Visayas dive trip report 2025 - Dauin and Anda Bohol

[BBQ77]

Long time reader, time to contribute. Live in BKK Thailand, actively diving regularly in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.

Took a 2 week dive trip to Visayas: part 1 Dauin with some friends, part 2 Anda solo. Mid to end June 2025. Sorry it is a bit wordy, I like details...

Travel itinerary and comments:
1- BKK to Manila (MNL) with Thai Airways (3hrs). Overnight in Pasay (Manila) Newport City just next to NAIA Terminal 3. Savoy Hotel, would have been very good if not for 24/7 ongoing repairs with cement drilling even at 1-3 AM which does not help sleep.
2- Next AM MNL (terminal 2) to Dumaguete (DGT) on PAL express, 1hr30 min. Pick up at airport from resort. 35 min drive.
3- Stayed at Well Beach Resort on the southern limit of Dauin
4- Back to DGT for the ferry to Tagbilaran (TAG) 2 hours. There a driver waiting for me for the 2 hour drive to Blue Star Dive resort.
5- Spent 5 days in Blue Star.
6- Flew back to MNL (2 hr drive to TAG, 90 min flight); relaxed a bit and back home to BKK a few days later.

1- DAUIN Well Beeach resort stay details:
A- the resort: was my 1st time there, but my dive buddies had been there twice and happy with it. I was looking for a new resort to stay/ dive from as my last experience with another rahter known resort had been disastrous (having booked previously, when I arrived they suddenly had "no boat, it's being repaired" and only offered shore dives without compensation...). I loved Well Beach and will go again. Note: it is up for sale as the Swiss owner has died a few years ago and his Switzerland based family is not interested in continuing with the resort.
The resort is smaller and offers you "all inclusive packages" from pick up to drop off, including room and full board and any decent amount of diving you want. We took a 12 dive package, just had to pay extra for nitrox. Rooms are spacious, cleaned daily, large bathroom, OK water pressure. Internet is good enough (we are in PH...have lower expectations...). Restaurant meals: they have a very extensive menu and for each meal you can pick any item in their meny + a side order. You can also have a non alcoholic drink and endless refill service water (filtered). The quality of the food was very good, the quantities were huge. Amongst us we had steak, large shrimp, BBQ'ed various meats, thai style dishes (not real authentic thai taste but totally ok to eat). For on the boat lunch, you order from the same menu, the only thing is the meal is eaten cold. We chose to ask for some vegetable side orders instead of rice/ potato types of sides and we could not have been happier.

Diving set up: extremely professional and super satisfied. Will use them on my next Dauin trip again.
We were the only 3 divers at the resort; we were pampered. They use tanks rented/ filled off site. The nitrox was spot on between 31-32%. Very occasional tanks had main valve that could need maintenance (one had a leak, one was hard to screw-unscrew out of the total of 44 tanks including our guide's). They have a good setup/ storage space, wash basins with fresh water and you can leave your equipment hanging all in a secure environment at night. Security guard on site nighttime. From the resort you access the sea and the boat directly. Their bangka boat is long, large and has a good motor. It is one of the boats regularly used to go to Apo island (as they are on the southern side of Dauin, so less boat travel time!). Crew is good, helping always when you want and they have a big fresh water "container" to give you a fresh water face wash off when you climb back up from each dive. Much appreciated!!
Our guide nicknamed Kokoy was super good and patient, always trying to find the critters we asked on the "menu of the day". Maraming salamat!

Dive sightings: there is lots of info on stuff to see Dauin and I have no complaints. Mostly on the macro, at times muck stuff. Lots of artificial reefs also which add colour and smaller reef fish. Frog fish, scorpion fish, nudies, ribbon eels, normal (some quite large) and flamboyant cuttle fush, only one octopus this time, shrimp of all sorts. But ... the amazing and very unusual thing this time is we were graced by a teenage manta on 2 dives rather close to the shore (9-10 min up slope grassy area). One one dive, I spent a total of 50 min with this playful teenager (while my friends were too busy looking at their nudies lol). Wow!

I will write up part 2 - Anda Bohol after a break ...

 

[BBQ77]

Oh I would like to add that Well Beach team prepared a very productive dive schedule for us before our arrival: on the PM of our arrival, 1st dive, then night dive at house reef. Four dives the next 2 days, including night dives (again at the house reef, which is very extensive!) and 2 or 3 dives on the last day so we could off gas pre flight the next day. They know and appreciate you come here to dive, so they will help you reach your goal without any "ah... maybe... " attitude. Loved it !

 

[BBQ77]

2- BLUE STAR ANDA BOHOL

A- Prelude: Anda came to my attention pre-covid, diving with a French DM in Panglao Bohol. He told me how relatively isolated this place was, with pristine almost untouched walls, very little diving pressure on the reefs. It's about a 2 hour drive from Tagbilaran, so you either need to book a private transport (not cheap...) or take the long distance bus (depending on your equipment load, maybe less convenient but regular buses). I never got around to go there pre-covid, we all know how post covid was... I finally made time for Anda. I did some research. I actually wanted to dive with Anda Scuba Diving mentionned in another TR from 2024 and heartily recommended by my French DM friend. But they were on hiatus for all of June which was the only time I could go.

My choice was made : Blue Star. Contact with them was friendly and very fast; they were the 1st ones to reply to me after i sent out 4 different emails; Sayong, who's title receptionist on the website should be changed to manager as she solves everything for you, gave me the Whatsapp and from there everything was even faster. They offered me a composite package accomodation with breakfast + diving and I pay "a la carte" for the food/ drinks which it turns out was way cheaper than Magic Oceans (by about 30% and after seeing my food bill, it was still significantly lower). They also offered me a 5% instructor discount on the diving package.

B- Getting there: Reached DGT ferry port, I had bought a ticket online with Ocean Jet (in my "frequent" Philippine ferry taker eyes the best option there). Check in, luggage fee of 110 php, boarding and leaving on time. Easy crossing, less than 2 hours. Walk out of the terminal, my driver is waiting for me with a sign. I opted for private transport from the resort (3500 php, not cheap...) because I don't want any hassle of local negotiation at the ferry. I am sure there are cheaper options (lots of official looking staff from various transport agencies waiting outside the pier). I also did not want to prolong the 2 hour drive with multiple stops along the way. The road is good and there were a lot of local fiestas as it was a certain Saint's b-day so villages were decorated and locals in a good mood (slowing down my progression a little, but it was colourful!)

C- Resort: it sits on a top of a cliff, has a larger pool view building with 4 rooms; 5 sea view bungalows, quite spacious (40 sq m) with a balcony (my pick). Each of these is far enough from the other to ensure real privacy. I am currently the only diver there, but there are other guests, family style. The restaurant also gets FIlipino customers in the evening, some on holiday from Manila. The main building is combo reception, bar with pool table and restaurant area; many tables are sea view. The dive shop is a little lower than the main building; it was closed so I had to wait till the next AM to talk diving with my guide.
The food menu is good, though not as extensive as what I had on the previous portion of my trip. I found something I like and I wound up repeating a few times. Portions are also generous, I was able again to get a side of vegetables instead of rice or something potato-ey. Service is polite as always in the PH. You can get lunch made for bringing on the boat if you will do 3 consecutive dives without coming back to shore.

D- Diving set up: one FIlipino instructor and I believe 3 guides/ DM. The dive shop is a bit jumbled, but my equipment is rinsed/ cleaned/ stored very well. They lock everything tight when they close, it is safe and stuff is dry in the morning even if it's humid. They have on site compressor which looks well maintained and nitrox (dilution). The sea was choppy and it was not advisable to do night dives on their house reef, so I chose to dive air x3/day. Later I realized my already assigned guide was not nitrox certified, so I wonder how they would have handled the situation had I chosen to dive nitrox (I don't want to make any assumptions please). My guide tried to show me lots of things; he also benefited from my experience to be able to do things he has not done before with normal customers.
They have 2 bangkas, but we used only the smaller one, which obviously has a less powerful motor. They do bring on board an atypical sized oxygen tank (looks about 3 L). The ladder to climb back on boat after surfacing is a little small, some might find it uneasy in choppy water conditions.

E- Dive sightings: As it was windy and choppy facing the resort, we went "on the other side" of the village (east) point, where it was better. The water on top of reef was sandy from the conditions (windy all the time, some rain storms mid-late PM), but as soon as you go below 12m, things cleared up lots and was fine below 15-18m. The currents were mod to strong especially with end rising tide for the 1st dive of the day -- I was there during the greatest tide differentials of the month.

Walls... beautiful walls... more great walls all in healthy condition with lots of soft corals, sponges, sea fans, you name it. Bring a torch for sure, as the angle of the sun does not always give you best light. There are few... or many dive sites depending on how you determine "what makes a dive site", as basically they follow a long quasi continuous wall all along the coast with lots of buoys to keep the boat along the reef. On a stronger current dive my guide told me we covered 6 dive sites: I could not ascertain how far this was really. But the drifts were fun and easy. The walls bottom out between about 24m to 36m (maybe a bit more but did not go beyond).
Ok let's get the 10+ turtles / dive out of the way... I liked that they clearly showed they are not used to seeing many humans every day. Even shining a light on them would startle them.
There are also tons of smaller reef fish, a few of larger ones (the hunters) also seen: barracudas, larger snappers, jacks, etc. There is some macro, lots of things nesting on those walls, but I was a bit macro'ed out so I specifically told my guide: only show it to me if it is obviously moving! Also with the current, go with the flow, only stop for something really wow!

The walls have lots of encroachments, some forming into pseudo caverns (with a clear end point but a little overhead). There are also (mostly at >24m or deeper) a few real little caves, which I penetrated very partially for a few meters, but a couple had water syphoning inwards (due to tide I imagine although the currents had seemed to quiet off lots) so I backed out as soon as I would feel any current.

So gorgeous almost endless walls, lots of animal life. Will go back to Anda again for sure! But I will try to dive with the Fench couple running Anda Scuba Divers (I would not discourage someone from going diving with Blue Star but by my nature I think it would be a better match with others)

 

[BBQ77]

Blue Star resort viewed from the sea(pic from their website). No beach below as most resorts on the same side, but it seems OK to snorkel and dive the house reef when the conditions are good. All in all it was a very nice place to stay and I would have no issues staying there again.