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Dive Review of Quo Vadis in
Philippines/Moalboal

Quo Vadis: "Nice Resort; Great Diving; OK Food", Aug, 2019,

by Michael J. Millet, CA, US (Top Contributor Top Contributor 96 reports with 59 Helpful votes). Report 10999 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments QUO VADIS REVIEW

In early July, headed to Cebu, Philippines to dive the reefs of Moalboal. I flew from SFO connecting through Inchon into the Cebu airport on Mactan Island, thus avoiding the hassle of connecting through Manila. After the spending the night at the Waterfront Hotel near the airport, I was promptly picked up by the transfer van for the 3 ½ -- 4-hour ride down to Moalboal where I stayed at the Quo Vadis Dive Resort for 10 nights.

At Quo Vadis, I had a very spacious room with good lighting, storage and electrical outlets. My room was a bit away from the beach behind the dive shop. The room was kept clean with several changes of fresh towels.

The food offered at the resort’s restaurant as very average. The best meal was breakfast, which could be made-to-order. For lunch, I usually had a grilled sausage that was tasty. My dive buddies and I ate several dinners in Moalboal town where the food was much better than at the resort. For excellent Italian cuisine in a nice setting, Al Trove restaurant is great. For very good, authentic Filipino food, try Venz’s. Both can be reached with a 7-8 minute “tricycle” ride.

The bar area at the resort was under renovation so not available. The resort does have a pool with a bar.

Regarding diving, the resort offers a 2-tank trip leaving at about 8:30 AM and a 1-tank trip at about 2:30 PM. Lunch was usually rushed due to the sometimes slow service in the restaurant and a late return from the AM dives. We suggested that the AM dives start at 7:30 AM so the PM dive would not be so rushed. The resort has no dock or jetty. So at low tide one must wade out to the dive boat (50-100 meters). The crew sets up the tanks and rinses the gear at the end of the day. The dive boat has a large area for cameras but no rinse tank on board. The dive shop has rinse tanks for cameras and gear; and offers Nitrox.

We dived about 18 different dive sites with the best being: Rondo Bay, Kasai Wall and White Beach. We did the sardine run 3 times due to demand from other divers. 2 times would have been adequate. By 9 AM, the sardine run dive site gets very crowded with snorkelers and divers because it is very close to shore. Quo Vadis does offer a 7 AM dive at this site.

The dive boat offers water, tea, coffee and outrageously good donuts for the surface interval. I would consider returning just for the donuts.

The entire dive crew was always very helpful and friendly as was all the resort staff. I had a private guide, Jingles, who is an excellent critter-finder and has very good knowledge of the dive sites. Other than the sardine run, most of the photography is macro. We encountered lots of nudibranch, shrimp, crab, cuttlefish, reef fish and even a blue-ring octopus. The reefs appear to be in good shape with a nice mix of hard and soft corals.


John, the dive operations manager, was always ready to assure that a positive experience was had by all.
With a significant improvement in the food offered by the resort’s restaurant, Quo Vadis would be a first-rate dive resort. I would consider a return trip to the Moalboal area and perhaps the Quo Vadis resort.



Websites Quo Vadis   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu,
PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport Cebu Getting There Fly direct to Cebu avoiding the hassle of Manila airport

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M

Dive Policy

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

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments The sardine run is a very good wide-angle opportunity; other dive sites offer excellent macro-photography. Dive boat had no rinse tank but plenty of space for cameras. Dive shop had rinse tanks but no dedicated camera room.
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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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