Trip Report El Galleon / Asia Divers Apr 10-24 2025

[hancockks]

Background​

Reading trip reports can be challenging as each writer brings their unique perspective, shaped by their background and expectations, including me. For context, I was certified in the early 1990s and spent much of my early diving years in New England waters with full 7mm wetsuits and on Pacific liveaboards, with some land-based operations. I loved both diving and underwater photography, using a housed N90s in a Subal setup for both macro and wide-angle shots.

After nearly a decade of diving, life led me on a different course—I married a non-diving spouse, had kids and dogs, and took a break from diving until my oldest child got certified two years ago. This trip marked my first Pacific diving experience in 10 years, with my last one being a brief visit to Anilao, Philippines, in 2016 after a business trip. My daughter is a new OW diver where this is her second post-certification dive trip and first Pacific dive trip.

For this adventure, I rekindled my love for underwater photography with a new Olympus/OM Systems EM-1 Mk3 and AOI housing.

Overview​

My daughter handled the booking through Bluewater Travel, and we were thoroughly impressed with the package, pricing, and communication. We chose the budget room (details to come) and signed up for 11 days of unlimited diving. Shortly before departure, we received a comprehensive, printed itinerary, which included information about transfers, entry requirements, emergency contacts, and more — all neatly organized. The same details were also available in an offline-accessible app.
I booked a Delta itinerary from Boston to Manila via Seoul (KE92/KE623), with the same routing on the return (KE624/KE91). The flights are on older 777-300ER equipment. WiFi was available for an extra charge (~$5 for messaging, ~$20 for full access on the BOS-ICN segment) on outbound, none on return, but premium economy seat upgrades were not offered (these are reportedly coming soon). Travel times to Puerto Galera (PG) were as follows: 15 hours and 30 minutes, a 2-hour layover, and a 4-hour and 15-minute flight. On the return, the timings were 4 hours and 5 minutes, a 5-hour layover, and a 13-hour and 50-minute flight.

The seatback screens offered a wide selection of movies, but after this trip, I’ve had my fill of them—sleeping on planes is no longer as easy as it used to be! The BOS-ICN leg included two meal services, one hot snack, and a self-serve galley with chips and sandwiches. Meals leaned heavily on Korean dishes. The ICN-MNL leg offered one meal service with a choice between Korean and Filipino options.

Upon arrival in Manila, I used one of the ATMs outside the arrivals area to withdraw local cash (after three attempts to find one compatible with my card). I was informed that we’d need P350 for the tuk-tuk driver the next day, as well as a terminal fee (P30) and an environmental fee (P120) upon arrival in Sebang. (A Schwabe account is good for fee-reimbursed withdrawals!)

Traveling from the U.S. to the Philippines means losing two days—one to the International Date Line and another to travel time. I departed around noon on Thursday and arrived in Manila at 11 p.m. on Friday. From the airport, I used Grab (the local Uber equivalent) to transfer to the Manila Lotus Hotel. We selected the Manila Lotus based on reviews suggesting it had slightly more updated rooms compared to the City State Tower Hotel, though we didn’t directly compare the two. For an overnight stay after ~24 hours of travel, our main requirements were simply a bed and a shower. The Manila Lotus was affordable (~$62), clean, and included a decent breakfast buffet. Conveniently, it’s located just across the street from the City State Tower Hotel. After breakfast, we wheeled our luggage down the street to the departure point.

After some internal deliberation and multiple re-deliberation, we opted for the inexpensive yet convenient Si-Kat bus/ferry transfer package to Puerto Galera. This all-in-one service handles bus tickets and ferry transfers, and passengers simply show up at the City State Tower Hotel an hour before departure. The cost was $56 round-trip per person. Schedules vary seasonally, but in our case, the bus departed at 9:30 a.m., reached Batangas port at 12 p.m. (with a snack/bathroom stop along the way), and connected to the 12:30 p.m. ferry. The Si-Kat bus also offers drinks and sandwiches for purchase. We purchased vouchers for both the inbound and return trips online via the 12Go website and exchanged printed copies for bus and ferry tickets at both ends. The Si-Kat staff will walk you into the terminal and purchase your ferry tickets. After that it’s go through security and either wait for the ferry to board or head directly to the ferry (in our case).

(On the return you have to get your ferry tickets at the ticket offices outside of the terminal. Our tuk-tuk driver took us to one ticket office and the woman at the counter took out vouchers two doors down to get our ferry tickets – make sure when you get them back that it’s for the right time. Ours were for the 11am ferry, but another woman who was departing at the same time was given 1pm tickets – she had to go back to the office to point out they had screwed up.)

The transfer to El Galleon involved a tuk-tuk—a three-wheeled motor scooter. This was the only hitch in our inbound travel. Although we were supposed to be met at the pier, a delay led us to take one of the waiting tuk-tuks instead. The main difference was cargo capacity; the pre-arranged tuk-tuk would have accommodated our luggage more easily. Instead, two divers and three large checked bags made for a very tight 15-minute ride. We started walking toward El Galleon and were eventually met by a couple of staff members who helped with the bags.

Upon arrival, Ashley greeted us with a cold drink and provided a briefing on the resort and dive operations. Exhausted from the journey, we spent the rest of the day unpacking, setting up our gear for the next day, and decompressing – next time I would pre-book myself a massage for arrival day before the diving begins.

El Galleon​

We booked a stay, dive, and breakfast plan. The included breakfast menu (from memory) is no different than the a la carte breakfast menu. All breakfasts include tea, coffee or orange juice. We opted not to go full-board and instead did lunches and dinners a la carte. Prices average P400-P600 for sandwiches or entrees, with some outliers like steaks at P1300-P1550. As others have noted in past reviews, the full-board menu is a subset of the a la carte menu. A la carte had offerings of appetizers (we usually did not order appetizers), soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, pizza, mains. A vegan menu was also available. My daughter really liked the chicken Ally wrap for lunches (and the chocolate milkshakes/frappes). I liked the chicken bacon “burger”. The chicken bacon pizza was also very good. A different daily special was on the chalkboard each day. The food, IMO, was very good, portions were good-sized, and there was lots of variety.

The room was basic, but comfortable. We had a twin bed and a full bed. As previous reviewers have noted, there are no bureaus. There was a corner half-closet which was tall enough to hang shirts with a room safe underneath. In our budget room, there was very little extra floor space. There was a wicker night stand between the two beds, a room mini-fridge that was stocked with a few sodas, waters, and beer (mini-bar items are charged but were reasonable costs unlike some places). We used the fridge for sun tea and some of our chocolate we brought. My daughter’s suitcase fit under her bed, but my bed frame was lower to the ground so our additional two bags were stored in the dive shed above the storage crates. Shower had plenty of hot water.

Bonus: The owner has 3 dogs: Aiya, Scottie, and Wilma. Aiya is a frequent visitor in the outdoor dining area. She’s more interested in trying her hardest to convince you to violate the “don’t feed the dogs policy,” but she’ll occasionally stop and tolerate you giving her scratches. Helps with pet separation anxiety. Scottie is less frequently around (he’s an older boy) but will sometimes be snoozing on the sofa and is more than happy to get scratches.

​

 

[hancockks]

Asia Divers​

April is one of the peak seasons at Asia Divers. Over our 11 days of diving, we observed the ebb and flow of operations as large groups arrived and departed. The typical dive schedule runs at 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and a 6:00 p.m. night dive. During peak season, larger groups had their schedules shifted half an hour later, likely to manage both the dive dock's capacity and also to avoid overwhelming the kitchen.

Nitrox was available for an additional, but very reasonable, cost. At ~$145 each for 11 days, it worked out to less than $4 per dive. Most divers were on Nitrox. One thing I hadn’t seen on other past reviews was on their Nitrox operations – after each dive, the staff analyzed your next tank with you present. They labeled the tank with masking tape and your name/number and logged it, which you would sign. My fills were consistently around 32%, with occasional 31% outliers, and nearly every fill 3,000 psi, with only a few slightly under. Almost everyone dove AL80’s, but I did notice on the board a couple of people diving smaller tanks, and I saw one or two larger tanks in the dive shed.

Dive operations were well-organized, with a large whiteboard listing boats, groups, dive times, sites, and guides. Divers typically stayed in the same group throughout the day, though individual divers sometimes skipped dives. At the end of the trip, we received a detailed summary of our dives, sites, and guides, in case we hadn’t kept track.

The dive sites were mostly wall/reefs, or sloping reefs. While I usually dive with dual air-integrated computers (one as a backup), I upgraded to a Shearwater Perdix 2 as my primary. My backup remains air-only, and I found that I could have dived on air for nearly all the dives except for a couple square-profile sites that triggered deco on my backup computer. I cleared these conservatively for good measure.

I’m not sure how many boats Asia Divers runs, but there were at least 3 bangkas, two covered speedboats, and one open speedboat. There’s a max of 6 divers to one guide. The second Sunday was the most crowded and we had 16 people crammed into the open speedboat.

Gear was typically set up for us, though a few divers preferred to handle their own. For consecutive dives, we could leave everything but our cameras on the boat and the staff swapped tanks for us. If you were skipping a dive or done for the day, you’d take your mask/fins/weights with you – they’d handle BC/tanks. It’s customary to check your tank before leaving the dock for the next dive. While my daughter and I had no issues, one diver on a full boat experienced a missed tank swap, which was thankfully caught before departure (that’s only 1 in 43 dives x 8 divers avg that I saw.) There are separate camera rinse tanks near the dive schedule boards,as well as separate rinse tanks for wetsuits vs mask/regs/computers. No rinse tank on the boats (though short trips).

Many dive sites were just a 5-minute ride away, with the farthest taking 10–15 minutes. All dives were run as out-and-back trips, allowing surface intervals to be spent at the resort. This gave us time to change into dry clothes, grab a snack, or swap batteries. The pier had two large racks for drying wetsuits and gear. All gear was moved indoors into the shed overnight and the shed locked. Other gear, like fins and masks, was stored in labeled baskets. Most dive sites had a max depth of 60’-80’ range, a few go down to 100’, but almost all have plenty of reef from 30 feet and above for good offgassing and safety stops. Dive times were typically 60 minutes, but on some of our shallow muck dives we did over 70 minutes.

We attempted five dives in one day, but found the late 8:00 a.m. start left us little downtime. Our typical schedule became four dives daily: 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and a 6:00 p.m. night dive. Water temperatures ranged from 75–80°F during the trip, though it warmed slightly in the second half. I used a new Henderson Thermoprene Pro 3mm wetsuit, which compressed quickly and left me chilly. My daughter started with just a skin, but we purchased a 3mm Waterproof W3 after a few days that greatly improved her comfort. Visibility was poor to average.

Reef health was generally good, and the biodiversity lived up to the Philippines’ reputation. We encountered thresher sharks (only on our second day), a blue-ringed octopus (on an early night dive), countless nudibranch species, frogfish (though I missed the orange-painted one), ornate ghost pipefish, Spanish dancers, various octopus, crabs, shrimp, and more fish species than I could count. I used an Olympus 60mm macro lens (120mm equivalent) along with a CMC-2 on flip adapter, which excelled for macro subjects but was too tight for larger fish, given the visibility. For my next trip, I’ll consider either a 14-40mm EZ or a 30mm macro lens – budget prevented this for this first trip.

Verde Island was an optional trip that generated little interest in the first half of our stay, which was odd given that there were so many divers. The Verde Island trip is usually either a 2-dive or 3-dive + lunch trip. The boat cost and marine park fee vary depending on the number of divers (~P2,500). We finally had a group of five the Saturday after our arrival, and I’m glad we did. The water was warm (82–83°F), clear, and nearly current-free. Both dives were done at the Verde Island Drop-off site. It was such a stunning dive that I set my camera aside to simply enjoy the reef. The site was teeming with thousands of blue triggerfish, alongside endless schools of chromis and anthias. It was exactly how I remembered Pacific diving and definitely the best conditions during the 11 days we were in PG.

Dive guides were very good. The majority of our dives were with 3 different dive guides, though over our 11 days we had 8 different guides.

Other​

I admit it, I’m cheap. I’d prefer to spend my dollars on diving than outrageous US carrier cell-phone charges for international travel. My carrier, Xfinity Mobile charges $10 day or pay-per-message and per-call. I typically purchase a data-only eSIM while traveling so I always have data access for Google maps, Uber/Grab, or What’s App (lots of international hotels can receive What’s App calls or message). For this trip I used a $8 5GB/30day Jetpac eSIM which I had no problems with from Manila to PG, but once we returned to Manila I had nothing but problems with connections dropping. I eventually bought a $4.50 1GB plan for my last day from Airarlo and had no further issues – we did 4 Grab car rides in our last day, so connectivity was important.

Wifi at El Galleon worked fine and seemed plenty fast, though I wasn’t using it for video streaming.

Summary​

Would I return? Definitely. The accommodations were just fine for what I need/expect as a scuba diver (I don’t think our ilk is particularly needy when we’re out of the water). The food was good, the staff wonderful and friendly.

What might I do differently? While I still wanted more at the end of the trip – there were lots of shots that I missed and critters I didn’t see (which is probably true of ANY trip), there was some repetition after 11 days of diving. Next trip I might split between PG/El Galleon and maybe transfer to Anilao after 7 days.

Would it work for my non-diving wife? Probably not. She wants a beach, which El Galleon does not have, though the spa might offset the lack of beach.)

 

[Centrals]

I always use public transportation because I can experience the local style of travelling.
Beach with good diving? Malapascua, but the novelty of the thresher shark has gone.
Malapascua + Southern Leyte.