Thoughts on choosing among the South Leyte dive ops?

[FT]

Have read through the threads and it seems as though everyone who has been to South Leyte likes the first dive op they picked and has stuck with it... but is there any advantage to one over the other?

I think that my dive buddy and I are considering Peter’s, Southern Leyte Divers and Sogod Bay Scuba Resort for five days in March. We will be coming off a week in Puerto Galera, so flying from Manila and probably asking for a transfer from Tacloban as we’re both tall women, with aging knees, and I have never fit into a jeepney particularly well.

Top consideration is the safety and professionalism of the dive op. Good rental equipment as we will need BCDs and regs. Buddy likes to pack in four dives a day while I am happy with three. She has a camera but is not ambitious with it.

Next after that is decent coffee and food. It seems as though they all offer hot showers and air con, though if any use the quieter split air con that would be nice to know.

Advice welcomed.

 

[borisphotosafari]

I have stayed and dove at Peter's Resort in May last year. I enjoyed diving there. Dive staff was very professional and accommodating. They did macro dives for me. Where ever you stay, don't miss the night dives at Padre Burgos.
The resort had professional and friendly staff overall. Booking was easy, they arranged a ferry pick up for us. Restaurant was good. They also have a nice pool. It's not luxury resort but it was clean and good enough for me.
I don't know about rentals, I brought my own, but it looked on the newer side.
You are going in March, it is whale shark season. I missed it in May.

 

[Tippytoes12]

I stayed in Sogod Bay Dive Resort for a couple of nights and then moved to Southern Leyte Divers, where I returned the following year.

Everything about Southern Leyte Divers was better. The rooms, the food, the location, the tranquility, the atmosphere and the quality of the guiding were all many times better in SLD than in SBSR. We were lucky enough to see two whalesharks very close and two on the way back to the resort with SLD. The guides we had on both stays at SLD were good and excellent spotters.

The food in SLD is, for the Philippines, very good and is served in healthy portions. Breakfasts in SBSR were OK and the other meals were poor.

You mentioned air con. The air con unit in SBSR was alot older and very noisy. The air con units in SLD were newer and a lot quieter. The room was also a lot smaller in SBSR. I travelled with my husband on the second trip. It would would have been a real squeeze in the SBSR room for a couple, but we had plenty of room in SLD.

Peters Dive Resort is apparently building new rooms and they have a pool.

As one of the previous posters said, don’t miss the night dive at the Pier which is wonderful.

 

[FT]

Thank you so much, Boris and Tippytoes. Tippytoes, would you happen to remember if South Leyte Divers offered nitrox? Their Web site and email quote are silent on the subject.

 

[Luko]

Don't want to hijack the thread but since it's there...

The three operators mentioned up there always come up (I suspect like FT many have stuck to the one they picked first).
I've seen other dive operators which accomodations would seem more friendly to my non diving wife : Padre Burgos Castle resort south of Padre Burgos and Pintuyan resort located in Panaon.

May be they don't come up for good reasons after all, though I wonder whether anyone actually experienced these operators?

 

[Tippytoes12]

You are very welcome and no I don’t think that they have Nitrox. But the diving is not particularly deep and you get very well taken care. Try contacting them via Facebook. It’s worth persevering because the diving is wonderful there.

Luko mentioned PBCR. This is a lovely looking place with a pool and a beautiful pretty beach.I contacted them before I left SBSR an DT he lady was lovely , but they were full. It is very small though !

 

[xrcjdx]

Like Tippytoes, I moved on from sbdr to another - in my case Peter's. I have no axe to grind with sbsr, just prefer the vibe at Peter's. As an example, when I stayed at Peter's in the off season, instead of asking 2 divers to pay as though we were 4 divers to cross the bay and access Napantao (see the recent review of sbdr), they asked that we take 3 dives, which they spread over 2 locations. Great solution, everyone happy. There are other examples as well. You know, the little things.
As for SLD, completely agree with Tippytoes, and probably anyone who has a basis to compare - best food in Southern Leyte, and would go as far as saying all of Leyte and beyond. Very hospitable and friendly, beautiful open air set up, food all served at the same time, most complete bar within a day's travel. Don't know anything about the current dive staff, but the rooms are right on a sandy beach, and haven't heard any complaints. Large dive banka. Wouldn't hesitate recommending them based on the physical plant alone, if that's a major concern.
As for the Castle resort - beautiful location, nice upscale looking facilities including a pleasant enough small pool, located on a cliff top with spectacular views. Unfortunately, you have to walk up and down a not insignificant number of steps to access a nice sandy and private beach at the base of the cliffs. And the small banka they use to dive off of leaves a LOT to be desired. A private place to pee that doesn't require a jump off the side being only one of them. Besides the price, the banka alone is a deal breaker. But it's a great place to enjoy lunch and a cocktail.
Bottom line you can't go badly wrong with any of the places this side of Sogod Bay. You're going to love it here.

 

[FT]

Thank you.
Stairs? Nopenopenope.
Dive buddy and I looked at the options and their price quotes, and let’s cross our fingers that we can book the dates we want — she is writing Choice A now. I will come back with a report, insh’allah, in April. It will be interesting to compare to Verde Island and the other delights of PG, which we’ll be visiting first.

 

[Kupu]

Aim for a trip to Limasawa, it comes to mind when making comparisons to Verde Island.

 

[MomZo]

Looking forward to read a new trip report about the area as I am planning a trip there Q1 or Q2 2020.