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Atmosphere Resort & Spa: "Muck Diving, Good Food, Apo Island was the Best", Apr, 2018,by GAIL MORRIS, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 10620.
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Accommodations |  |
Food | |
| Service and Attitude | |
Environmental Sensitivity |  |
| Dive Operation |  |
Shore Diving | N/A |
| Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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| Value for $$ | |
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| Beginners | |
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| Advanced | |
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| Comments |
This was our first time muck diving and although I liked finding the seahorses, frogfish and other tiny critters, some of the dive sites were littered with trash and unappealing. The visibility was never very good and two or three times, we had to swim through very large numbers of jellyfish that stung. The dive masters kept saying they didn't sting, but my face and lips were very irritated by them both times. I did take the Frogfish certification course from Daniel at the resort and it was great and good to have a goal while searching around the sites for 1/2" long juveniles. It was always very rough getting out of the boats due to surge and big rocks on the beach despite it being good weather. We did two day trips to Apo Island and that was worth it. Most of the dive sites there were beautiful with lots of large turtles, big healthy corals and quite a few fish. That was not the case in Dumaguete which was barren except for the critters. I would have happily spent more time diving Apo. It shows that reefs and fish populations can recover if the locals are willing to restrict fishing. The rooms at the resort are large and ours was very nice except for the mosquitos, so I wish I had brought Off or things to burn in the outdoor showers to keep them away. The food is excellent and mealtimes were always something to look forward to. The hotel staff was very attentive and the spa there was great. I wish I had known to bring some nicer dresses for dinner since people dressed up more than I have experienced at the usual dive resort. Our only complaints were with a few of the dive masters. We had one who totally ignored the two of us and just focused on the female diver who was the only other diver on both dives. Since the visibility was about 10 feet that day, it was annoying and then dangerous when my husband was low on air. I wasn't low, but I had to keep swimming to the dive master who ignored my signals for 700 PSI, then 400 PSI, and finally at 200 PSI, I had to grab his arm and make him take us up to the boat. We were not too far from shore and there was boat traffic so we were afraid to ascend without him. I complained and we never dove with him again, but it was unprofessional. If you are a photographer, there is a large clean camera room in the dive center, and the gear room next to it is well thought out. So, the resort was very nice and if you are passionate about muck diving, it is probably a great place as evidenced by the people we met there from Europe and the States who return almost every year. I could have done Apo Island every day but the hour long boat ride to and from made that impractical. And when you go to Apo Island, take some cash, the ladies paddle over in their tiny boats and sell the best locally made t-shirts that are only sold there. Plus, we saw a whale shark while diving on Apo. That made the whole trip very worthwhile. |
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| Websites | Atmosphere Resort & Spa | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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| Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
| Where else diving | Palau, Belize, Hawaii, Fiji, Little Cayman, Puerto Rico, Phillipines | ||
| Closest Airport | Sibulan | Getting There | SFO-MANILA-SIBULAN then a 45 minute drive |
Dive Conditions |
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| Weather | sunny, windy, dry | Seas | calm, choppy, surge, currents, no currents |
| Water Temp | -°F / -°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 3 |
| Water Visibility | 10-40 Ft/ 3-12 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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| Dive own profile | ? | ||
| Enforced diving restrictions | 60 minute dives mostly | ||
| Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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| Sharks | None | Mantas | None |
| Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | 1 or 2 |
| Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Corals |  |
Tropical Fish | |
| Small Critters | |
Large Fish | |
| Large Pelagics |  |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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| Subject Matter | |
Boat Facilities | |
| Overall rating for UWP's | |
Shore Facilities | |
| UW Photo Comments | Charging room that was clean and well used by the divers who were photographers and most divers were since it is critter central. No real facilities on the boats, not even tubs of water on one of them, although I think that was not the resort's boat but a substitute that day. | ||
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above. |
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