Philippines/Atlantis Resort

Looking at a possible group trip there in eary 2007. Any thoughts as to weather, dive conditions, food, etc. would be greatly appreciated. My travel agent raves about the Atlantis Resort in Puerto Galera, but I'd like to get a non-biased opinion from someone who's been there.

Many thanks,

Colin.

I haven't been there recently enough for anything I say about the operations to be reliable, but both Atlantis and Asian Divers have very good reputations as dive operations, and the diving in this area can be very good. When I lived in Hong Kong, I went to Puerto Galera for diving at least three or four times every year.

Cuisine has never been the Philippine's strongest claim to fame, but Atlantis used to have one of the better (Italian) restaurants in the Sabang/La Laguna strip, and I assume still does. Weather can be a bit unpleasant during the rainy season, which I think is about now.

Frogfish

I have done Atlantis a number of times - its a very professional operation with excellent British manager and very photographer freindly.

Asia Divers is also very good and also excellent scottish and swedish management.

Atlantis really has the clear edge on hotel standards. Asia divers has the edge on location and the point bar (which is open to the public anyway) which is a fantastic bar with the best location in all of PG IMHO.

A dual holiday with Atlantis PG and Atlantis Dumaguette is a great draw. The Dumaguette hotel is stunning and has Italian food also.

As Frogfish mentions, the food in the Phil's, is pretty ropey. My favourite restaurant in PG is the portofino but it takes hours to cook the food.

If only we could have the Atlantis hotel on the Asia divers (el Galleon) site with portofino's food I would consider moving there fulltime!!!!

I personally don't like Atlantis as it's set a bit further in from the beach and at times there can be a bit of a smell from the sewer lines near by....I go to PG to dive and photograph so the bar at Asia Divers is not a draw for me. 50 yards from Asia Divers will give you the absolute BEST FOOD and great place to stay, contact Scubaplus Dive Center. info@scubaplus.com Scuba Plus In 8 years of diving Puerto, I've found no place better for food. The staff give exemplary service and are very knowledgeable.

As far as food elsewhere in the Philippines, if you know where to go, it's wonderful with Manila boasting many great restaurants to suit any budget and cuisine.

Stu

Hi Colin,

Like Whitehead, I've been to PG a number of times, always stayed with Atlantis, and found their whole setup fantastic: the rooms, the dive centre and staff, the restaurant, etc. I don't find the location particularly bad, as you have restaurants and bars either side of it along Sabang beach on the right, and La Laguna on the left. PM me for a list of recommendations.

One thing to note if you go in the early part of 2007, is that water temperature tends to drop sharply at this time the year. All year round, you can expect temperatures of about 26C to 28C, but in February, I've had temperatures as low as 21C. This didn't affect the quality of the dives, though...

Cheers,

Mat

Say hi to my buddy Matt at Atlantis, he's the dive ops manager...

I'm just finishing the details on a trip to Atlantis Resort Dumaguete.

Water temperature is always important to me because I tend to be cold. Does any of you know what the water temp is around end of April beginning of May at Dumaguete?

Thanks,

Kathy

Dumagete will be warm, mid to upper 20's. Try to get a day trip to Apo Island while your'e there.

s.

Mid to upper 20's is 77 to 83 fahrenheit. Brrrrrr, I think I'll bring the 5mm wetsuit. And my drysuit hood (7mm but short neck). :-)

We're planning on trying to get to Apo Island, I've heard it's really nice!

Kathy

Read up on the Philippines (especially Dumagete) in the current issue of X-Ray Magazine. www.xray-mag.com Shameless self plug there

You might get up to about 85F. In the Sulu Sea, I've had water in the high 80's.

BTW, the food at El Dorado Resort is very good too.

s.

Thanks everyone for your input. Now for the big question:

For those who have travelled to the Philippines recently, how would you classify the "political climate" in the country? I'm starting to talk this trip up, but some of my clients bring up this issue. Any ideas?

Thanks again.

Colin.

Don't worry about it. Possibly the friendliest country out there, everyone speaks english very well and are so so so so polite!

All the areas you are thinking of are well touristed and extremely safe, i have been to PI probably ten times or more and never felt uncomfortable

I'm with Mike on this one. The only place that's had any sort of political or religious unrest in recent years is Mindanao, which is way down South. If you look at a map of the Philippines, you'll realise how far away that is from Mindoro, where PG is located...

Well there's always a risk anywhere you go. They have high security in shopping malls and hotels not because it's fun to search everyone entering. In fact,the reason I stay at not so nice hotels in Manila is to avoid the BS security of Makati hotels.

As for Dumaguette, until you like muck and critters, I'd pass. Ducomi, the famous pier that was probably the best muck diving in the Philippines is now closed to divers. The corals around Apo Island is pretty and healthy but quite fishless compared to say Bohol.

As for ops, Atlantis has issues with their day trips to Apo. They don't have dinghies for recovery and dive the sites in current and expect you to return to the boat. I had no problems but people I was with went OOA and surfaced about 400m away from the moored boat and showed distress signals. They were ignored and only after 20 minutes of waving did the diver master swim out to get them. yes they kept the boat moored the whole time. I gave them a piece of my mind because of that incident. They had some great local guides but the management is insistent on hiring foreigners for the guests. Most are ok but not good at spotting critters. They have since fired the one we had who messed up dive briefings and was insistent we swim along a reef to make it to the boat vs having the boat pick up. That's the way it operates and most of the other big ops Dumaguette do so too.

As for food, eat at the Eldorado restaurant, it serves significantly better food than the Atlantis Resort. Having stayed at the new Sea Explorers Resort, I'd say you should also consider that resort seriously.

If you need an inexpensive, but nice hotel in Manila, try the Astoria Plaza. www.astoriaplaza.com It's an all suite, businessman's hotel, buffet breakfast etc.

You've heard the other opinions on Atlantis. If you want good diving without much travel then Anilao and Puerto Galera are your best bets.... just don't go to Atlantis. ;-). There's a reason why my friends and I choose to spend our money elsewhere in 8 years of diving in PG.

Stu