Where To Stay In Anilao

[btscott]

How would people rate Aiyanar vs Buceo?

 

[hedonist222]

I've stayed at Buceo.
Aiyanar is not only larger, but looks more high end.
I recall putting Aiyanar on my potential "back to Anilao" list of places to go.
Not that there was anything wrong with Buceo (other than being a bit overpriced IMO), but to try something new.

 

[btscott]

I've stayed at Buceo.
Aiyanar is not only larger, but looks more high end.
I recall putting Aiyanar on my potential "back to Anilao" list of places to go.
Not that there was anything wrong with Buceo (other than being a bit overpriced IMO), but to try something new.

Wife wants to stay at Aiyanar, so we will go there. Food was deciding factor for her. We are veggie and Buceo had mediocre food options. I would have been fine with Buceo... I am all about photos and post dive cocktail. After that, I'm happy with standard cheese pizza or pasta. Aiyanar is significantly more expensive. Will report back after we go on how it goes... So far, I will say both Aiyanar and Buceo have been very communicative and accomodating in their responses. Crystal Blue not so much:-(

 

[Franek]

January 2024 We booked Buceo after sleeping one night, my wife decided to change the resort to Aiyanar, she only didn't like the fact that she had to order food for dinner in the morning.

Buceo looks great as a diving center. The owner was very professional, there was full occupancy, pick-up from the airport in the middle of the night without any problems and the return to Manila was great.

He transported us to Aiyanar - the differences are in the possibilities of ordering food, you eat whatever you want, whenever you want, without any restrictions.
The prices are adequate to the service, (expensive for the Philippines, everyone decides for themselves), most of them were local residents from Manila.

The resort is in a completely different style as Buceo is freshly renovated and looked more modern, it doesn't matter when diving.

The diving base has practically new super compressors, you can use Nitrox and a 15L cylinder. The rented equipment looks ok (we haven't used it, we have 100% our own)
The camera room is great, there's plenty of space, and there's a rinsing tank next to the room.

Diving is hassle-free, you can practically dive in any place available in Anilao. You practically don't touch the equipment - everything is taken care of by helpers from the boat.

We had private guides, full of professionalism, calm dives in a 1+1 arrangement. Maria was tired of diving in Yap and Palau and hired an additional guide.
Dive time on average +/- 60 minutes, great variety under water.

 

[btscott]

January 2024 We booked Buceo after sleeping one night, my wife decided to change the resort to Aiyanar, she only didn't like the fact that she had to order food for dinner in the morning.

Buceo looks great as a diving center. The owner was very professional, there was full occupancy, pick-up from the airport in the middle of the night without any problems and the return to Manila was great.

He transported us to Aiyanar - the differences are in the possibilities of ordering food, you eat whatever you want, whenever you want, without any restrictions.
The prices are adequate to the service, (expensive for the Philippines, everyone decides for themselves), most of them were local residents from Manila.

The resort is in a completely different style as Buceo is freshly renovated and looked more modern, it doesn't matter when diving.

The diving base has practically new super compressors, you can use Nitrox and a 15L cylinder. The rented equipment looks ok (we haven't used it, we have 100% our own)
The camera room is great, there's plenty of space, and there's a rinsing tank next to the room.

Diving is hassle-free, you can practically dive in any place available in Anilao. You practically don't touch the equipment - everything is taken care of by helpers from the boat.

We had private guides, full of professionalism, calm dives in a 1+1 arrangement. Maria was tired of diving in Yap and Palau and hired an additional guide.
Dive time on average +/- 60 minutes, great variety under water.

Interesting, so you booked Buceo and then left for Aiyanar. But, still used Buceo for shuttles to Manila? Are you saying you preferred the accommodations at Buceo over Aiyanar, but the food was better at Aiyanar? Did you find the dive facilities, dive masters/guides equal?? Thanks, just trying to clarify.

 

[clownfishsydney]

January 2024 We booked Buceo after sleeping one night, my wife decided to change the resort to Aiyanar, she only didn't like the fact that she had to order food for dinner in the morning.

When I was there in August last year, you ordered lunch at breakfast and dinner at lunch. No problems, same as I have had to do in a lot of dive resorts over the world. Not hard to do or inconvenient.

 

[hedonist222]

When I was there in August last year, you ordered lunch at breakfast and dinner at lunch. No problems, same as I have had to do in a lot of dive resorts over the world. Not hard to do or inconvenient.

Same experience from 2021.

 

[Franek]

Interesting, so you booked

Aiyanar

and then left for Aiyanar. But, still used Buceo for shuttles to Manila? Are you saying you preferred the accommodations at Buceo over Aiyanar, but the food was better at Aiyanar? Did you find the dive facilities, dive masters/guides equal?? Thanks, just trying to clarify.

We moved to Aiyanar as my wife wanted.
We did not ask for a refund for the booked accommodation and diving days, we only asked for transportation to Manila in accordance with the payment.
we think we treated Buceo 100% right, Boss also behaved great.

We cannot compare the quality of dives because we only dived with Aiyanar. I wrote that the dive sites are practically the same in each center.

 

[btscott]

We moved to Aiyanar as my wife wanted.
We did not ask for a refund for the booked accommodation and diving days, we only asked for transportation to Manila in accordance with the payment.
we think we treated Buceo 100% right, Boss also behaved great.

We cannot compare the quality of dives because we only dived with Aiyanar. I wrote that the dive sites are practically the same in each center.

Got it. Thank you.

 

[Sevenrider860]

I just spent 5 days at Casa Escondida Anilao Resort & Dive Center. Wife chose the resort based on some Philippine media personalities having stayed and dived there. Very nice resort. We had a suite overlooking the pool and ocean...king bed, couch, jacuzzi, tub, etc. Food and Beverage staff was awesome and the diving was excellent with great boat crew and guide. My first time ever using the DSLR with Macro/diopter and I knew there would be some struggles getting things dialed in...so we decided to have a boat and guide to ourselves (~$100 USD per person for 2 dive trip). Resort is AI and the meals were varied, great tasting, and never boring.

There are cheaper options in Anilao, but the suite we had was far from basic, in a great location, and we enjoyed it enough that we will be returning again next year.