Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida in
Philippines/Dauin, Negros Occidental

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Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida: "Excellent diving, but not all sites for beginners", Apr, 2019, by Phil Johnston, Bayswater, AU ( Sr. Contributor 26 reports with 25 Helpful votes). Report 10913 has 1 Helpful vote.
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
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My second visit to Pura Vida resort at Dauin. As previously, Sea Explorers dive operations service was excellent & I was assigned a personal guide, Jan. Jan was an excellent spotter & pointed out many small critters I would not otherwise have seen. Despite having done many muck dives over the years I saw a number of critters I hadn't previously seen, including sand darter fish, whiskered pipefish and a Melibe nudibranch (a truly weird critter). Most muck dives were done in some degree of current, with the drift dive at Mainit being particularly strong (ie almost impossible to swim against). A pointer is almost mandatory at most Dauin sites, as much as a small anchor (in barren sandy areas) during strong currents as anything else. I did the optional day trip to Oslob (at additional cost), where whaleshark sitings are almost 100% guaranteed & I did see 3 (& possibly 4) individuals. Viz is not good at Oslob however & photographers may not get good photo ops of the whalesharks. Didn't see much other large marine life, other than a good number of mature sea turtles. Dauin is noted primarily for muck diving but the hard coral reef at a site called Dauin South were quite extensive & very healthy. Pura Vida resort is co-located with Sea Explorers dive shop so makes for easy access to diving for guests. Accommodation & meals (free buffet breakfast) were high quality, & the resort is set in very pleasant garden surroundings. Overall I loved the diving at Dauin, but the currents were much stronger that during my previous visit (possibly because of the full moon?), so I wouldn't recommend this location for very new divers.
Websites	Sea Explorers Philippines Pura Vida
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia/Bali, Cocos Islands, Mexico (Cozumel & Soccorros) Tonga, Galapagos, Tahiti, Maldives, Mozambique, Bahamas, Red Sea, Roatan, Philippines, Hawaii (Kona, Maui)
Closest Airport	Dumaguete City	Getting There	Direct domestic flights to Dumaguete from Manila & Cebu City, not aware of any direct international flights. Pura Vida resort is a 45-50 minute drive from Dumaguete airport.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	27-29°C / 81-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	15-20 M / 49-66 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	The usual restrictions, no deco dives etc. Most dive sites were < 20 metres so depth limits not really relevant
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	I'm not an UWP but macro life photographers will love Dauin. Camera rinse set ups on the dive boats were a bit basic, but most dive sites (apart from Oslob) are only short distances from the dive centre, which did have good rinsing facilities.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida in Philippines/Dauin, Negros Occidental

Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida: "Excellent diving, but not all sites for beginners", Apr, 2019,

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 Sea Explorers Philippines/Pura Vida in
Philippines/Dauin, Negros Occidental