ArizonaSusana
Registered
TRIP REPORT, PHILIPPINES, APRIL 2012
My dive buddy (husband) and I took our third scuba diving trip to the Philippines in April 2012. We spent one week at Kasai Village Beach Resort, Moalboal, on the island of Cebu. The second week we stayed at Atlantis Resort, Dumaguete on the island of Negros Oriental. Our travel was not as direct as usual as we wanted to fly with a Delta partner to take advantage of certain Skymiles perks. We flew Korean Air from LAX to Incheon Airport (Seoul, Korea) then on to Cebu City. We transferred from Kasai Village Beach Resort to the Atlantis Resort via ferry. For our return trip we flew on Philippine Air from Dumaguete to Cebu City (through Manila). From Cebu City we returned to LAX on Korean Air. Incheon Airport is fabulous, in my opinion it rivals the fantastic Changi Airport in Singapore. We had twenty-some hours of layovers on the return trip so while the use of the various premier lounges was nice, Im not sure it was worth it. Luckily our total time underwater (just over 37 hours each) was greater than our layovers. We will probably fly on Philippine Air (LAX-MNL-CEB) next trip.
KASAI VILLAGE BEACH RESORT, MOALBOAL, CEBU, THE PHILIPPINES
APRIL 11-18, 2012
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search Best of Kasai, the Philippines. Photos are by Reid McBride. Click on his name and the albums come up.
This was our third scuba diving trip to Kasai Village Beach Resort (www.kasaivillage.com). Our first trip to Kasai was in 2009 and second in 2011. We have been diving for eleven years and have over 850 dives each. We take several dive trips a year and have been to the Caribbean often. We have quite a few trips to Tropical Pacific areas as well. We are young (at heart as chronological age puts us in the 60s and 70s). As with our other Asian/Tropical Pacific travel, we used Ultimate Dive Travel (www.ultimatedivetravel.com) as our travel agent. For the most part, we arrange our own travel in the Caribbean, but really appreciate having Ultimate Dive Travel taking care of the many details for our more exotic travel. They do a great job for us and we have never ended up in a resort or day room that wasnt good.
Kasai Village Beach Resort is just outside of the town of Moalboal on the southwestern end of Cebu Island on the Tanon Strait. We flew into Cebu and took a three hour drive over the mountains to the resort where we were met with mango smoothies (yum!). Within 2-3 hours of arrival we were diving on the incredible reef in front of the resort. The entire shoreline in this area has beautiful sloping walls that start in shallow water (18-20 feet) and have the most amazing creatures and growth. This area is considered part of the famed coral triangle. The Coral Triangle spans coastal and marine areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. The Coral Triangle is considered by scientists to be the global epicenter of marine diversity and a major center of coral evolution. A full 76 percent of known coral species are found here and 37 percent of reef fish species. (www.coraltrianglecenter.org)
A typical day at Kasai starts with breakfast, then the morning 2-tank dive. Each dive is planned for 60 minutes with a 60 minute surface interval. We get back to the resort in time to dry off and eat lunch and take a brief siesta before the afternoon 1-tank dive. If youre not totally worn out after three hours underwater (we are!), you can dive the house reef in the late afternoon or take a night dive. The house reef is available all day and some people prefer to dive there instead of doing the boat dives.
In our week at Kasai Village, we made 19 dives. Water temperature was 82° F. This is the same as it was for our February 2009 trip and our April 2011 trip. I get cold easily and was comfortable in my 3 ml wetsuit; my husband dove in a 1 ml. Visibility was about the same as on previous trips 40-50 feet depending on dive site. There were more particles in the water and this was attributed to the earthquake that struck the area in early February.
With so many wonderful places to dive, why do we keep going back to Kasai Village Beach Resort is a question we are often asked. Diving is our first concern and Kasai provides consistently great diving, with safety conscious dive guides who really know the area and can find all kinds of great creatures (Felix has been our guide for the last two trips, but Tata, the dive manager, Alex, and Chris also do a great job), helpful staff (from boat crew to Allan in the compressor room providing us with chairs in the shade to analyze nitrox tanks). They handled our gear (except wetsuits, masks, computers) from transporting to the boat to cleaning after the dives. Some of the amazing things we saw include dragon sea moth, solar boxfish, map puffer, mushroom coral pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish, pygmy seahorses, and frogfish. Turtles were abundant! On many dives we saw 5 or more (and one dive, we saw all 5 at once so we werent seeing 1 turtle 5 times).
Even though we spend most of the day underwater or getting ready to go underwater or cleaning up from being underwater, we do appreciate the rest of the resort staff who make us feel so welcome and take care of us so well. We love to stop at the bar on the way to dinner and chat with Pablo while we enjoy the ocean breezes and sunset. The restaurant/bar is well-managed by Ceto and restaurant staff (from chef Bebe and her helpers to servers Edz, Hermes, Rhanz, and Linda) prepare wonderful meals and go out of their way to remember what we like and how we like it. Owners Michael and Lydia Pettersson live on the property and oversee every aspect of the resort.
Finally the beautiful location is well worth several visits. The resort is small (12 rooms), but the rooms are large and very comfortable. Most have a view of the ocean; others are near the pristine pool. Ocean view rooms are oriented so that guests have a lot of privacy on their porches (with comfortable seating). Improvements are always underway at the resort. The pier (about 600 feet since its so shallow) will be finished soon. We were able to use the new stairs in April and they are really easy to climb even with gear on. This makes shore diving so much easier. For boat diving, the banca boats can pull up to the pier and guests can step off and on without getting wet. When the end of the pier is finished, there will be a covered seating area. And speaking of banca boats, they commissioned a new, much larger boat that was almost finished when we were there and is probably already in the water. It has been designed with divers in mind. I am looking forward to diving from it.
ATLANTIS RESORT, DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL, THE PHILIPPINES
APRIL 18-25, 2012
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search Best of Atlantis, the Philippines. Photos are by Reid McBride. Click on his name and the albums come up.
Our transfer from Kasai Village Resort to the ferry was by car and a very interesting trip through many coastal villages. The ferry crossing took less than an hour and we were met by Atlantis Resort staff and taken to the resort about 30 minutes away.
Atlantis (www.atlantishotel.com/dumaguete) Resort is situated on a narrow property with a small beachfront (black sand beach) on the Bohol Sea. Rooms are in two story buildings throughout the lush, beautifully-maintained grounds. Rooms are comfortable and had porches or balconies. Service was impeccable and started with a neck massage during the minimal paperwork at check-in. The food was excellent. We arrived around noon and had lunch followed by our check-out dive in front of the resort. We set up our own gear for this dive but did not carry it. We entered the water and the dive staff brought our gear in and helped us put it on. From then on, we didnt touch our gear (except wetsuits, masks, computers).
We selected Dumaguete for our second week of diving because of its proximity to Moalboal AND because we had read and heard so much about Apo Island. We did not realize that the dive sites close to the resort were primarily muck, or, as they liked to call it, coastal diving. We had done some muck diving in Lembeh and North Sulawesi and it is not our favorite kind of diving. It was a little disappointing to learn that we would only go to Apo Island once during our stay.
The Apo Island trip is a LOT of fun. We went on the Titan, the larger banca boat. The trip to Apo took about 45 minutes. It was a three-tank dive with snacks between dives 1 and 2 and lunch/opportunity to get off the boat and shop between dives 2 and 3. While we were diving, staff set up a grill on the back of the boat. Lunch was incredible several salads and side dishes accompanied grilled chicken, pork, and tuna. After lunch, boat crew and dive masters played instruments and sang. Some people went ashore to shop (t-shirts, beach dresses). Prices were good, at least after negotiation.
Apo Island diving was very good; walls, corals, and lots of fish. Water temperature was 82° F. Visibility was about 50 feet.
The real pleasant surprise for us was our second three-tank dive trip to Siquijor, another area island. This trip took about an hour and was generally a repeat of the first except we couldnt get off the boat during our lunch break. It was too rocky for banca boats to approach close enough to shore. Siquijor has one of the most beautiful walls weve ever had the privilege to dive. Visibility was 60-70 feet.
The remaining 12 dives of our trip were near the resort usually a 10-15 minute boat ride away. We were on a smaller banca boat that was set up well for diving. There was usually 1 dive guide for every 3-4 people. Water temperature was 81-82° F. Visibility ranged from 20-35 feet. These dives were generally on artificial reefs (tires and stuff in the water) and over silty sand, frequently black because of long-extinct volcanoes. They did not have as much trash as the similar dives at Lembeh. We DID see MANY odd creatures and dive guides not only could point them out, but they could later tell us (scientific names and all) what we had seen. Some of the special sights included: ribbon eel, dragonet, robust ghost pipefish, hairy ghost pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish, hairy squat lobster, cockatoo waspfish, spiny devil fish, mantis shrimp, orangutan crab, and the tallest garden eels that I have ever seen.
We had several dive guides during our stay. They and all the staff worked hard to make sure each guest had a good trip. As is usually the case, the staff really makes a difference. From Richard, the resort manager, to Bella, the resort dog, everyone was great. We were especially impressed with Paul, the dive manager, Alex, the photo manager, Marco, a marine biologist, and our guides, Winnie, Wing, Genie, Junnar, and Lito. The camera room was great and the assistance from Alex invaluable for those who needed it. I loved being able to describe something odd to Marco (usually in the bar at the end of the day) and have him immediately tell me what it was.
We enjoyed our stay and our 18 dives at Atlantis. We recommend this Resort, particularly for divers who like coastal diving and weird creatures.
My dive buddy (husband) and I took our third scuba diving trip to the Philippines in April 2012. We spent one week at Kasai Village Beach Resort, Moalboal, on the island of Cebu. The second week we stayed at Atlantis Resort, Dumaguete on the island of Negros Oriental. Our travel was not as direct as usual as we wanted to fly with a Delta partner to take advantage of certain Skymiles perks. We flew Korean Air from LAX to Incheon Airport (Seoul, Korea) then on to Cebu City. We transferred from Kasai Village Beach Resort to the Atlantis Resort via ferry. For our return trip we flew on Philippine Air from Dumaguete to Cebu City (through Manila). From Cebu City we returned to LAX on Korean Air. Incheon Airport is fabulous, in my opinion it rivals the fantastic Changi Airport in Singapore. We had twenty-some hours of layovers on the return trip so while the use of the various premier lounges was nice, Im not sure it was worth it. Luckily our total time underwater (just over 37 hours each) was greater than our layovers. We will probably fly on Philippine Air (LAX-MNL-CEB) next trip.
KASAI VILLAGE BEACH RESORT, MOALBOAL, CEBU, THE PHILIPPINES
APRIL 11-18, 2012
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search Best of Kasai, the Philippines. Photos are by Reid McBride. Click on his name and the albums come up.
This was our third scuba diving trip to Kasai Village Beach Resort (www.kasaivillage.com). Our first trip to Kasai was in 2009 and second in 2011. We have been diving for eleven years and have over 850 dives each. We take several dive trips a year and have been to the Caribbean often. We have quite a few trips to Tropical Pacific areas as well. We are young (at heart as chronological age puts us in the 60s and 70s). As with our other Asian/Tropical Pacific travel, we used Ultimate Dive Travel (www.ultimatedivetravel.com) as our travel agent. For the most part, we arrange our own travel in the Caribbean, but really appreciate having Ultimate Dive Travel taking care of the many details for our more exotic travel. They do a great job for us and we have never ended up in a resort or day room that wasnt good.
Kasai Village Beach Resort is just outside of the town of Moalboal on the southwestern end of Cebu Island on the Tanon Strait. We flew into Cebu and took a three hour drive over the mountains to the resort where we were met with mango smoothies (yum!). Within 2-3 hours of arrival we were diving on the incredible reef in front of the resort. The entire shoreline in this area has beautiful sloping walls that start in shallow water (18-20 feet) and have the most amazing creatures and growth. This area is considered part of the famed coral triangle. The Coral Triangle spans coastal and marine areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. The Coral Triangle is considered by scientists to be the global epicenter of marine diversity and a major center of coral evolution. A full 76 percent of known coral species are found here and 37 percent of reef fish species. (www.coraltrianglecenter.org)
A typical day at Kasai starts with breakfast, then the morning 2-tank dive. Each dive is planned for 60 minutes with a 60 minute surface interval. We get back to the resort in time to dry off and eat lunch and take a brief siesta before the afternoon 1-tank dive. If youre not totally worn out after three hours underwater (we are!), you can dive the house reef in the late afternoon or take a night dive. The house reef is available all day and some people prefer to dive there instead of doing the boat dives.
In our week at Kasai Village, we made 19 dives. Water temperature was 82° F. This is the same as it was for our February 2009 trip and our April 2011 trip. I get cold easily and was comfortable in my 3 ml wetsuit; my husband dove in a 1 ml. Visibility was about the same as on previous trips 40-50 feet depending on dive site. There were more particles in the water and this was attributed to the earthquake that struck the area in early February.
With so many wonderful places to dive, why do we keep going back to Kasai Village Beach Resort is a question we are often asked. Diving is our first concern and Kasai provides consistently great diving, with safety conscious dive guides who really know the area and can find all kinds of great creatures (Felix has been our guide for the last two trips, but Tata, the dive manager, Alex, and Chris also do a great job), helpful staff (from boat crew to Allan in the compressor room providing us with chairs in the shade to analyze nitrox tanks). They handled our gear (except wetsuits, masks, computers) from transporting to the boat to cleaning after the dives. Some of the amazing things we saw include dragon sea moth, solar boxfish, map puffer, mushroom coral pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish, pygmy seahorses, and frogfish. Turtles were abundant! On many dives we saw 5 or more (and one dive, we saw all 5 at once so we werent seeing 1 turtle 5 times).
Even though we spend most of the day underwater or getting ready to go underwater or cleaning up from being underwater, we do appreciate the rest of the resort staff who make us feel so welcome and take care of us so well. We love to stop at the bar on the way to dinner and chat with Pablo while we enjoy the ocean breezes and sunset. The restaurant/bar is well-managed by Ceto and restaurant staff (from chef Bebe and her helpers to servers Edz, Hermes, Rhanz, and Linda) prepare wonderful meals and go out of their way to remember what we like and how we like it. Owners Michael and Lydia Pettersson live on the property and oversee every aspect of the resort.
Finally the beautiful location is well worth several visits. The resort is small (12 rooms), but the rooms are large and very comfortable. Most have a view of the ocean; others are near the pristine pool. Ocean view rooms are oriented so that guests have a lot of privacy on their porches (with comfortable seating). Improvements are always underway at the resort. The pier (about 600 feet since its so shallow) will be finished soon. We were able to use the new stairs in April and they are really easy to climb even with gear on. This makes shore diving so much easier. For boat diving, the banca boats can pull up to the pier and guests can step off and on without getting wet. When the end of the pier is finished, there will be a covered seating area. And speaking of banca boats, they commissioned a new, much larger boat that was almost finished when we were there and is probably already in the water. It has been designed with divers in mind. I am looking forward to diving from it.
ATLANTIS RESORT, DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL, THE PHILIPPINES
APRIL 18-25, 2012
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search Best of Atlantis, the Philippines. Photos are by Reid McBride. Click on his name and the albums come up.
Our transfer from Kasai Village Resort to the ferry was by car and a very interesting trip through many coastal villages. The ferry crossing took less than an hour and we were met by Atlantis Resort staff and taken to the resort about 30 minutes away.
Atlantis (www.atlantishotel.com/dumaguete) Resort is situated on a narrow property with a small beachfront (black sand beach) on the Bohol Sea. Rooms are in two story buildings throughout the lush, beautifully-maintained grounds. Rooms are comfortable and had porches or balconies. Service was impeccable and started with a neck massage during the minimal paperwork at check-in. The food was excellent. We arrived around noon and had lunch followed by our check-out dive in front of the resort. We set up our own gear for this dive but did not carry it. We entered the water and the dive staff brought our gear in and helped us put it on. From then on, we didnt touch our gear (except wetsuits, masks, computers).
We selected Dumaguete for our second week of diving because of its proximity to Moalboal AND because we had read and heard so much about Apo Island. We did not realize that the dive sites close to the resort were primarily muck, or, as they liked to call it, coastal diving. We had done some muck diving in Lembeh and North Sulawesi and it is not our favorite kind of diving. It was a little disappointing to learn that we would only go to Apo Island once during our stay.
The Apo Island trip is a LOT of fun. We went on the Titan, the larger banca boat. The trip to Apo took about 45 minutes. It was a three-tank dive with snacks between dives 1 and 2 and lunch/opportunity to get off the boat and shop between dives 2 and 3. While we were diving, staff set up a grill on the back of the boat. Lunch was incredible several salads and side dishes accompanied grilled chicken, pork, and tuna. After lunch, boat crew and dive masters played instruments and sang. Some people went ashore to shop (t-shirts, beach dresses). Prices were good, at least after negotiation.
Apo Island diving was very good; walls, corals, and lots of fish. Water temperature was 82° F. Visibility was about 50 feet.
The real pleasant surprise for us was our second three-tank dive trip to Siquijor, another area island. This trip took about an hour and was generally a repeat of the first except we couldnt get off the boat during our lunch break. It was too rocky for banca boats to approach close enough to shore. Siquijor has one of the most beautiful walls weve ever had the privilege to dive. Visibility was 60-70 feet.
The remaining 12 dives of our trip were near the resort usually a 10-15 minute boat ride away. We were on a smaller banca boat that was set up well for diving. There was usually 1 dive guide for every 3-4 people. Water temperature was 81-82° F. Visibility ranged from 20-35 feet. These dives were generally on artificial reefs (tires and stuff in the water) and over silty sand, frequently black because of long-extinct volcanoes. They did not have as much trash as the similar dives at Lembeh. We DID see MANY odd creatures and dive guides not only could point them out, but they could later tell us (scientific names and all) what we had seen. Some of the special sights included: ribbon eel, dragonet, robust ghost pipefish, hairy ghost pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish, hairy squat lobster, cockatoo waspfish, spiny devil fish, mantis shrimp, orangutan crab, and the tallest garden eels that I have ever seen.
We had several dive guides during our stay. They and all the staff worked hard to make sure each guest had a good trip. As is usually the case, the staff really makes a difference. From Richard, the resort manager, to Bella, the resort dog, everyone was great. We were especially impressed with Paul, the dive manager, Alex, the photo manager, Marco, a marine biologist, and our guides, Winnie, Wing, Genie, Junnar, and Lito. The camera room was great and the assistance from Alex invaluable for those who needed it. I loved being able to describe something odd to Marco (usually in the bar at the end of the day) and have him immediately tell me what it was.
We enjoyed our stay and our 18 dives at Atlantis. We recommend this Resort, particularly for divers who like coastal diving and weird creatures.
