Dive Review of Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis - Puerto Galera in
Philippines/North - Island of Mindoro

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Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis - Puerto Galera, Feb, 2012, by Dorotrhy McDonald, OH, US ( Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 6483.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The diving was very colorful. You go here for the small stuff - all kinds of interesting critters from orangatan crabs to frog fish to nudibranchs to sea horses, convict eels, feeding schools of striped catfish, etc. There were some large bat fish but no one was paying attention to the fish - divers were looking at the little stuff - which is probably why only the dive guide and one diver from our boat saw an 18' to 20' thresher shark go by - yes, the rest of us were jealous. Atlantis Puerto Galera was amazingly well run - I was with a group of about 30 divers and everyone was talking about how efficiently the dive resort was organized. There were 6 divers to a boat plus a boatman and dive guide. There were lots of boats and divers, but departure times were staggered and it never seemed congested. Our guide, Norm, did an amazing job of pointing out things that we probably would have missed. Other divers said their guide didn't point out a lot - so I guess we got lucky to have Norm assigned to us. Some dives had little or no current and on other dives we'd be flying. The surface was usually calm or had a little chop - but not bad. There was too much boat traffic to feel safe diving from shore in front of the resort. The entire staff was very friendly, they knew our names by the end of the first day. The food was plentiful and delicious and maitre d' Rhondo was adept at keeping things moving and running smoothly in the large open-air dining area. There was a huge breakfast buffet with typical items as well as some local items and you could also have made-to-order omelets. At lunch and dinner there were usually 3 or 4 entree items to choose from and at lunch you could also choose fresh veggies and meats/fish from a buffet and have them stir-fried with rice or noodles. Also, between dives a waiter came to the dive area circulating with trays of freshly baked treats. The resort is built on a hill so there are lots of stairs to climb to get to most rooms. The resort spa offers hour-long massages for $25- our group took advantage of that and those massages sure felt good after 4 or 5 dives a day! The only negative to going here is that it is so far. We arrived in Manila around midnight and spent the night there (at the Remington Hotel, which had a great location but a lot of us were not happy with the inefficiency at check-in or with our rooms). The next morning there was about a 2 hour bus ride to the coast (depending on traffic this could be longer - on our return it took about 4 hours) and then an hour boat ride to get to the resort. There is a little bit of walking on an incline involved between the bus and boat and boat and resort. The diving and resort staff were so fantastic that some of our group are already planning to return next year and will spend time at Atlantis Dumaguete as well as Puerto Galera - that people are willing to return to a destination that involves so much travel is a great indicator of how superb it was! The trip was organized and led by Dave Haas and booked through www.deepblueadventures.com - he will also be leading the trip next year.
Websites	Atlantis Dive Resorts
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	French Polynesia, Micronesia, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Coral Sea, Fiji, Caribbean
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-75 Ft/ 9-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	We were asked to stay within sight of the dive guide but people lagged behind taking pictures and it wasn't a problem, and asked that everyone come up together.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The resort has a fantastic camera room with electrical outlets, air guns for drying, shelf space for storing camera equipment - you can label a shelf with your name during your stay. There was no fresh water on the boats for cameras, but the dives were usually only 3 to 10 minutes from the resort, the crew was very careful when handling cameras and there was a fresh water dunk tank for cameras back at the resort and a table to put camera gear on between dives.

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Dive Review of Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis - Puerto Galera in Philippines/North - Island of Mindoro

Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis - Puerto Galera, Feb, 2012,

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 Atlantis Dive Resorts/Atlantis - Puerto Galera in
Philippines/North - Island of Mindoro