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Dive Review of Seadoors in
Philippines/Visayas

Seadoors: "Some Good, Some Bad", Jul, 2019,

by Brian Morrow, GA, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 21 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 11042 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The Good -

The food, served buffet style was tasty plentiful, varied and accommodated the special diet needs of a couple of passengers.

The guests this trip, two Aussies, a German, a Frenchman and three Americans all fit in nicely together.

The crew was friendly and attentive to the needs of guests and their jobs. The divemasters, in particular Juffrey, were a pleasure to dive with.

Our room was spacious and generally comfortable but we had one of the deluxe ones and even it had issues (see below)

The Uncontrollable -

A tropical depression caused an itinerary change. Instead of one day in Malapasqua we spent two and missed heading east to Leyte, heading south instead. Seas were choppy for three days and sometimes we had to dive the leeward side of islands on perhaps not the preferred dive sites. The trip did include stops in Bohol, Apo, Dauin and Oslob.

The Bad -

The ship was in need of the drydock scheduled the week after our cruise. The ship was roach infested and other guests had issues with gnats in their room. The air conditioning units dripped condensation on the floor requiring towels be laid out at all times. There was a leak above the camera table, via the overhead light fixture, that soaked the table and dripped close to battery chargers. The marine toilets required three or four flushes to clear (no paper in them)

The dive schedule. There are four dives max a day with one being a night dive at 6:15 pm. Why (besides Mohad Shoal) were first dives no later than 6:30 am? There was plenty of time between dives 1 and 2 and 2 and 3.

The Continental breakfast before the morning dive is coffee, tea and packaged cookies, that's it.

One dive, my dive partner, a dive guide and I encountered heavy currents that did not allow us to get to the dive site. We aborted the dive and surfaced. Our signaling efforts did not get us noticed by the skiff or the mother ship which was moving closer. Fortunately, my wife passed on this dive and saw us from the top deck of the ship and informed the captain who then steered over to grab up. Why didn't the captain and first mate see us from the bridge? It may have been their propensity to play online basketball on their phones all the time.

At the beginning of the trip the cruise director, who also dove every dive, seemed to be more intent on taking pictures himself than deferring to guests. It seemed better later in the trip and I assumed someone spoke to him. On the last day he informed us that we would be getting a link to download his pictures. I wish I had I known that upfront.

Lesson learned - don't take the last cruise of an itinerary especially if it is the last cruise before dry dock.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving All over Caribbean, Sea of Cortez, PNG, Solomons, Palau, Yap, Raja Ampat, Ambon, Moorea, Bora Bora, Hawaii, Philippines
Closest Airport Cebu Getting There We flew from Atlanta to Incheon and connected direct to Cebu

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 84-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Generally dove following one of the two guides.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks > 2
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Camera table can only accommodate two big rigs. Fortunately, there were only 7 guests and 5 photograhers in total so this trip the table was adequate.
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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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