Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao, in
Philippines/Malapascua, Cabilao, Dauin

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Sea Explorers Philippines/Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao, : "Great Dive Trip to 3 different locations Pre-Covid Shutdown", Jan, 2020, by Claire Rausch, HI, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 11771 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My dive buddy and I had decided we wanted to go to a couple different islands in the Visayas area of the Philippine Islands. We used the Sea Explorers Service as they offered resorts/dive shops in the areas we were interested in diving and they took care of all the transport arrangements for between islands/and resorts. This was probably a little bit more expensive overall (money well-spent tho'), but a lot easier and comfortable, plus we didn't have to figure out transport modes/time schedules, etc.. We were very pleased with how organized and easy our travel between resorts/island was thanks to Sea Explorers. All we had to do was let them know when we were arriving at the Cebu Airport and where/when we wanted to go and how long we wanted to stay (about a week at each of the three places.) First stop - Malapascua Island where we elected to stay at Buena Vida Resort which is off the main beach area as I had read it could get pretty noisy in the evenings. This was a good plan except for the walk on the beach sand involved in dragging my butt there after a four dive day...exhausting! This resort was a great place to stay as the restaurant there served great food and one of the co-owners was prone to offering an a variety of after supper appertifs/liquors to guests, one of which was Don Papa Rum which is a favorite Philippine treat. All of the restaurants we did try on Malapascua Island were good! The night boat dives we did on Malapascua were chock full of interesting flora and fauna to find and photograph/video. And on our second trip out to Moaun Shoal at sunrise our dive guide took us to a great spot where a very photogenic Thresher Shark came by and then the guide entertained us with teasing a Common Mantis Shrimp out of his hole. Be aware tho', at Moaun Shoal it is best to be diving on Nitrox for this spot. Then we traveled to Cabilao Island off of the island of Bohol to the Sea Explorers Resort there - Pura Vida Cabilao. The Resort was very nice and the restaurant had a very good chef and great meals! Two drawbacks though were this resort is built on a cliff and the stairs up to the restaurant and our room were, once again, daunting especially after the fourth dive of the day. Plus, as the natural water sources on this small island are limited, the swimming pool was not functioning during the time we were there. Beautiful views from our rooms and the restaurant. The staff at the dive shop were great along with the diving which was a lot of easy drifting along walls which is great by me. We especially enjoyed our walk-in night dive where we found some great nighttime flora and fauna including two Partridge Tun Shells doing "Boom, boom," activity as the staff called it. Lastly, we traveled to Dumaguete on the island of Negros to the Pura Vida Beach & Dive Resort at Dauin. Once again, we were not disappointed with our accommodations, the dive service and staff/the resort staff, and the restaurant at the resort. I would recommend this place to anyone who does not want to pay the prices at the Atlantis Dive Resort in that area, but wants an all-inclusive resort stay. The dive boats here were great dive platforms and very accommodating although walking up the plank hanging onto a bamboo pole was always an adventure getting onto the boat. I finally got to dive at Apo Island, but truthfully, the muck diving off of Dauin was much more interesting to me; I found tons of underwater flora and fauna subjects to occupy me photographing/videoing on every dive! Night diving from the shore was not good when we were there due to strong currents and subsequent low visibility. My dive buddy and I then flew from Dumaguete to Manila and then home to Hawaii on Philippine Airlines which I find has improved their service over the years I've used them for my air travel to this part of the Pacific. My buddy and I were definitely glad we had booked with the Sea Explorers Service. We had a great time meeting other divers from world-wide locations and the only downside of this dive trip was the escalation of Coronavirus and subsequent shutdown of dive travel in the following months.
Websites	Sea Explorers Philippines Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao,
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Fiji, Palau, Marshall Islands, Pohphei, Kosrae, Saipan, Rota, Tinian, Guam, Egypt, Philippine Islands, Bali, Komodo Nat'l Park, Borneo
Closest Airport	Cebu Int'l Airport, Mactan	Getting There	Fly to Manila and onto the island of Cebu
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	0-°F / -18-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Usually surfaced after one hour or if a small group, when down to 500 lbs of air.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
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	There is never a problem with having plenty of underwater flora and fauna to photograph/video in the Philippines. I had one great dive getting video of a Thresher Shark at Moaun Shoal at Malapascua Island. Facilities for rinsing underwater camera and lights were good at the shore base dive shops, but only on the dive boat at Sea Explorers Dauin was there a camera rinse bucket.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Sea Explorers Philippines/Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao, in Philippines/Malapascua, Cabilao, Dauin

Sea Explorers Philippines/Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao, : "Great Dive Trip to 3 different locations Pre-Covid Shutdown", Jan, 2020,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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/Sea Explorers Malapascua, Cabilao, in
Philippines/Malapascua, Cabilao, Dauin