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Reviews (12)

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Mike's Dauin Beach Resort

5
5
5
5

I absolutely love diving in the Philippines! This last March I had the opportunity to dive Dumagette. It was amazing! I stayed at Mike's Dauin Beach Resort. This resort included security, a pool, a restaurant, and impeccable service. I had a room that I shared with a buddy. There were 2 twin size beds, 1 big closet for us to share, and one descent sized bathroom. It was a little small, but we managed just fine. When you dive in places such as this, the beds are not extremely comfortable, but you can live for a week. However, they cleaned the rooms everyday. They restocked our shampoo, toilet paper, and soap. If you have anything you don't want to keep in the room, the office has a safe.

Basically, we did everything through Mike: our resort, our diving, and our food. The first night we were there, they had a spread that was so delicious I went up for 4ths! We are talking deliciously grilled fish, fresh local fruit, other fresh salads, rice with a special soy sauce and more! I'm telling you, I could've eaten it every night! However, the other food they had to choose from was so good, that I didn't have to. I do remember a person being on our trip who was vegan. They accomodated her pretty easily and happily. I was really impressed with the wide variety they had for food. This was not my first time diving in the PI, but it was one of my favorites especially food-wise.

Now to the diving, Unbelievably awesome!!!! There is a large amount of muck diving. Which, at first makes you think, "why are you dropping us off here?" Then when everywhere you turn you see a critter, you realize why they dropped you off at that site. I saw flamboyant cuttlefish, cuttlefish, every variety of ghost pipefish you can imagine, frog fish, flounders, and so much more! Some of the critters were smaller than an inch. One day, we took an 1.5 hour boat ride to dive with WHALE SHARKS! They have men feeding the whale sharks krill from their boats. So you get to just chill with the whale sharks while they are feeding. The sharks could care less that you are there! I think I dove with about 8 of them.

Overall, this was one of my favorite trips. I do love sharks, plus I was able to see a few firsts with macro too. I really liked the whole experience. The food, the friendly service, the diving, and also cheap massages made this trip unforgettable! i would go back in a heartbeat!

Visited on 03/2013 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
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Manta Ray Bay Resort

5
5
5
5

Yap was a great trip! The people at Manta Ray Bay Resort were extremely friendly. it almost seemed like they knew my after the 1st day of me being there. I actually hit my 400th dive while I was there. They made a certificate for me. For a dive nerd like me, that meant a lot. I absolutely loved the resort! I think it's so cool that they named and themed every room after an ocean critter. The resort has a massage place as well. I did take advantage of that. I had 2 queen size beds to myself. The bathroom was a little small, but not a problem. Your gear is taken care of by the resort. So you don't need to take anything back to your room.

The restaurant that is associated with Manta Bay is called the Mnuw. How cool is this, it's a ship!!!! The bottom deck is for breakfast only. Then there are 2 layers/decks that you can eat lunch and dinner on. The top deck has a screen on which they play a movie. The food was really yummy. I thought the fish tacos were scrumptious! I don't drink, but I had a manta shake just because:) i really loved everything about the resort and the Mnuw. I feel like it was very diver friendly and just perfect for the ocean lover.

Everyone knows you go to Yap for the Mantas. It really was the best manta dive I've been to. You just sit there in about 15-20 feet of water and the mantas come to you. I am more of a shark kinda girl, so I enjoyed the shark dive very much! I found a tooth that I was able to bring home. One of the days we went to do some wall diving. It was nice, but I liked the manta and shark dives better. Sitting on the floor of a small metal boat for that long ride out there may have been part of the reason I didn't care for those dives. I felt EVERY wave.

I highly recommend this trip to any diver. I also enjoyed learning some of the culture when we were above the water. It was a very enjoyable trip for sure!

Visited on 12/2012 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
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Truk Blue Lagoon Resort

4
5
5
3

The Blue Lagoon Resort has a nice tropical feel to it. My room was huge! I had 2 beds to myself, a small fridge, and a descent size bathroom. I had an amazing view of the ocean from my patio. If you want a more tropical vacation atmosphere go with Blue Lagoon. The only bad part of the Blue Lagoon was the quality of the food and the slow service from the waitresses at the restaurant. It is the cheaper of the 2 choices, Truk Stop being the other option. Truk Stop is more of a hotel. On more than one occasion we paid the $5 and took a 15 minute van ride so that we could eat at the Truk Stop. The Truk Stop's food was DELICIOUS!!! They served cherry cheesecake too!!!!! If I get a chance to go back, I think I will go through Truk Stop just to try both out. Plus, I've heard good things about their dive shop.

No matter where you stay, Truk Lagoon needs to be on your bucket list!!!!

Visited on 07/2013 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
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Truk Lagoon

4
5
5
3

Truk Lagoon is not known for it's marine life, but obviously the shipwrecks. It's possibly the number 1 wreck diving spot in the whole world. I dove it this summer and can totally see why! First of all, I usually go on trips to see an exotic shark species. That is what draws me in. And, I actually did get to dive with my 8th shark species, a zebra shark, during my trip at Truk Lagoon. But, I also knew that I had to dive the number 1 wreck diving spot even if I wasn't promised a shark. Some of the other marine life included spotted eagle rays, jellyfish, eels, and nudibranches. Again those were not the cause of your breath being taken away. It was the magnitude of the ships, the ammunition left behind, the gadgets found in the ships that would've been used by the crew, and just the sobering reality that you are diving a gravesite. i am not one to take human life lightly. So, for me seeing the skull embedded into the ship was quite the experience. Not only do you have to swim up into a somewhat small, dark, secluded area to see it (kinda made me a little claustrophobic, and I'm not usually like that), but again knowing that was a life just made it a little bit surreal.

Let's just say I swam through a betty bomber, torpedo holes, and down to the million dollar wreck known as the San Francisco! Missiles, tanks, land mines, and much more are still there for us to dive with. That was my deepest dive ever. Extremely EPIC!

No matter where you stay, Truk Lagoon needs to be on your bucket list!!!!

Visited on 07/2013 - Submitted on 02/24/2014
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Palau

5
5
5
5

Ok, so Palau was my first dive trip ever. Seriously, I left Guam with only 19 dives under my belt and went to tackle Palau. Palau is what inspired me to be more dedicated to exploring the ocean. My trip was only for 5 days during the Christmas holiday. So, I did 4 dives, a kayak trip, Jellyfish Lake, a visit to the prison to check out the store boards, and either 1 or 2 hikes.

We went through Sam's Tours. Someone came and picked us up every morning at our resort. I dove the Siaes Tunnel, Ulong Channel, Blue Corner, and the German Channel. My first time doing a cave dive and my first time seeing a shark was Siaes Tunnel! It was a really cool experience for me. Ulong ended up being my absolute favorite dive of the trip! We reef hooked in and just sat and watched the sharks do their thing…AWESOME! Plus we ate lunch on Ulong island which is one of the places they filmed "Survivor". The Blue Corner was nice too. We saw a few sharks and other fish, but it wasn't like Ulong. Then the German channel is where I saw my first mantas! There were 2 big beautiful rays swimming next to each other…I'll never forget seeing all these wonderful creatures in Palau!

The kayaking trip was great too! The day we did it, it was calm and sunny. We rowed around and under some the Rock Islands. We could look below us and see sharks and other need animals.

Jellyfish Lake was unreal! Of course you are just snorkeling, no diving allowed. But you are snorkeling with hundreds, yay thousands of jellyfish that on't sting you! Again, just an unbelievable experience. One you can't have anywhere else as far as I know. Definitely a must!

The days we did the hike(s), our lunch was pre-packed for us. We had a guide to take us and tell us the history behind any war relics or features of Palau that we might find interesting

Palau does not have a lot of shopping or night life to offer, but I do remember there being a few restaurants to choose from. We did go to the prison and shop around for story boards.

I stayed at the Rose Garden Resort. It was very nice. The view from our room was impeccable! We had 2 beds, a small bathroom, and a nice patio out front. They had a special dinner prepared for us on Christmas Day:)

As I mentioned before, Palau was my inspiration to take diving more seriously. I went home to Guam and bought all my dive gear. Possibly the best investment I've ever made!

Visited on 12/2008 - Submitted on 02/25/2014
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Philippines

5
5
5
5

How would you like to wake up to THRESHER SHARKS, swim UNDER an island, and do night dives with blue ringed octopus? Uh, YES PLEASE! SIGN ME UP! Oh wait, I've done this trip twice. For me that's pretty crazy because I'm cheap and have too many destinations I want to go in the world. It has to be a very special place to get me to pay to go back again…Malapascua IS that kind of a place:)

First thing to know about Malapascua is that it does take a bit of travel to get there: At least 2 flights (Manila and Cebu for me), then a very long taxi ride (at least 2.5 hours, I can't remember exactly), then a short ferry boat ride to take you to the island.

Second thing you should know is that Malapascua (or any tiny island in the PI for that matter) is not extremely modern in the sense of banking. Make sure you do all of your money exchanging in Manila at the airport. There will be no banking/atm on Malapascua. You can use a credit card at the resorts, dive shops, and most restaurants, but they charge at least 6%. It's better to have cash.

Now to the BEST part…..THE DIVING :D EVERY morning we got up around 5:00am to dive with THRESHER SHARKS! Out of the 2 weeks I've spent in Malapascua, there was only one shark dive that I did not see the sharks. There was still stuff to look at even though the sharks did not come. So, it wasn't a wasted dive. In fact, that is where I found my first ever sea moth! After the shark dive, we went back to the resort for breakfast. then 2 more dives in the morning/afternoon. Either come back for lunch or pack lunch on the boat and dive kinda far from shore. And, if you're like me and LOVE night dives, that is also an option.

Monad Shoal is the name of the cleaning station that the sharks come to. However, this last trip I went on they took us to a new spot. It was even better than Monad Shoal! I had 3 threshers swim right in front of me!!!! Seriously, it. was. AWESOME!!! The island you can swim under is called Gato Tunnel. After you swim under, you can look around for frogfish, sea horses, pigmy sea horses, pipefish, sea snakes, cuttlefish, etc. All of the other dives include the small animals I just mentioned. And another amazing aspect of the PI is how much life and color you see in the ocean. There is one dive in Malapascua that has a reef covered in the most gorgeous soft coral ever. No dive in Malapascua was disappointing. Each one had something to offer.

I do have to give a special shout out to the night dives. If you want to see a blue ringed octopus, night diving is a must! BTW the first day (of my 2nd time to Malapascua) I got on the boat and said, " 500 PESOS (about $13 US) to the one who finds me a blue ringed octopus!!!" Guess who those guides came swimming after EVERY TIME a blue ring was found:) I spent about 20 minutes with my first blue ring…I just got goosebumps writing that!!!! I saw 3 altogether:) And yes, each dive guide got the 500 peso blue ring tip because they were both awesome:) So not only did I get to dive with one of the cutest, coolest, deadliest critters in the ocean, I also saw so many crab species in was crazy! Plus there were sea horses, cuttlefish (one as tiny as my thumb nail), and mandarin fish too!

I feel as if Malapascua has such a huge variety to offer. I try to base my trips on getting to dive with some type of shark species along with the awesome macro stuff:) I honestly cannot recommend a better place for you to dive:)

Visited on 06/2013 - Submitted on 02/26/2014
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Thresher Shark Divers Malapascua

5
5
5
5

I absolutely loved diving with Thresher Shark Divers. They were extremely friendly. They took such good care of us and our gear. They didn't just change my tank, but they actually put my fins on my feet for me (giant stride entry)! I remember thinking, "I hope I remember how to do all this when I get back home to Guam! I'm so pampered here!" The boats were nice and spacious. They had water and coffee/tea available in-between dives. We had such a great time laughing and joking with the guides. I won't get into the practical jokes my buddies and i played on each other with the help of the guides, but it made for one of my most memorable dive trips:) They also took care of the gear over night. Had it on the boat the next morning. All you had to do was show up:)

The restaurant had really yummy food! NOTE: The PI has the most delicious bananas and mangoes in the entire world!!!! So when they offer mango or banana pancakes, you should order them!!!!:) They also had eggs, omelets, and cereal choices. For lunch and dinner there was enough variety to keep you happy for the week. I was always happy when it was food time! From what I remember, there were not any other restaurants close by if you wanted to try something else.

The only issue with diving with TSD was the resort situation. The room itself was very nice. It was like having a little cottage/hut mixture. There was also massages on the beach at a pavilion close by. BUT, after doing 3-4 dives a day, the walking distance from the rooms to the dive shop and the boat was not pleasant….I've heard they are working on building or teaming up with another resort that is closer:) So, feel free to look into it! I really felt bad not going back to them on my 2nd trip because I had such a great time with them on my 1st trip.

Visited on 06/2010 - Submitted on 02/26/2014
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Evolution Diving Resort

5
5
5
5

Evolution took care of our accommodations, diving, food, everything! i really liked how everything was very close. Our rooms had 2 big beds, one small bathroom, and plenty of drawers to put our clothes and other items in. I like how they had a bucket of water right outside the door to clean your feet off before you entered. There was also a small table outside our door on our "porch". You could hang clothes to dry. Again, my biggest appreciation was that once I stepped out of my door, it was just a few yards to my dive gear, the restaurant, an the boat.

The dive guides did an excellent job. They cleaned our gear, brought our gear to the boat every morning, took care of our gear at night, The boats were a little different from others I've been on in the PI. They were still spacious. The crew took your gear from you before you climbed the ladder to get back on the boat. There was water and tea/coffee served on the boat.

The restaurant had a nice variety of food. The menu had seafood choices, burgers, tacos, and it seems like more elegant choices for dinner. They offered a "special" each night. However, this establishment was at a different end of Malapascua than TSD. So, there were a few other restaurant choices. But, we mostly ate at our resort. There was also a place for really good massages like 2 doors down.

This dive operator/resort made everything convenient and enjoyable:)

Visited on 06/2013 - Submitted on 02/26/2014
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Bull Sharks in Fiji with Beqa Adventure Divers

4
4
5
5

Ok, so Fiji was just a quick, long-weekend get-away with a fellow shark lover. We were actually just trying to use our airline miles before the direct flight from Guam to Fiji was canceled…made it:) We knew we had to do the bull shark dive! So we found Bequ Adventure Divers. We booked our own hotel. We stayed at the South Pearl Resort. It was fine from what i can remember, but we didn't really spend much time there. We also went zip-lining (scarier than bull sharks for sure…I'm a woman of depth, not heights!!!!).

So, we were only able to get in 4 dives. This was winter time for Fiji, I think. it was cold for a girl who lives on a tropical island. It was pretty windy. In fact, the first day of diving we dove a wreck and then a reef. The waters were a bit rough. It was even a bit surfy under the water as well as above. However, the 2 dives were full of colorful life! The variety of the 1st dive was so nice. There was a wreck, a reef, and tons of fish everywhere. Really nice! Then on the 2nd dive, we dove a reef that had 3 different colored leaf fish sitting in the same spot!!! How cool is that!!!

Next day was the BIG day….DIVING WITH BULL SHARKS and possibly a TIGER SHARK!!!!! So we were not fortunate enough to see the tiger shark, but diving with about a dozen bull sharks is pretty EPIC! The way they have this dive set up is idiot proof…very nice:) They have made "coral walls" at each level of the dive for us to lay down behind and just watch the feeding take place. The first level is at about 95-100 ft. There was a handful of bull sharks. This was when I got to see a bull shark open his mouth completely and show all of his teeth…my eyes were the size of softballs!!! But it was too cool! Once our computers started getting fussy, we moved up to about 60ft. A few bull sharks followed, but mostly we watched the reef sharks eat. Still pretty cool.
Diving with BULL SHARKS round 2: On the second dive we didn't do the deep level. But I think they had set up the food in advance because I dove with a DOZEN bull sharks on this dive! I had perfect seating right behind the feeder! These sharks have been trained to go in a certain direction (kind of like lining up in the cafeteria) to get their tuna. My favorite part of this dive was when one bull shark decided to turn towards the coral wall after getting his fish head…he came within 4 feet of my face!!!! I WAS EYEBALLED BY A BULL SHARK!!!! I feel blessed that I have lived to tell these tales:) i hope I get to go back to Fiji some day. I would love to do more than just a weekend trip. I have dove with 8 different shark species. Have viewed a few different shark feedings. Fiji was BY FAR the best shark dive I have ever done!!!

Visited on 08/2011 - Submitted on 02/26/2014
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Eagle Point Resort

5
4
5
5

Elegant is the word that comes to mind when thinking of the Eagle Point Resort, Maybe not the crazy ride in the taxi to get there, but the resort itself was quite nice. NOTE: Riding in any taxi in the PI is scary. You can't get around it. But, since the PI has some of the BEST diving in the world, deal with the taxi issues…I suggest dramamine and a blindfold..lol!

So as soon as you get there, a "bellhop" takes your bags and shows you to your room. It was a little bit of a walk plus stairs, but nothing tough divers like us can't handle:) The rooms were quite spacious! I wasn't rooming with anyone so I really had a ton of space all to myself:) The bed was nice and comfy. You could have a massage therapist come to your room. There was a balcony/patio with an amazing view of the ocean. That's a view that never gets old to me! Then there was a descent size bathroom as well. Compared to other resorts I've been to, it was big. Now the ONLY issue had was with the pumping. Apparently, my toilet had a mind of its own. No one else had issues just me. I guess I'm just the lucky one that enjoyed a room with a finicky toilet (-_-) .

The resort has a pool and recreational area for your non-diving time. I enjoyed a few days of just laying out in the sun, had a few dips in the pool, and played a few games of pool in the game room. One really cool aspect of this resort was a separate "pool". This was full of ocean water. They had a few groupers and baby black tips in this pool. You could snorkel in there. It was pretty neat! I believe they also offer other activities such as kayaking, but I did not do any of that.

I was worried about the food in the PI (mind you, this was my very 1st dive trip to the PI..Now I KNOW there is really good food there!) The restaurant was one of the reasons that the word "elegant" came to mind. The decor was inviting, the wait staff was kind, and the food was yummy. Again, the PI has some of the most delicious fruit on the planet. Obviously, they will serve various seafood dishes (I'm not a really a seafood person, but some of the fish I've had in the PI was mouth-watering!). And they throw in a few "American dishes" to please folks like me.

The dive shop was part of the resort as well. They took very care of our gear overnight, and placed it on the boat in the morning. It's been so long since I've done this trip I don't really recall how long it was to the dive sites. I do remember us just doing a surface interval on an island/in the boat on one occasion. So, that dive day it must not have been worth the ride back to shore. I do remember that we had gotten cold (our group lives on a tropical island…we get cold easily). So, after that, the boat crew brought us hot tea to have after each dive so we could warm up:) The critters you can see on this trip include ribbon eels, leaf fish, frog fish, blue-spotted sting rays, nudibranches, pigmy seahorses, sea horses, turtles, etc. The only thing I didn't care for about the diving was the size of the boat. I felt like it was too small especially after I went on other trips to the PI and could compare.

SHORE DIVING: You can shore diving from Eagle Point Resort! I mean, right there! Very easy access and lots of critters! We did day and night dives from the shore!

Visited on 01/2010 - Submitted on 02/26/2014

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