Dive Review of Mikes Dive and Beach Resort in
Philippines/Dauin (Dumaguete)

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Mikes Dive and Beach Resort: "Apo Island, Dauin muck diving, Mikes Dive and Beach Resort", Jan, 2017, by Robert L Short, CO, US ( Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 9544 has 3 Helpful votes.
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	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	After reading reviews on Trip Advisor I booked 4 nights at Mikes Dive and Beach Resort this past January--later we decided to stay 2 extra nights but the only room left was a deluxe room so we stayed in a standard room for 4 nights and deluxe room the last two nights (more on that later). Hadn't really communicated with anyone before arriving except to schedule the airport pick up. This a small resort with only 8 rooms--6 standard and 2 deluxe. The resort is right on the beach which is a very dark and course sand so if you were expecting a beautiful beach you may be disappointed. They have a nice pool with waterfall, a nice restaurant and bar and a small dive shop. The grounds are very well maintained and being so small it never feels crowded at all--all rooms were booked while we were there. I made contact with Corri the office manager when we checked in and were shown to our room. Nice size room with large bathroom, a/c, and tv, two chairs and small table right outside the room on a large share balcony. The only real difference between standard and deluxe rooms are the deluxe has a small refrigerator and is on the corner of the building with a ocean view--rooms are the same size. Came down to eat and Jonathan (from UK) made immediate contact with me about diving--let me know what was coming up and when. After lunch I went to the dive shop and got set up with all my gear for the next day's diving. The next morning at nine we all loaded on the large banka boat from shore. The boat will hold ten to twelve divers easily. We had only six divers and two guides. We were split into two groups of three according to our experience. The first dive site was only five minutes away from the resort on the coast--muck diving. Dark sandy bottom, a few coral areas and some artificial reefs, a few small shipwrecked boats and the water was somewhat clear--maybe 50 feet of viz and no current. Lots of tropical fish and small critters and a few medium sized groupers and a few sea snakes. The dive was shallow to only about 50 feet and the guide kept a good eye on all the divers while pointing things out to us at a modest pace. I had my Olympus TG-3 Tuff camera with me and we were at the limit of its depth (15 meters). Once we got to 13 meters the camera will let you know you are close to the depth limit and at 15 meters it will start to scream at you--well it will put a large triangle across your view screen to let you know you're to deep. Dive was about 50 minutes and we all surfaced together close to the boat which moved to pick us up. Nice stairs to climb on the boat and someone there to help you up. The boat then returned to the resort since we were so close for our surface interval and back out at it again after about 70 minutes. Second dive pretty much like the first except a little deeper this time to about 67 feet and my camera screamed at me the whole time but kept on recording--once we were back on shore I checked it for leaks and found none--whew! The next day pretty much the repeat of day one--more muck diving--no real wow here but great for beginner divers or those who have been out of the water for awhile--like me. Also great for photo ops. That night a tropical storm was supposed to blow in so they moved the boats (they have two) to a safe harbor and the coast guard shut down all boats for the next day. We used the day to take a jeepney into Dumaguete for a little browsing at Robinsons Mall-about 40 pesos to take the jeepney. The storm never really came through so the next day we were off to Apo Island for a three tank dive. Its about 45-50 minutes to Apo Island from Mikes Resort depending on the seas which were a little choppy but not bad. It's a all day afare and they do serve lunch on the boat between dives two and three. After the muck diving near the coast Apo was a different world. Corals everywhere, tons of fish and turtles, great walls and drift diving on one of the dives. Water was much clearer here also--about 100 feet or a little more. Things got a little weird before the first dive--I went to put on my BC and I couldn't even close the cumber bund it was way to small and not the same BC I had been using. We had switched rooms the night before and all equipment is kept together by room number but they hadn't switched my room number over. A new diver had came the night before and took my old room and he got my BC and equipment which fit him--whats a guy to do? No other gear on board to use. The other diver went into the water and 3 minutes later was back on the boat with a compression problem in one of his teeth--no diving for him so I got my BC back and was off diving. It was just me and the guide and the dive was great--beautiful corals and fish, and turtles but nothing large like sharks which they said sometimes make an appearance. The first dive we pretty much stayed at about 60 feet and my camera again started yelling at me but again I just ignored it and kept on filming. The second dive was along a wall with a pretty good current--my first real drift dive--had a ball--once again just the guide and me. He used my camera to get some great stills of me with turtles etc.--thanks Marlon! This time we were down to about 72 feet and the camera kept on ticking. Came up after the second dive with a big smile on my face--great dive. Had a great lunch during the surface interval and then got ready for dive number three. Such beauty I could hardly imagine--the coral was beautiful. We swam through canyons of corals and fish and of course more turtles--so serene I didn't want to get out of the water. After getting back to the resort I met Mike the owner (American) who had just returned from a trip back home. Didn't get to talk much as he was busy trying to get caught up on what had been going on while he was away. Had dinner at the restaurant--great food and reasonable prices by the way--then sat at the bar and had a few shots of Patron tequila--yes they have a great selection of imported liquors to suit most everyone. Then a late night dip in the pool and to bed. The resort sits right next to several other larger resorts on the beach--Pure Vida, Atlantis, El Dorado--just a few minutes stroll down the beach if you want to sample their restaurants or dive operations. Two tank dives were about 1800 pesos and equipment rental 500 pesos a day. The trip to Apo Island was 5,300 pesos for three tank dives and lunch plus equipment. The standard room ran us about $57 US a night and deluxe room was about $67 a night--we liked the standard room on the upper floor as much as the deluxe room. The next day we split the van rental price back to the airport with two other divers so we only paid 300 pesos for the return ride. After the mix up with my equipment which could have led to a no dive situation I decided to buy my own gear once I got home which I did. The camera? Well its still working great and will be using it for a trip to Cozumel soon. Just a note--everything is put on your tab and settled up when you leave--credit cards accepted. Can't wait to return this coming November for more Apo Island. They also schedule afternoon dives if they have enough requests and also trips to Oslob for whale shark watching if you're into that.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Utah, California, Akumal Mexico, Cozumel, Philippines
Closest Airport	Dumaguete	Getting There	Direct flight to Dumaguete from Manila on either Cebu Pacific or Phil Air. About $65 US dollars one way. The resort will meet you there with a driver in a van and take you to the resort for about $13 dollars US for a whole van which holds about 6 people and gear. About a 25 minute ride from the airport to the resort
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	28-29°F / -2--2°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Didn't see any dedicated tables on the boats for cameras but they did have a rinse busket for them and the same back at the resort

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Mikes Dive and Beach Resort in Philippines/Dauin (Dumaguete)

Mikes Dive and Beach Resort: "Apo Island, Dauin muck diving, Mikes Dive and Beach Resort", Jan, 2017,

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 Mikes Dive and Beach Resort in
Philippines/Dauin (Dumaguete)