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Dive Review of Johnny's Dive/Paras Beach Resort in
Philippines/Camiguin Island

Johnny's Dive/Paras Beach Resort, Jul, 2008,

by John Crossley, CA, USA (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 28 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 4378.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 2 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving 2 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Paras Beach Resort & Johnny’s Dive, Camiguin Island, Philippines

Diving July 2008, Visibility 30-100+ depending on site. Water Temp. 82.
Paras Beach Resort is one of the nicest resorts on Camiguin Island, about 70 km north of Cagayan de Oro. The resort will arrange transport from the airport in Cagayan or you can take a taxi or bus to the ferry at Balingoan. The resort will pick you up once the ferry gets to Camiguin Island. Paras has clean air con rooms with cable TV for about $55 per night, which does not include breakfast. They have a very nice pool, and two billiard tables with no charge for guests. Their restaurant has a somewhat limited selection and the food is just fair, but prices are reasonable. Johnny’s Dive operates the diving concession at three resorts (Paras, Secret Cove, and The Caves), and their main shop is at Paras. Johnny’s uses a small wood banca as their dive boat on days with four divers or less. They have a bigger boat but I did not see it. Conditions on the banca would be crowded for more than two divers, so I was glad I was the only diver for three of my four days. I had to remind them three days to bring a rinse bucket for my camera, and only one day did they have an equipment rinse tank filled with water when we got back from the dives. We left each day at 8:00 am for two morning dives and were usually back by about 12:30. They will do afternoon dives if you want. Allan was the best of three dive guides I had in four days. He was more enthusiastic than the others and more pro-active in finding critters. We had 100+ ft. viz at “Old Volcano” which had some nice soft corals and interesting formations. There also was a big black frogfish and yellow pygmy seahorse there. Other dives included some black and white banded sea snakes, a cuttlefish, scorpionfish, several types of anemone fish, porcelain crabs, a variety of little shrimps and crabs, and the usual tropicals. I never saw any big fish, sharks, or rays. One dive site near White Island would be good for a dusk Mandarin fish dive because we could see several of them in the corals even in the morning. Some dives had very healthy hard corals and there was not much coral damage. Johnny’s Dive typically visits dive sites on the north and northwest side of Camiguin Island that the Mantangale dive resort does not usually go to. Mantangale typically sticks to dive sites on their side of the mainland or on the eastern side of Camiguin. Overall, Paras Beach Resort and Johnny’s Dive were pretty good but not great. It’s worth a few extra days if you’re in the area.



Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving 60 resorts & 20 livaboards mostly in Asia & Pacific
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 82-°F / 28-°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Dive computer profile within no deco limits
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 2 stars
UW Photo Comments Had to remind each day to bring rinse bucket. No rinse tank filled & ready at shop
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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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