Dive-Boarder2
Registered
I wrote a report in 2017 describing a trip to Anilao Scuba Dive Centre (ASDC) in Mabini. I thought it might be useful to pen a few words to describe my return visit in May this year.
This time I took a Cathay Pacific flight from London Heathrow to Manila, with a 40 kg luggage allowance. This was just sufficient with dive and camera equipment and a few clothes.
On previous trips I have chosen to use Etihad Airlines, with their comfortable A380 aircraft. However, they have decided in their wisdom to dispense with the useful free addditional sports equipment allowance of 18 Kg. This, coupled with the realisation that in reality the A380 is only enjoyed for the first leg of the journey, meant that they will no longer get my custom. Furthermore, the Cathay flight was a straight 12 hours to Hong Kong, followed by a 50 minute changeover, before a short 90 minute flight to Manila. This avoids several hours waiting to change planes at Abu Dhabi.
If you read my previous report you will note that I am a great proponent of using local buses and transport for transfers, mainly because I would rather spend my money on diving than anything else. Since this was a shorter trip than I have managed in the past, only 14 days diving, I elected to spend a little hard earned on a private transfer straight from the airport to the resort. As well as only taking 2 hours, this avoided an overnight stay in Manila, and meant an extra dive day. At a cost of 3500 PhP, arranged through ASDC, it was money well spent, but of course less interesting than using public transport.
I have described the accommodation at ASDC previously, and unsurprisingly, nothing much has changed, although a few new fan rooms have since been built. In summary, the rooms are basic, but clean, with an attached loo and shower room, aircon and/or fan. If you need more than this, you are in the wrong place; you generally get what you pay for.
Likewise, the diving arrangements have not altered since my last visit. Generally there are three boat dives each day, with an additional night dive on request. Usually, there is a two tank morning trip to the more distant sites, with an afternoon dive at a site nearer ASDC, the group returning to resort for lunch in between. On some days depending on group dynamics, the boat stayed out for all three dives, with a Barbecue lunch on a beach.
Groups are invariably small, and photographers are well catered for. Dives times varied between 60 and 90 minutes, and were generally dictated by air consumption, rather than any other contraints. Nitrox was available for those that feel the need, but most dives were made at less than 20m depth, unless there was something in particular to see, e.g. pygmy seahorse and xenocrab at Kirby's rock (26 to 28m). There are currents in Anilao, but usually no more than a slight irritation to those with cameras. We did abort one dive when the current picked up significantly.
The obvious difference in May was the water temperature; 29C rather than 21 to 24C in January to March, when I have visited previously. Carlo, my dive guide, was adamant that there were more critters to see when the water is colder. However we still saw plenty of nudibranchs, frogfish (especially white ones), pygmy seahorses, ghost pipe fish, sea horses, whip coral shrimp, hairy shrimp, dragon shrimp, xenocrabs, Lembeh sea dragon, and many more. We also did a bonfire dive, which was a new experience for me! In the end, I managed 47 dives (57 hours) over 14 days.
In summary, I am not a great lover of change, and was therefore glad that my stay and the diving at ASDC was very much as I remembered it from my first visit. So a big thank you to all the staff, especially Gina, Oliver, Hussein, and of course Carlo, my guide. The only thing that really seems to change in Anilao is the number of dive resorts!
This time I took a Cathay Pacific flight from London Heathrow to Manila, with a 40 kg luggage allowance. This was just sufficient with dive and camera equipment and a few clothes.
On previous trips I have chosen to use Etihad Airlines, with their comfortable A380 aircraft. However, they have decided in their wisdom to dispense with the useful free addditional sports equipment allowance of 18 Kg. This, coupled with the realisation that in reality the A380 is only enjoyed for the first leg of the journey, meant that they will no longer get my custom. Furthermore, the Cathay flight was a straight 12 hours to Hong Kong, followed by a 50 minute changeover, before a short 90 minute flight to Manila. This avoids several hours waiting to change planes at Abu Dhabi.
If you read my previous report you will note that I am a great proponent of using local buses and transport for transfers, mainly because I would rather spend my money on diving than anything else. Since this was a shorter trip than I have managed in the past, only 14 days diving, I elected to spend a little hard earned on a private transfer straight from the airport to the resort. As well as only taking 2 hours, this avoided an overnight stay in Manila, and meant an extra dive day. At a cost of 3500 PhP, arranged through ASDC, it was money well spent, but of course less interesting than using public transport.
I have described the accommodation at ASDC previously, and unsurprisingly, nothing much has changed, although a few new fan rooms have since been built. In summary, the rooms are basic, but clean, with an attached loo and shower room, aircon and/or fan. If you need more than this, you are in the wrong place; you generally get what you pay for.
Likewise, the diving arrangements have not altered since my last visit. Generally there are three boat dives each day, with an additional night dive on request. Usually, there is a two tank morning trip to the more distant sites, with an afternoon dive at a site nearer ASDC, the group returning to resort for lunch in between. On some days depending on group dynamics, the boat stayed out for all three dives, with a Barbecue lunch on a beach.
Groups are invariably small, and photographers are well catered for. Dives times varied between 60 and 90 minutes, and were generally dictated by air consumption, rather than any other contraints. Nitrox was available for those that feel the need, but most dives were made at less than 20m depth, unless there was something in particular to see, e.g. pygmy seahorse and xenocrab at Kirby's rock (26 to 28m). There are currents in Anilao, but usually no more than a slight irritation to those with cameras. We did abort one dive when the current picked up significantly.
The obvious difference in May was the water temperature; 29C rather than 21 to 24C in January to March, when I have visited previously. Carlo, my dive guide, was adamant that there were more critters to see when the water is colder. However we still saw plenty of nudibranchs, frogfish (especially white ones), pygmy seahorses, ghost pipe fish, sea horses, whip coral shrimp, hairy shrimp, dragon shrimp, xenocrabs, Lembeh sea dragon, and many more. We also did a bonfire dive, which was a new experience for me! In the end, I managed 47 dives (57 hours) over 14 days.
In summary, I am not a great lover of change, and was therefore glad that my stay and the diving at ASDC was very much as I remembered it from my first visit. So a big thank you to all the staff, especially Gina, Oliver, Hussein, and of course Carlo, my guide. The only thing that really seems to change in Anilao is the number of dive resorts!