÔ head. We also saw several large lionfishes and scorpionfish. The cargo hold was open, and allowed for easy entry. Inside the wreck was some coral growth and fishlife. The motor was said to be visible via a hole on the deck on good days, but today was not one of them. The rudder was intact, and there is no visible sign of external damage to the hull. Outside the hull there was not a lot of coral growth, probably as it was inside a bay and away from major currents. A large resident grouper is said to inhabit the wreck, but we were not fortunate enough to see it.
Overall, not a bad trip. The resort was well organized and had good facilities. The only downside (or upside) was that there was no Globe cellphone signal (not sure about Smart). The restaurant food and souvenirs were a bit pricey for the provinces, probably since theyÃÓe used to foreigners. I tried asking for a local rate, but they said there was none. 
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