Crystal Blue Resort
We attended the Anilao Underwater Photo Workshop in April 2018. This was our first photo workshop experience and first trip to the Philippines. From my first contact until the very end my experience with Adam at Blue Water was great. In addition to the time at Crystal Blue Resort, we added a trip to Tubbataha. Adam made all of the arrangements, did lots of trouble shooting, and made sure that our needs were met.
Crystal Blue Resort was great. Every single staff member was attentive and as helpful as possible. I cannot say enough about how wonderful every one was. The hotel has many steep steps. Any time staff saw me on the stairs with some thing in my hands someone came to carry for me. There was a water cooler very close to our room and we filled our water bottles with cold water several times each day.
The rooms were well maintained and clean. The food was plentiful and always a good variety. I LOVED the fresh fruit that was always available and the desserts were wonderful and very creative. Dining room staff were attentive and accommodating. Wifi was available in the dining room/classroom area and worked well.
The workshops were well run and organized. The photo reviews were very helpful. Mike Bartick has a really good sense of humor and is easy to listen to. His knowledge base is amazing.
The camera room was also amazing.... every photographers dream. We are used to boats and resorts that treat cameras like an after thought. We were well and truly spoiled.
The diving did not disappoint. We were able to see the critters that Anilao is famous for. Our dive guide and boat men were outstanding. The dive guide found multiple unique critters on every dive. He was consistently patient while the photographers took the time they needed to get the perfect shot and made sure each person had something cool to see. The boat men handled cameras and scuba gear with care and made it look so easy. We appreciated the very low guest to dive guide ratio (3:1) that allowed us time for the photography. We did have a few dives in very heavy current that were more challenging than I would have liked.
We had a wonderful experience with both Blue Water and Crystal Blue!
