Thanks to everyone who gave me advice in January, my trip to Puerto Galera over Chinese New Year was great! Thought I'd give a very quick trip report in case it helps somebody else in the future.
We ended up stayed at Atlantis - the resort is kept up nicely, but it's not luxury, despite what it is marketed as. Still, it wasn't bad, and the staff was very friendly and helpful, making the stay very pleasant. The real highlight, though, was the dive operation. The Atlantis dive operation was hands down the best run operation I've seen. They had a high ratio of DMs to guests and took excellent care of our gear. It might be a bit much for those who are used to getting dropped off at a site and told to be back in 45 minutes or so, but I loved it. I also took advantage of the unlimited diving and dove 4 times/day several times. Do note that the last dive of the day was often uneventful since the color was fading, but it was still fun. The biggest disappointment was the night diving - didn't see anything different than during the day. Was hoping for an octopus or something. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw that night?
The best thing is that unlike some dive locations, every site was close to the shore, making it easy to come back to the resort in between dives. The diving was pretty good, but the real highlight was Verde Island. In my opinion, no trip to PG is complete without diving there.
Overall, the diving was better than I had expected. It wasn't as pristine as PNG, but it was more interesting and colorful than some places I've been to in the Caribbean. Also, PG has tons and tons of nudibranches - more than I've seen anywhere else I've been. In sum, a great trip!
We ended up stayed at Atlantis - the resort is kept up nicely, but it's not luxury, despite what it is marketed as. Still, it wasn't bad, and the staff was very friendly and helpful, making the stay very pleasant. The real highlight, though, was the dive operation. The Atlantis dive operation was hands down the best run operation I've seen. They had a high ratio of DMs to guests and took excellent care of our gear. It might be a bit much for those who are used to getting dropped off at a site and told to be back in 45 minutes or so, but I loved it. I also took advantage of the unlimited diving and dove 4 times/day several times. Do note that the last dive of the day was often uneventful since the color was fading, but it was still fun. The biggest disappointment was the night diving - didn't see anything different than during the day. Was hoping for an octopus or something. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw that night?
The best thing is that unlike some dive locations, every site was close to the shore, making it easy to come back to the resort in between dives. The diving was pretty good, but the real highlight was Verde Island. In my opinion, no trip to PG is complete without diving there.
Overall, the diving was better than I had expected. It wasn't as pristine as PNG, but it was more interesting and colorful than some places I've been to in the Caribbean. Also, PG has tons and tons of nudibranches - more than I've seen anywhere else I've been. In sum, a great trip!
