Dive Review of
Dive Society/El Dorado Resort, Dauin (Dumaguete] in
Philippines

Cozumel, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Belize, Roatan, Utila, Yucutan,
Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, Hawaii, Huataulco

Dive Conditions

60 minute limit, but most dives 60-70 minutes.  No real depth limits, but
most sites less than 80 feet.  

No rinse bucket on boats, but most dive sites 5-15 minutes from resort.
large camera/mask rinse tank at resort.  Crew will help getting cameras
into and out of water.  

Overall Rating

TOO MUCH FUN!  Accommodations were fine for me - simple clean room with
a/c, cable TV, small patio, comfortable bed, good lights, hot water and
only $29US/night, including continental breakfast.  Only 2 110v US plugs,
and already in use for TV and refrigerator.  Food varied enough for 1 week,
and interesting enough for a foodie like me, relatively inexpensive
(nowhere else to eat within walking distance except more expensive resorts
Atlantis and Pura Vida)  Trips to Apo and Siquijor Islands for amazing
diversity of coral and walls, turtles at Apo and ribbon eels at Siquijor,
but the best diving along the coast near the resort for all the weird
creatures you will NOT see in the Caribbean.  Frogfish from 1cm to 1 foot
long on every dive - yellow, orange, black, green, red, white,
white&orange, yellow&purple, even a free-swimming black one that
came after me and walked around on my wetsuit!  I could hear the other
divers laughing through their regs. More than 2 dozen different nudibrancs,
robust ghost pipefish, ribbon pipefish, seahorses, all kinds of lionfish.
leaf scorpionfish, ornate (harlequin) ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp holding
her eggs, flying gunard, juvenile Sweetlips, squid, cuttlefish and
Flamboyant Cuttlefish.  Strange little anemone shrimp and crabs, and of
course Nemo - numerous species of anemone fish guarding their anemones.
Divemasters good at finding small stuff that blends in with surroundings so
well that I would swim right by them.  Let you do your own thing, but best
for experienced  and confident divers. No more than 6 divers/DM, but
sometimes groups got mixed up or spread out.  Never in danger of getting
lost, but if you did most dives within 50 yards of shore anyway.  A little
current at times, especially on Apo Island. No big stuff - sharks, mantas,
etc. but some large groupers, and a few turtles, especially on Apo Island. 
Long flight from Portland OR. but still a lot more accessible than
Indonesia and nearly as much variety of really strange little critters.
Every diver, especially macro photographers, should make a trip to SE Asia
at least once. Fly Air Philippines from Manila to avoid overweight baggage
charges - show international boarding pass and C card, Cebu Air WILL charge
for over 20kg. 

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