I went to the El Galleon last August with my dive club and had a great time. Everything was very close and easy to get to, you would never have to leave the property if you did not want to.
The 1st day we showed up they had a table setup for us to sit at and learn about hotel/resort. They even had some pizza and tea for us to snack on while they were talking. That was while all our bags were getting delivered to our rooms. After that we brought our gear to the shop and we were heading out to a dive spot. They also have their own dock for the boats. As a side note, not all resorts have docks! When we arrived it was easy to get off the boat. But we did see other people that had to get off the boat and come ashore through the water. Not the end of the world, but a dock is nice. They were actually extending the dock and making more room when we were there.
You get to all the dives sites within a few minutes on the boats. Another nice thing is that at the end of your stay you can get a printout of all the dive sites you were at. The DM's were all pretty cool, we mostly had the same one for the week. Dives started around 7:30-8:00am and I think we were done diving for the day around 4 or 5. Between dives they come back to the dock and change out tanks for you while you hang out for your surface interval.
We had the breakfast buffet (pretty good) in our package, so I would grab some food before the 1st dive and a little snack after. After the next dive you could grab lunch at the restaurant. The food is good and priced pretty decently. Then a few more dives and usually up to the point bar for a few drinks before dinner. And sometimes a few more drinks before bed
.
I brought the wife with (non-diver) and our room was pretty basic, but the AC was nice at times. No TV in our room, but others had them. To be honest we never even missed the TV the entire week. They did have a TV in the downstairs bar though where you could sit and watch it. You could also just charge everything to the room and leave your key at the desk, so you would not have to carry anything around.
The day before we flew out we arranged a small tour of the island and some waterfalls since we could not dive before flying. Another thing we did was to spend a few days in Manila before going to the resort. I did not really want to at 1st, but I am very happy we did. It gives you a chance to relax after that very long flight and get used to the time difference and generally acclimatize (SP?).
To get off the plane and sit on a bus for a few hours and then take the boat ride to the resort (another hour two? Don't remember) would make for a long day. We had a great time though. The wife was glad I had her bring some extra food, crackers and stuff, because she can get kinda picky with food. But I thought it was good and did not have a problem with anything. The resort is also a small walk away from a little town that has markets and all kinds of other stuff if you need it.
Wow, this turned into a short novel really quick. So I better stop for now, let me know if you have any other questions I can help with. I did not do any photography so I am useless on that question. But others did and I did not hear any complaints.
