Dive Review of Acacia in
Philippines/Anilao/Batangas

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Acacia, Apr, 2010, by Laura Todd, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports). Report 5534.
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	This area is a little different in that the resorts are set up to serve primarily locals and do most of their business over long weekends. Many, like Acacia hire local guides as needed rather than keep dive staff on as employees. We didn't know what to think of this system at first, but ended up loving our guide and the fact that we had him and our boat to ourselves all week. We chose Anilao based on its reputation for nudibranchs, and we while did see some special ones, it was not a constant parade of species new to me. The diving is quite varied, with good coral, nice macro, good night diving and wonderful muck at Secret Bay, about 45 minutes away. The night diving there is amazing. Kirby's Rock is a typical Anilao site with a teensy perfect white frogfish, juvenile barramundi cod and softball size reticulidia halgerda (tented black with orange) nudi at the bottom, beautiful zebra and snowflake eels plus reef octopus in the middle and giant frogfish towards the top. Most sites will have good reef fish, nice nudis (often times a dozen of their more common species at a time), great flatworms and sluggy things. Actualy we saw one blue and green teardrop shaped slug that I am still trying to identify. Hmmmmm. The boats are all small local style, with little room to stash stuff and a tiny shaded area. Boarding is via a two by six with strips of tire nailed on for traction. The ride is smooth in a following sea, but bouncy and wet when heading into even small oncoming waves. The hotel is small (about 10 rooms) modern and sleek with especially nice bathrooms. It would greatly benefit from some kind of lounge chairs - there was no place to get horizontal other than your bed. The food is all buffet style, served in a casual open air setting. The food was decent, not much variety except for the local pork dishes, which were amazing. The kitchen staff had no idea what to make for my vegetarian companion. Even with cieling fans, there were always plenty of flies here. There is also a large flat screen television, which was often in use late into the night. The environmental practices of both the hotel and the boat boys are atrocious. One day they added oil to the engine and threw the empties overboard. When I asked about a trash can in the rinse area a staff person chucked my shampoo container over the wall into the vacant lot next door. FYI the owner has several dogs who are always friendly but not very well trained. Consider the drive when planning your trip here - in ideal conditions it is about 2.5 hours from Manila. On holidays and weekends the traffic can easily double that. Overall, this place provides a good cross section of Phillipines diving at reasonable prices. Serious macro enthusiasts should ask for Jason, who did a fabuous job for us.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Malaysia, various South Pacific, Baja
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	78-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 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	No camera facilities on the boats - no reliable dry area to fiddle with camera between dives. Good facilities for charging,repairing, etc at hotel but no air hose.

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Dive Review of Acacia in Philippines/Anilao/Batangas

Acacia, Apr, 2010,

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):

Dive Review of Acacia in
Philippines/Anilao/Batangas