Dive Review of Acacia Dive Resort in
Philippines/Anilao

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Acacia Dive Resort: "Anilao is good but book wisely!", Oct, 2014, by Eric Escobar, NJ, US ( 1 report). Report 7903.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The resort is touted to be the best in Anilao - my dive guide mentioned it was one of the most luxurious resorts in the area. At first impression I would agree. The grounds are nice, the staff extremely friendly, and the food both good and plentiful. The rooms are small, basic, but adequate. The AC works! My room was a small twin room with 2 beds divided by a night table. there was also a small desk, closet, and en-suite bathroom. Wifi works in common areas but spotty. The dive facility was very good and staff always available to help. There are 4-5 camera desks out in the open in the dive area. I booked 8 nights with 5 days of diving 3 dives a day through a dive travel agency in USA. Additional day dives were $40/person and night dives were $45/per person with a surcharge for only 1 diver. The prices seemed steep to me for Philippines but slightly less than Lembeh. My dive buddy and I had 1 dive guide and boat for the 2 of us the entire trip. My biggest issue was with the way diving is arranged with freelance dive guides and boats. When you book a package, the dive resort then contacts dive guides/boats and negotiate a rate to accommodate the package. They may negotiate a much better rate than what you are paying per dive. I traveled to Anilao to see critters - this was my sole purpose as I love muck diving! Unfortunately though, when i met my guide he quickly informed us that he is not a good critter finder. My dive buddy and I were hoping he was just joking - sadly he was not. The first 3 days with our original guide were decent, but we were underwhelmed with the diving. On our 4th day we arranged a private dive trip to verde island with an independent dive guide Dennis though his website Anilao Critters. The diving was great and we asked him to take us to a muck site for our last dive. During this dive alone, Dennis showed us small, obscure creatures that our previous guide would never have found. I immediately asked if he was available for the rest of the week. When i returned to resort i informed front desk that i wanted to change guides as the previous guide was nice but not good at finding critters and Dennis was fantastic. The front desk agreed but insisted that he was "more professional" and insisted on a $5/dive/person surcharge to book. I tried to fight but the resort wouldn't budge. I also didn't want to book independently as i already had a package booked through them and didn't want to lose out on pre-paid diving. As a freelancer, Dennis stayed out of the negotiations as to not upset either party. I visited his website and noticed his direct fees are only about $35/dive/person….$10/dive cheaper than the $45 we each needed to pay to dive with him. In the end it was worth paying the premium mid-trip as Dennis really turned the trip around showing us some great rare critters including the bumble bee shrimp, simplex shrimp, boxer crab, nudibranchs the size of rice grains etc… Dennis is an enthusiastic and passionate diver. He get just as excited as his guests when he finds special critters. I highly recommend him for anyone traveling to Anilao. In the end I could not help and feel as if i paid too much money to stay at Acacia. As i don't have any comparison in the area, I can't judge what other resorts provide and if the value is there. I've stayed at Atlanis in Dumagete in past and feel that thought the price is similar, Atlantis provides a much better experience overall which translates into overall value given the quality of food, rooms, service, and dive operations. My recommendation - Acacia is ok but expensive. Just book with Dennis directly!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Raja Ampat, Lembeh, Komodo, Dumagete, Bohol, Belize, Costa Rica, Channel Islands, Puerto Rico, St Croix, Bonaire, Red Sea, Roatan, Key largo….
Closest Airport	Manila	Getting There	2-3 hour drive from MNL - very easy..only 1 connection from USA
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	very little guidance from dive masters here.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Decent setup. We had to ask for compressed air for camera room - they were quick to accommodate.

Subscriber's Comments

By Robert H Pecoraro Jr in HI, US at Oct 03, 2015 08:19 EST

Can you pass along the website for Dennis. I am planning a trip to Anilao for April 2016. Thank you.

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Dive Review of Acacia Dive Resort in Philippines/Anilao

Acacia Dive Resort: "Anilao is good but book wisely!", Oct, 2014,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Acacia Dive Resort in
Philippines/Anilao