Having some vacation time that needed to come off the books, I made a short trip to Peter’s Dive Resort in Padre Burgos for 4 nights with 5 days of diving. The area has been on my radar for some time, but its not the easiest location to get to from the USA. It was well worth the effort with excellent diving and there was something interesting to see on each of my 14 dives during the trip.
July is low season for Southern Leyte, the resort was quiet and the weather was as expected for the Philippines in July. First 3 days were mostly sunny and no rain until the late afternoon. 4th and 5th days were showery. Nothing that would affect diving, but because of some waves across the bay, they stayed on the west side closer to the resort. The water was clear and 29-30C; I was comfortable in a rash guard. There was 1 family, one other diver, and myself at the resort for the first few days, so it was fairly quiet but the dive staff went out of their way to honor requests and make sure everyone was happy. Dives were planned for 1 hour and never had more than 3 divers per guide during my stay, and 4-5 divers per guide during busy periods. For about half of my dives, I was the only diver so had a private guide. Peter’s has several boats and there are a number of sites that are accessible from shore. Nitrox is available and rental gear appeared to be in good condition. There is plenty of room for gear rinsing and storage which is secured at night. The storage area has fans but the area lacks a good breeze for drying when they are off.
Napantao and Limasawa were the highlights. Maltibog Lembeh and a night dive at the jetty were also good dives with plenty to see. No big marine life, but excellent reefs and lots of fish. I think there is good potential for small stuff too but the warm water may have made it less active. Napantao was a 35 min boat ride across the bay. I was wow’ed by the size and condition of the corals and the number of small, colorful reef fish. We did 2 dives here on different sections of the wall, both were amazing. Limasawa, 45 mins from the resort, was also excellent for 2 morning dives. Adrian’s cove had much to see and I wish we could have planned for a longer dive here. Surfacing with 80 bar on a great site was disappointing, but we planned for 1 hour and I cant fault the DM for following the plan or surfacing the other diver on his own. Certainly Limasawa has some of the best sites in the area but its unfortunate to see a surprising amount of garbage. Not sure if this is due to day trippers to the island or if it just in a location that catches garbage from the ocean.
I stayed in standard room #1 which is next to the restaurant and faces the water. There is a covered patio with seating and a line for drying clothes. The room itself was basic, but only 1500php per night. It met expectations and was clean. A/C kept the room cool for sleeping and the fan was enough the rest of the time. Only complaint about the room would be poor lighting. I would suggest bringing a power strip if you need to charge more than 2 things at once. They are constructing a new multi-story building which will have some new rooms and updated facilities. The restaurant was reasonably priced and served good sized portions. Nothing fancy on the menu, but dishes all tasted fine and were filling after a day of diving. Cold beer and cocktails were also reasonably priced. Large groups and families might be able to make arrangements with the restaurant staff to prepare larger, shared dishes. There didn’t appear to be much nightlife in the area for foreigners, but there were a few bars and restaurants in Padre Burgos near the jetty. Some of the grilled food smelled delicious but I had already ordered my dinner at Peter’s and did not get a chance to eat anywhere outside of the resort.
Technology had me a bit frustrated on the trip. I made too many changes without fully testing things before leaving and as was disappointed in my inability to edit photos. I installed the public beta of iPadOS before leaving and was much very much looking forward to the announced feature of support for external media. Unfortunately, it is beta software and its certainly not ready for prime time; not only does the media support have significant problems, but I lost the ability to import photos which existed in the older version, even if it was a cumbersome process to get them LightRoom for editing. I also traded in my TG-5 for a TG-6 the week before I left. I am still playing with settings on the camera, but Im extremely frustrated that my settings seem to reset every time I swap batteries. If this is normal, I will be asking Olympus to downgrade me back to a TG-5. I can only blame myself for the issues here and next time will test any setup changes and allow time to become familiar with any new technology before I leave home.
As for transportation, I flew into Manila via Tokyo, and arrived around 8pm. Spent a short overnight at the Wings transit hotel inside terminal 3 and departed at 5am the next morning on Cebu Pacific to Tacloban. From Tacloban airport, I hired a driver to the resort. Posted rate is 4000php, but this is negotiable. I paid 3000; it’s a 3.5 hour drive to Padre Burgos. I arrived with plenty of time in the day and wasn’t nearly as tired as I had expected so I was surprisingly able to make 2 dives on the first day. I arranged for a late room check out so that I could dive on departure day. Starting early, I was able to get 3 dives done before my gas-off time to fly home. I left the resort after dinner and headed to Maasin to catch the night ferry to Cebu. Took a trike to Maasin for 500php and the drive was maybe 45 mins. The ferry ride wasn’t terrible and I was able to get around 5 hours of sleep. To me, it was worth it for the extra dives. Although the ferry left on schedule at 10pm, it arrived into Cebu a little over 2 hours late around 7am. Tourist class was 600php, but if I do this again, its worth the 400php upgrade to business (1000php). The tourist class berths were made for smaller individuals; I’m 5’9 and 165lbs and had to keep my knees bent. Anyone over 6’ would have been pretty uncomfortable. Light sleepers would also benefit from the quieter, darker business cabin which appeared to have larger beds. From Cebu, I took an early afternoon flight to Singapore for a stopover and back to the US from there. Cebu airport has a new international terminal which is quite nice and I do hope that this brings some new air services and easier connections as Cebu is much preferred over Manila regardless of where your destination in the Philippines may be.
I do hope to return to the area someday. The corals were pristine and there was an abundance marine of life in the area. Would stay at Peter’s again and certainly recommend them for solid accommodation at a reasonable price. Their dive operation is safe and efficient and their experienced guides have great eyes for smaller critters. The staff at Peters was excellent; you will be with good people who try their best if you stay there. I personally felt the trip was well worth the effort getting to and from Southern Leyte, but that is probably the biggest deterrent for many who consider traveling here.
July is low season for Southern Leyte, the resort was quiet and the weather was as expected for the Philippines in July. First 3 days were mostly sunny and no rain until the late afternoon. 4th and 5th days were showery. Nothing that would affect diving, but because of some waves across the bay, they stayed on the west side closer to the resort. The water was clear and 29-30C; I was comfortable in a rash guard. There was 1 family, one other diver, and myself at the resort for the first few days, so it was fairly quiet but the dive staff went out of their way to honor requests and make sure everyone was happy. Dives were planned for 1 hour and never had more than 3 divers per guide during my stay, and 4-5 divers per guide during busy periods. For about half of my dives, I was the only diver so had a private guide. Peter’s has several boats and there are a number of sites that are accessible from shore. Nitrox is available and rental gear appeared to be in good condition. There is plenty of room for gear rinsing and storage which is secured at night. The storage area has fans but the area lacks a good breeze for drying when they are off.
Napantao and Limasawa were the highlights. Maltibog Lembeh and a night dive at the jetty were also good dives with plenty to see. No big marine life, but excellent reefs and lots of fish. I think there is good potential for small stuff too but the warm water may have made it less active. Napantao was a 35 min boat ride across the bay. I was wow’ed by the size and condition of the corals and the number of small, colorful reef fish. We did 2 dives here on different sections of the wall, both were amazing. Limasawa, 45 mins from the resort, was also excellent for 2 morning dives. Adrian’s cove had much to see and I wish we could have planned for a longer dive here. Surfacing with 80 bar on a great site was disappointing, but we planned for 1 hour and I cant fault the DM for following the plan or surfacing the other diver on his own. Certainly Limasawa has some of the best sites in the area but its unfortunate to see a surprising amount of garbage. Not sure if this is due to day trippers to the island or if it just in a location that catches garbage from the ocean.
I stayed in standard room #1 which is next to the restaurant and faces the water. There is a covered patio with seating and a line for drying clothes. The room itself was basic, but only 1500php per night. It met expectations and was clean. A/C kept the room cool for sleeping and the fan was enough the rest of the time. Only complaint about the room would be poor lighting. I would suggest bringing a power strip if you need to charge more than 2 things at once. They are constructing a new multi-story building which will have some new rooms and updated facilities. The restaurant was reasonably priced and served good sized portions. Nothing fancy on the menu, but dishes all tasted fine and were filling after a day of diving. Cold beer and cocktails were also reasonably priced. Large groups and families might be able to make arrangements with the restaurant staff to prepare larger, shared dishes. There didn’t appear to be much nightlife in the area for foreigners, but there were a few bars and restaurants in Padre Burgos near the jetty. Some of the grilled food smelled delicious but I had already ordered my dinner at Peter’s and did not get a chance to eat anywhere outside of the resort.
Technology had me a bit frustrated on the trip. I made too many changes without fully testing things before leaving and as was disappointed in my inability to edit photos. I installed the public beta of iPadOS before leaving and was much very much looking forward to the announced feature of support for external media. Unfortunately, it is beta software and its certainly not ready for prime time; not only does the media support have significant problems, but I lost the ability to import photos which existed in the older version, even if it was a cumbersome process to get them LightRoom for editing. I also traded in my TG-5 for a TG-6 the week before I left. I am still playing with settings on the camera, but Im extremely frustrated that my settings seem to reset every time I swap batteries. If this is normal, I will be asking Olympus to downgrade me back to a TG-5. I can only blame myself for the issues here and next time will test any setup changes and allow time to become familiar with any new technology before I leave home.
As for transportation, I flew into Manila via Tokyo, and arrived around 8pm. Spent a short overnight at the Wings transit hotel inside terminal 3 and departed at 5am the next morning on Cebu Pacific to Tacloban. From Tacloban airport, I hired a driver to the resort. Posted rate is 4000php, but this is negotiable. I paid 3000; it’s a 3.5 hour drive to Padre Burgos. I arrived with plenty of time in the day and wasn’t nearly as tired as I had expected so I was surprisingly able to make 2 dives on the first day. I arranged for a late room check out so that I could dive on departure day. Starting early, I was able to get 3 dives done before my gas-off time to fly home. I left the resort after dinner and headed to Maasin to catch the night ferry to Cebu. Took a trike to Maasin for 500php and the drive was maybe 45 mins. The ferry ride wasn’t terrible and I was able to get around 5 hours of sleep. To me, it was worth it for the extra dives. Although the ferry left on schedule at 10pm, it arrived into Cebu a little over 2 hours late around 7am. Tourist class was 600php, but if I do this again, its worth the 400php upgrade to business (1000php). The tourist class berths were made for smaller individuals; I’m 5’9 and 165lbs and had to keep my knees bent. Anyone over 6’ would have been pretty uncomfortable. Light sleepers would also benefit from the quieter, darker business cabin which appeared to have larger beds. From Cebu, I took an early afternoon flight to Singapore for a stopover and back to the US from there. Cebu airport has a new international terminal which is quite nice and I do hope that this brings some new air services and easier connections as Cebu is much preferred over Manila regardless of where your destination in the Philippines may be.
I do hope to return to the area someday. The corals were pristine and there was an abundance marine of life in the area. Would stay at Peter’s again and certainly recommend them for solid accommodation at a reasonable price. Their dive operation is safe and efficient and their experienced guides have great eyes for smaller critters. The staff at Peters was excellent; you will be with good people who try their best if you stay there. I personally felt the trip was well worth the effort getting to and from Southern Leyte, but that is probably the biggest deterrent for many who consider traveling here.
