Is Anilao all macro diving?

We're looking to head to Anilao next year with a group of dive friends. Some in our group would be bored with just macro only. Any suggestion on a resort or dive operation that has other options?

Thanks

@toque Anilao is "mostly" macro, but a different environment than your typical macro locations...

1. Sombrero (and the other dives sites close by) are some of the most beautiful reef you will find anywhere. It's not macro-specific, it's more great coral reef, current, etc. The sites adjacent or more like mini-walls... however you are not going to see many pelagics on these reefs (other than turtles). This site (in particular) is known as a wide angle location.

2. Most of the true macro sites in Anliao are not typical black sand sites - they are white sand with some nice coral outcroppings (vis is good to very good on some of these sites).

3. There are a couple of "trashy" sites near the villages across the bay, these are classic macro dives, with great chances to find blue ringed octopus, many different varieties of nudis, etc. 

Most of the operators in the Anilao region dive the same areas - you aren't going to see much variation just based on the operator. Having said this, more and more operators are now offering all day trips to the Verde Passage - the center of the Coral Triangle (great reefs, lots of fish life, etc.). It's a long trip from either Anilao or Puerto Galera, but worth it.

If it's decent vis., and great reefs they are looking for, Anilao can be really good. If they are specifically looking for pelagics and large schools of fish - that's not Anilao (and actually not really any part of the Philippines except for possibly Tubbataha). 

As for operators... having tried 4 different ones in Anilao, Crystal Blue is the best operation in Anilao.

The advice above is spot on.  Here are a few more thoughts from my long experience there:  

Macro is the star for sure, where every site is target rich. There are three or four sites where you can get consistent WA shots (Sombrero, Beatrice, Kirby’s, Layag-Layag) and another three or four where you can get lucky with WA sometimes (Maiinit Point, Bahura) , and of course a couple dozen for macro. Don’t miss the Mandarinfish at dusk over at Maricaban Island, which also has a small “wreck” that’s not much more than a steel frame. A big advantage ar Anilao is that if the weather turns, you can still get to good sites with slightly longer and bumpier rides.

If you’re up for more adventure, it’s possible to get a boat out to Verde Island for a day trip.  It’s an exposed trip so should only be done in excellent weather.  

 UW photo centric resorts

Acacia: Lovely terrace and pool and outdoor dining, and the best photo and gear rooms I've seen anywhere. Small but AC rooms plus a pool. Quality is upscale for the area. No good shore diving. Owned and operated by a photog

Club Ocellaris: Haven't stayed there, but gets raves from local and international visitors for their dive and photo ops.

Crystal Blue Resort: One of the better known, often has a resident photo pro, the "go-to" place for local UW photogs. Small resort. OK shore diving.

Buceo Anilao: The newest in the area, run by European partners, attracts keen photogs. Larger than average rooms, good shore diving.

Dive centric resorts (yes there are some that are not!)

Dive Solana: The most tropical feeling resort in the area. One of the few with a halfway useable beach. Very solid dive ops, photog friendly. Rooms a bit bigger than average, decent quality. Good shore diving.

Altamare Resort: Same evaluation as Solana, a lot newer and somewhat nicer. Also on the beach (and next door to my former house).  You will find more online using the old name of El Pinoy

Dive Planet: Very popular among local divers, can get a bit busy. Haven't seen the rooms but hear they are a bit basic. Famous for unlimited shore diving at the site Twin Rocks.

Anilao - upscale places that can arrange diving

We know these from friends who go for relaxing beach weekends and rave about things like peace and quiet and spa services. All are a bit more upscale and can arrange full dive services but that is not their primary business, which may or may not appeal to you.

Aiyanar; La Chevrerie; Awari Bay; Casita Ysabel. 

Thanks for the info. I'm sure they'll be happy there knowing this and I will for sure.

It may be worth bringing your fisheye for close focus wide angle macro for example.

Also if you've got a good guide, you may be able to see sargassum frogfish near the surface, as well as jellyfish - so in the shallows, vis tends to be fairly good. But overall it is definitely more geared towards macro.

Thanks sinetwo. I use wet lenses , so I bring my closeup lenses and my fisheye on most every dive. I personally am a macro fan, so I'm excited!

@toque Not to wet your appetite even more than it likely already is...

Having been to Lembeh numerous times, and now Anilao multiple times, Anilao is more target rich per dive than Lembeh. Lembeh is still amazing, but for a steady stream of critters, Anilao is really hard to beat (trying Ambon in a month to see how it stacks up).

Anilao is also more convenient given that it only a drive from Manila.

Don't forget Blackwater diving! I can definitely give you contacts for some of the better guides out there, but Im not sure if it's seen as advertisement on their behalf so feel free to msg me 

we've been to lembeh too. Really liked this area. We were also able to get over to Banka from our lembeh resort, so not all muck diving. I didn't even think about blackwater diving. only done a couple in Palm Beach, but it was a blast. I'll PM you so I can get some ideas on blackwater people. thanks all

15 hours ago, oneyellowtang said:

@toque Not to wet your appetite even more than it likely already is...

Having been to Lembeh numerous times, and now Anilao multiple times, Anilao is more target rich per dive than Lembeh. Lembeh is still amazing, but for a steady stream of critters, Anilao is really hard to beat (trying Ambon in a month to see how it stacks up).

Anilao is also more convenient given that it only a drive from Manila.

I find this opinion interesting. Living in Manila I dive Anilao often as it's so close (2-3 hours drive).  I've only been to Lembeh once for a week long trip but found it to have a noticeably higher density of interesting critters per dive.  Nowhere in Anilao have I seen 5 blue rings on a single dive, etc.

I will say that if you really like nudis then Anilao is the place to go. Many dives I will see dozens of nudis but very few other interesting macro subjects.  My other reason for preferring Lembeh is the accessability of the dive site. Many sites in Anilao are going to be 10-30 minutes on the local bangkas (with their diesel fumes and loud engines) depending on the resort you are at. Lembeh in my experience was 5-15 minutes on modern speedboats.

Anyway, just my two cents, and Anilao is a spectacular dive destination, no doubt about that.

6 hours ago, Whiskeyjack said:

I find this opinion interesting. Living in Manila I dive Anilao often as it's so close (2-3 hours drive).  I've only been to Lembeh once for a week long trip but found it to have a noticeably higher density of interesting critters per dive.  Nowhere in Anilao have I seen 5 blue rings on a single dive, etc

I've had the same experience. Anilao is awesome and so is Lembeh, but I found critter density to be much higher in lembeh. Perhaps they were just easier to spot on black sand, but I could do a whole dive in maybe 30 Square meters from what I remember! 

@Whiskeyjack

Lembeh can be hit or miss, also depends when you were last there. On the plus side, definitely more seahorses (the non-pygmy variety), and opportunity to find hairy frogfish. The critter density was significantly higher ~15 years ago... my experience has been that Anilao not only has more critters (per dive?) but more variety. As for blue rings (in Anilao)... the trash-dominated site across the bay, near the local village has been fertile ground for me to find blue rings - never less that 3-4 per dive in and under all that "stuff" lying on that slope. Also easier to find Mototi at Anilao, in Lembeh they tend to be scarce (they are there, just hard to find). Both wonderpus and mimics seem to be "findable" in both areas, whereas the coconut octopus (during the right season) is almost ever-present uniquely at Lembeh. Interestingly, even though rhinopias can be found in both places, I've had much better luck in Anilao.

No argument on the boats - the operators in Lembeh run modern dive boats which are quieter and a more comfortable. I balance this out with - in Anilao I've never had more than 1-2 other divers on a boat w/me. Who do you usually dive with in Anilao? Some operators are definitely better than others...

On the nudis you are correct, although years ago "Nudi Falls" (in Lembeh) would have matched any of the sites in Anilao for number and variety of nudis. It's definitely not that way anymore...

Then 

On 2/22/2023 at 3:47 PM, sinetwo said:

It may be worth bringing your fisheye for close focus wide angle macro for example.

This is a great point.  I have so many tight macro images from Anilao that I’d love to do over as CFWA . . .

As for the boats, I find Anilao bangkas perfectly comfortable although a bit slow.  That’s OK when on vacation!  One thing to note if you’re picky or want individual attention or are antisocial is that it’s possible to hire a private boat and DM for the day. We did it all the time for quite reasonable fees, and set our own schedule without worrying about others

one more thought.  A focus light is invaluable there, once below about 20m. It’s the only way to spot Pygmy seahorses for example

9 hours ago, troporobo said:

This is a great point.  I have so many tight macro images from Anilao that I’d love to do over as CFWA . . .

 

I recall a few frogfish and seahorses that were far too large to shoot well with a 60mm on M43.  

@oneyellowtang

My only trip to Lembeh was in November of 2022, perhaps I was graced by the macro gods Not to invalidate your experiences, mine have just been different, but perhaps I'm biased as my single trip to Lembeh was so fruitful.  The trash site you are referring to I imagine is the is off the inner tip of Caban island, past the dari-laut site?  I agree, I think that is the only place I have seen a blue ring in probably 150+ dives in Anilao over the last 4 years or so.  I also agree about the rhinopias, they are common during the right season in Anilao, I can't speak to Lembeh as I've only been the one time, and we did see 1 or 2 over the week.

I usually dive with Blue Ribbon as they allow me to bring my dog out on the boat, and they also have their own bangka so there is none of that nonsense where you don't know how much you will pay for the boat until the end of the day based on number of divers that the local bangka cartel has established in Anilao...  That being said I've dove with various operators there including Crystal Blue, Acacia, Buceo, etc

I'm not trying to say Anilao isn't an amazing place, it definitely is, I just wanted to offer a different perspective. 

Back to the main point for OP, there are certainly non-macro sites as well, anything out by Sombrero Island (batok, beatrice, larry's garden is amazing but it's deep and best done as a deco dive in my opinion as the shallowest area of the site is at 20m), Bahura and Kirby's rock are nice wide angle dives as well, though watch for strong current.

I also second the suggestion of booking a day trip to Verde Island for wide angle, it's a very nice area.

On 2/24/2023 at 1:28 PM, troporobo said:

This is a great point.  I have so many tight macro images from Anilao that I’d love to do over as CFWA . . .

As for the boats, I find Anilao bangkas perfectly comfortable although a bit slow.  That’s OK when on vacation!  One thing to note if you’re picky or want individual attention or are antisocial is that it’s possible to hire a private boat and DM for the day. We did it all the time for quite reasonable fees, and set our own schedule without worrying about others

 one more thought.  A focus light is invaluable there, once below about 20m. It’s the only way to spot Pygmy seahorses for example

Absolutely, if you and your buddies go, grab a private boat with the expert photography guides. There are a good few of them there due to Anilao Photo Shootout that happens annually - the locals are very good at both photography and guiding. Anilao life is chill, and I prefer my diving that way. Getting up at 06:00 in the morning for a regimented dive schedule, where you're rushing and forget things, with others waiting on you because you may have forgotten your dive computer or water bottle, is not my idea of fun

I've now also started bringing a focus light for every macro dive, the reason for that is if you find something in an unlit area, it just helps you find it easier, and your camera to focus without any issues. Also if you're using a diopter/extension tubes or anything that reduces light going in to the sensor, this will drastically help.

As an aside... there are a number of dive resorts in Anilao that will ask you to book a whole boat & guide if you are diving alone, however if you book through Crystal Blue they do all this for you, with the added value that you're going to get a great guide (and not have to worry about any of this...). I mention this because above someone mentioned this was an annoying aspect of diving in Anilao - yet, I've never dealt with this having been there 4 times.

Yes, a focus light will help shooting macro... many u/w photographers have one mounted on their housing even when not planning on using one. Helps to find subjects that might be under a ledge, in the shadows, etc.

31 minutes ago, oneyellowtang said:

book a whole boat & guide if you are diving alone

Out of curiosity, how much does it cost such a dive?

2 hours ago, oneyellowtang said:

As an aside... there are a number of dive resorts in Anilao that will ask you to book a whole boat & guide if you are diving alone, however if you book through Crystal Blue they do all this for you, with the added value that you're going to get a great guide (and not have to worry about any of this...). I mention this because above someone mentioned this was an annoying aspect of diving in Anilao - yet, I've never dealt with this having been there 4 times.

Yes, a focus light will help shooting macro... many u/w photographers have one mounted on their housing even when not planning on using one. Helps to find subjects that might be under a ledge, in the shadows, etc.

This "offer" is by far not exclusive to crystal blue. Most places will allow for this, and resorts are not wed to specific guides. You can modularise it to the point where you stay at a resort but dive with a separate company. Worth checking in advance but if we're advertising then I'd recommend Anilao Critters: Dennis and Obet Corpuz are amazing guides and gave a fantastic crew.