Trip Report Malapascua: Evolution & Sea Explorers
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SaltwaterNomad
Registered
I'm also hoping, I'll be using Sea Explorer/Vida as well 5/10-17. If you are there before that any info/pointers would be appreciated.Thanks for the review. We're booked to go there in a few days. Kind of disappointed with the review on Ocean Vida/Sea Explorer, but hoping for the best.
OP
You'll be fine there. I think they just messed up a bit because of the busy Easter week. Just be very clear with them what you want from your dives
@SaltwaterNomad - Looks like we'll overlap a couple of days. There May 2-12.
@SaltwaterNomad
Arrived Ocean Vida yesterday. Pickup transfer was seamless. On arrival, they take you to the dive center directly to register, unpack and leave your gears, and receive the 1st briefing. I understand now how divers of different levels could be grouped together. The diver gets to chose which site he/she wants to dive and place their names on the board. You make the choice. Ratio of dive guide to diver is 1:4. Hope that answers some of your questions.
After the briefing, you get taken to the resort behind to register. The place is fully booked currently. Food serving is plenty with various choices. Restaurant opens at 0730. Wish they open at 0630. 1st dive leaves at 0830, unless you are going to the shoals. Thatās early and you pack breakfast to go.
Be mindful that there are fees to be paid at some of the dive localities in cash. An ATM is available on site. I believe the charge is 290 per withdrawal. I forgot the exact amount. Max withdrawal/day is 10,000 php.
Gotta get ready for our 1st dive. Hope the info helps.
Arrived Ocean Vida yesterday. Pickup transfer was seamless. On arrival, they take you to the dive center directly to register, unpack and leave your gears, and receive the 1st briefing. I understand now how divers of different levels could be grouped together. The diver gets to chose which site he/she wants to dive and place their names on the board. You make the choice. Ratio of dive guide to diver is 1:4. Hope that answers some of your questions.
After the briefing, you get taken to the resort behind to register. The place is fully booked currently. Food serving is plenty with various choices. Restaurant opens at 0730. Wish they open at 0630. 1st dive leaves at 0830, unless you are going to the shoals. Thatās early and you pack breakfast to go.
Be mindful that there are fees to be paid at some of the dive localities in cash. An ATM is available on site. I believe the charge is 290 per withdrawal. I forgot the exact amount. Max withdrawal/day is 10,000 php.
Gotta get ready for our 1st dive. Hope the info helps.
Rafael Moreira
Registered
Hi, Iāll be diving with Sea Explorers for a few days this December, as Iāll be staying at Ocean Vida Resort.
@Titatom, how was your experience with them? Iām going with a dive buddy, so Iām not worried about being paired with a beginner diver, but Iād love to hear if you have any other tips to share.
Thank you!
@Titatom, how was your experience with them? Iām going with a dive buddy, so Iām not worried about being paired with a beginner diver, but Iād love to hear if you have any other tips to share.
Thank you!
Hi Rafael, I hope you enjoy Malapascua as we did. I would like to go back. We stayed at Ocean Vida and used Sea Explorers. Keep in mind that these are two separate 'businesses'. No issues with either one.
For the diving, just sign up early for the Kimud shoal dive as that tend to fill up fast. Kalanggaman dive is another site I like. That's a full day trip with BBQ lunch offered by the DMs. There's an extra charge for the lunch. It used to be 500php. Don't know how much it is now. We had a 'full board' package and Ocean Vida worked it out with Sea Explorers so that we don't have to pay extra for the BBQ lunch.
Keeping in mind that we are a 'mature' trio with plenty of dives under our belts, Lydio was assigned as our dive guide. I don't know if that was by design or it just happened. But, we love Lydio. I noticed that he steered us away from the 'crowd' on each dive and each of our dive was 'calm' (not rushed) and beautiful and with plenty of photo ops. I don't think we missed anything. Our dives were usually more than 60 minutes, and we're usually the last ones to surface. We did not have much interaction with the other dive guides, so can't make comparisons.
Have some Philippine pesos ready. If not, there is the ATM on site (if not broken),another one in town, or you can make some currency exchange at the dive shop. I don't know how much is the limit and the x-change rate. I remember it was fairly reasonable though.
For the diving, just sign up early for the Kimud shoal dive as that tend to fill up fast. Kalanggaman dive is another site I like. That's a full day trip with BBQ lunch offered by the DMs. There's an extra charge for the lunch. It used to be 500php. Don't know how much it is now. We had a 'full board' package and Ocean Vida worked it out with Sea Explorers so that we don't have to pay extra for the BBQ lunch.
Keeping in mind that we are a 'mature' trio with plenty of dives under our belts, Lydio was assigned as our dive guide. I don't know if that was by design or it just happened. But, we love Lydio. I noticed that he steered us away from the 'crowd' on each dive and each of our dive was 'calm' (not rushed) and beautiful and with plenty of photo ops. I don't think we missed anything. Our dives were usually more than 60 minutes, and we're usually the last ones to surface. We did not have much interaction with the other dive guides, so can't make comparisons.
Have some Philippine pesos ready. If not, there is the ATM on site (if not broken),another one in town, or you can make some currency exchange at the dive shop. I don't know how much is the limit and the x-change rate. I remember it was fairly reasonable though.
Tippytoes12
Contributor
I had a similar experience to the recent posters above. Great guide Arnil, who was an excellent spotter and, like 99% of people from this wonderful country, was a very nice friendly kind person. Do plenty of thresher shark trips, I sat one out and the tiger appeared at Monad. The food from the restuarant was excellent, no real need to eat out at all. Ask around for people to share the transfer , well worth the cost, either to the airport or wherever.
Rafael Moreira
Registered
Thank you very much for taking the time to provide the information above, I really appreciate it!
Iām going with a dive buddy, and Iāll check if they can pair us with more advanced divers. Normally, our dives run around 60 minutes (shore dives we can stretch more), and gas consumption is never an issue, as we always end with more than 1000 psi even on ādeepā dives.
Weāre excited to be there! Iām curious to see how it compares with Thailand (we went there in March and it was amazing).
Happy Dives!!!!
Iām going with a dive buddy, and Iāll check if they can pair us with more advanced divers. Normally, our dives run around 60 minutes (shore dives we can stretch more), and gas consumption is never an issue, as we always end with more than 1000 psi even on ādeepā dives.
Weāre excited to be there! Iām curious to see how it compares with Thailand (we went there in March and it was amazing).
Happy Dives!!!!
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