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Dive Review of Magic Island Dive Resort, Moalboal in
Philippines

Magic Island Dive Resort, Moalboal: "Moalboal diving is OK", Apr, 2018,

by masako satake, FL, US (Reviewer Reviewer 5 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 10295 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Our flight from Atlanta to Tokyo (Narita) was 6 hours late. We missed connection to Manila and ended up losing a whole day of diving at this resort. However, we didn’t feel too bad about the loss after diving there for a few days. Diving was good but not great to spend a week in Moalboal.

The famous sardine run and house reef dives were enjoyable. We were lucky to be there in a slow week. We were often the only divers on our dive boat, and our diver-to-guide ratio was excellent 2:1. The resort has no camera room. We did our camera work in our room.

The room was basic but clean and sufficient. The tight bathroom reminded us of a liveaboard, and to our surprise, there was a no-toilet-paper-flush policy, which we’ve seen on a few liveaboards but never at a land-based resort. Wi-Fi internet connection was sometimes weak but generally decent.

Dining was outdoors, and we had to ask for a portable fan to be turned our way for cooling and to chase mosquitoes during dinner time. Dining service was Philippine style (pleasant but slow).

The resort charged a 5% surcharge for using a credit card to settle on-site expenses, the highest rate we’ve ever encountered.

After checking out the resort, we did two whale shark dives in early morning before moving on to the next dive destination in Negros Island. Upon arriving at the famous whale shark feeding site in Oslob, we saw a scary number (hundreds?) of snorkelers on boats waiting for their turn to swim with the giant creatures. But, once we started diving, we had fun watching and photographing up to 5 whale sharks (juveniles) for an hour per dive. We’ve seen many whale sharks in the past, mostly while snorkeling, and never had a chance to photograph them with an upward angle. This turned out to be the highlight of this trip.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Worldwide
Closest Airport Cebu Getting There Philippine Airlines from Manila to Cebu

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp -84°F / -29°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 60-20 Ft/ 18-6 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Robert J Loring in PA, US at May 05, 2019 14:07 EST  
Pescador Island is the highlight dive site at MoalBoal and should be part of the dive itinerary there always. Enjoy!
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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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